Texas A&M and Baylor advance to NCAA super regionals.
Aggies top Texas to set up series with Tennessee in super regionals
COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M coach Jo Evans put no extra pressure on her players concerning an old foe because competing in the NCAA Tournament provides enough tension.
“I didn’t want to get caught up in the rivalry,” Evans said.
She left that to the fans, who provided plenty of enthusiasm as the Aggies defeated the Texas Longhorns 3-1 in a regional final Sunday at the Aggie Softball Complex.
“The crowd was a huge help to us,” Evans said of a gathering who belted out the “Aggie War Hymn” several times.
In the end, A&M knocked off one UT for the right to face another. The Aggies advance to play Tennessee in a super regional this weekend at Knoxville, Tenn. The winner of the super regional will move on to the College World Series at Oklahoma City, where the Aggies (45-10) are trying to advance for the first time since 2008.
First baseman Tori Vidales, a former La Porte standout, accounted for all three of A&M’s runs with a homer and a tworun double.
“I hadn’t done much in the first two games, so this game really got me going,” Vidales said of her showing in the regional against Texas Southern and Texas State. “I’ve been here for two years prior, and we fell short in the regionals. Now, it feels like all of our hard work is finally paying off.”
The Aggies last played the Longhorns at College Station in the spring of 2012 just before A&M left the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference.
“When we played Tennessee before, we left some things on the table,” Evans said of the Aggies losing their last two games of their series against the Volunteers at Knoxville.
Samantha Show (19-6) earned the victory by allowing four hits and one run over seven innings.
A&M closed out its current softball complex in style and is scheduled to move into a new $29 million facility for the 2018 season.
The Longhorns (33-26) were eliminated by the Aggies in a regional for a second consecutive year, with the same thing happening at Lafayette, La., in 2016.
“It’s always tough when you have this outcome, but our effort was solid and we stayed together,” UT coach Connie Clark said. “When you go into hostile territory, that’s important.”
BAYLOR 1 JAMES MADISON 0
Gia Rodoni pitched her second consecutive no-hitter in the NCAA Tournament as the Lady Bears advanced to the super regionals with a victory over the Dukes at Waco.
Rodoni (17-2) struck out two in silencing the top-hitting lineup in the country. She tossed a nohitter against Kent State on Friday.
The Lady Bears (45-12) scored the only run they would need against James Madison (52-8) in the third when Lindsey Cargill doubled and advanced to third on a double by Kyla Walker. Cargill then scored on a wild pitch as the Dukes’ Megan Good (38-3) was attempting to intentionally walk Shelby Friudenberg.
Baylor will play at Arizona in the best-of-three super regional that begins Friday.