Eagles march over Generals
The Eagles brought their brooms.
Texas A&M-Texarkana swept LSU-Alexandria on Friday afternoon at Bramlett Field.
A&M-Texarkana 5, LSU-A 2
A&M-Texarkana jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the first game with the Generals.
Hannah Cooper drove in Maylee Martinez and Kacey Maines to put the Eagles on the scoreboard.
Cooper finished her night going 1 for 4 with a double and 2 RBI, while scoring a run for the Eagles.
Ashley Nipper received the win in the circle for the Eagles. Nipper pitched seven innings, gave up two runs and struck out five batters.
“Ashley did a great job for us in game one,” A&M-Texarkana head softball coach Marie Stone said. “She did everything we asked of her and I’m really pleased with how everyone is playing with a purpose.”
The Generals scattered two runs in the middle innings but could not overcome the hole they dug themselves in the bottom of the first.
“As the games go one and we’re able to win, it will only help our seeding in the conference tournament coming up,” Stone said. “It’s that time of year where you start looking at the standings and make preparations for your postseason run.”
A&M-Texarkana 4, LSU-A 2
The Eagles picked up in the second game where they left off.
The Generals made a late game surge but TAMU-T held tight defensively.
Cassie Vasquez went the entire way for TAMU-T, receiving the win in the circle after giving up two runs, seven hits in seven innings worth of work.
“Cassie was competing on every pitch and we’re pleased with that,” Stone said. “We’ve been talking all week long about now is the time to peak. We’re getting ready for postseason play, so every win will put us in better position.”
Olivia Mueller’s tripled off the left field wall, scoring Brianna Davis and putting themselves on the board first. Mueller scored on Kayla Mahan’s sacrifice bunt later in the inning.
“We had some excellent timely hitting when we needed it,” Stone said. Olivia came up huge for us with her triple, helping us push that first run across the board. Kayla put down a safety squeeze and we were able to get two runs right there before we got out of the inning. That was huge for us.”
Mueller finished 1 for 2 at the dish with a triple and a RBI.
The Eagles tacked on two more in the fourth to give them a commanding 4-0 lead.
Mahan drove in Cooper and Kallee King with two outs in the fourth inning.
“Every run is important in every game,” Stone said. “The more runs you can get, the better because you never really know what is going to happen in the course of a game.”
The Generals made a late game surge, scoring two runs in a rally in the top of the seventh.
Vasquez was able to regroup and retire the side.
“It’s exciting to see the girls watch their winning continue on,” Stone said. “We started playing really well last weekend against Langston and I’m glad we were able to roll that over into this week.”
The Eagles resume the final game of their three game home stand today against the Generals at Bramlett Field with the first pitch slated for 11:00 a.m.