Aggies Take Game Two, 3-1, Even Series with No. 3 Tennessee

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – No. 21 Texas A&M softball evened the series with No. 3 Tennessee taking game two, 3-1, Saturday afternoon at Davis Diamond.

Madison Preston (W, 4-1) controlled the circle early striking out five through her first three innings of work. The senior continued to make one of the top offensive teams in the nation look foolish sitting down a total of eight batters, while allowing two hits, two walks and one run.

Emily Leavitt earned her third save of the season after entering the top of the seventh with a runner on first. The sophomore then walked and hit a batter as the bases were loaded with no outs. Tennessee (28-3, 9-2 SEC) scored a run on a fielder’s choice to make it 3-1, before Leavitt put an end to the threat with a strikeout and ground out.

Texas A&M (22-12, 5-6 SEC) got on the board in the opening frame and extended its lead to 2-0 compliments of freshman Keely Williams’ triple in the third to score freshman Amari Harper. The Maroon & White added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth after sophomore Koko Wooley singled in junior Rylen Wiggins to make it 3-0.

UP NEXT

Texas A&M goes for the series win on Sunday with first pitch slated for 1 p.m. The stream will be available on the SEC Network + with Chelsea Reber and Tori Vidales on the call. Fans can also listen to Matt Simon on the 12th Man Mobile app or locally on Gospel 97.3.

TOP AGGIE PERFORMERS

Keely Williams – 1-for-3, 1 3B

Julia Cottrill – 1-for-3, 1 R

Koko Wooley – 1-for-3, 1 RBI

Madison Preston (W, 4-1) – 6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 8 K

SCORING SUMMARY

B1 | Julia Cottrill singled to right field and then stole second base before advancing to third on a wild pitch and scoring on a throwing error by the catcher. TAMU 1, UT 0

B3 | Amari Harper reached on a fielding error and scored after Keely Williams lined a triple to left center. TAMU 2, UT 0

B6 | With one out, Wiggins walked, stole second and moved to third on a Riley Valentine groundout. Wooley singled to the pitcher to score Wiggins. TAMU 3, UT 0

T7 | Back-to-back walks to Zaida Puni and McKenna Gibson, followed by a Giulia Koutsoyanopulos hit-by-pitch loaded the bases with no outs. Jamison Brockenbrough grounded into a fielder’s choice to score Puni’s pitch runner, Brylee Mususan. TAMU 3, UT 1

TEXAS A&M QUOTES

Head coach Trisha Ford

On today’s win…

“That was fun. I felt like we came out and were focused today. Today was Madison Preston’s day, she pitched a gem. That’s what she’s capable of doing. I was really happy with us coming out to play the way we are capable of. That was huge win for us. I thought the 12th Man was electric today. I loved it. That was a fun game today and if you came to this game, you’re coming back.”

Senior LHP Madison Preston

On what was working…

“My change-up was working. Before a few days ago, my change-up was a little shaky, but I knew that if I was going to pitch against them, that I needed my change-up and it was on today.”

Freshman outfielder Keely Williams

On the RBI triple…

“It felt amazing. Honestly, looking back at the previous game, I went 0-for-5. I don’t really look at my stats, but I just tried to not do too much or too little. I would like to compliment Madison [Preston]. She did her job and gave us confidence on her side of the plate.”

Postgame interviews are available on 12thman.com/pressconference.

To learn more about Texas A&M softball, log on to 12thMan.com or follow @AggieSoftball on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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