Trisha Ford raves about Aggies' hitting vs. Texas State: 'It's about time'
Texas A&M didn’t hesitate to secure an early lead against Texas State in the Bryan-College Station Regional on Sunday. With an 8-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning, Texas A&M head coach Trisha Ford evaluated her team’s hitting.
“We’re executing,” Ford said. “We’re getting good pitches, and we’re making sure that we’re on top of the ball when [Jessica] Mullins was in. That’s a really good pitcher that has thrown a lot of their innings. It’s about time that we started to square up a little bit.”
To advance to Sunday, Texas A&M defeated Texas State 1-0 on Saturday, only recording two hits in the narrow victory. Obviously, the Aggies found their stride over the last 24 hours, now looking like surefire hitters from home plate.
While the Aggies didn’t score nearly as many runs on Saturday, the win still gave the team confidence. Trisha Ford leaned on that confidence while motivating her team ahead of the pivotal rematch.
“Our goal today was to come out and just pick up where we ended and just keep our foot on the gas pedal,” Ford said.
If Texas A&M closes out the win against Texas State, it will advance to the super regionals, which will begin on May 23. This year marks Texas A&M’s 22nd-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
Alabama HC Patrick Murphy records 1,300th career win
On Friday, Alabama softball head coach Patrick Murphy secured his 1,300th career win with a 1-0 victory over USC Upstate in the Crimson Tide’s first game in the 2024 NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional. Instead of raving about his accomplishment after the game, Murphy praised his players.
“To have two freshmen [pitchers] in their first postseason starts put together performances like that was remarkable to see,” Murphy said. “Kudos to [Upstate pitcher Sierra Maness] and Jocelyn Briski. She has been doing a great job for us this year.
“In the postseason, it’s survive and advance. It doesn’t matter if it’s 1-0, 8-0 or 10-9 — you only need to score one more run than the other team. USC Upstate made a lot of plays as did our defense. Briski was awesome and Bailey Dowling came up with the key hit.”
Alabama’s pitching was excellent in the win on Friday, only giving up two hits and a walk to USC Upstate while delivering three strikeouts. Briski pitched for 6.1 innings before Kayla Beaver came in to close the game.
Alabama’s stellar defense was nothing new. Friday marked the Crimson Tide’s 15th shutout victory of the season and its third when tied after 5.0 innings. Jenna Johnson and Bailey Dowling led the way on offense, each recording two hits, their ninth and seventh multi-hit performances of the season, respectively.