Game #29: No. 15 Texas A&M 10, Kentucky 2 (6 innings)
Records: Texas A&M (20-9, 3-1), Kentucky (20-10, 1-6)
WP: Sidne Peters (8-3)
LP: McKenzie Oslanzi (3-3)
Box Score
Red and yellow shimmered in the sky as the fireworks shot off at Davis Diamond on Friday night.
For No. 15 Texas A&M, they were sending balls soaring off of bats long before the fireworks popped into the sky.
The Aggies opened their first home conference series on Friday night with a walk-off 10-2 victory over the Kentucky Wildcats, closing the run-rule in the top of the sixth.
A heater of a grand slam by Micaela Wark brought in another win for A&M, but let’s hit rewind on the impeccable game played by the Maroon & White.
Junior Sidne Peters pitched five innings on Friday night, striking out eight of 18 batters faced, only walking one in the top of the fifth.
“I thought Peters pitched a tremendous game,” A&M head coach Trisha Ford said. “She miss-pitched one, and that's what happens. You walk a kid, hit their barrel, and it goes out. I thought she did really good at responding.
“It’s something we’ve talked about with the pitching staff, the importance of after we score, to have a shut-down inning.”
The Maroon & White scored three runs by the bottom of the fourth, before Kentucky answered with its first hit of the game. But you better not have blinked too slowly, or you would have missed the Aggies' three-run answer in the bottom of the fifth.
At the plate, designated player Mya Perez had a rather frustrating game, with four walks but no bat-to-ball contact.
“Mya wants to hit,” Ford said. “I mean, she’s a hitter. We’ve talked about that. That’s something her and coach [Jeff Harger] talked about this week, of just the importance of her staying in her zone because when she chases that’s how pitchers get her out.
“When she stays in her zone, that’s when she becomes a nightmare.”
On Friday night, Perez brought in two runs for A&M and walked away with a fire lit under her ahead of Saturday night's second matchup with the Wildcats.
“I mean, I’m a little bit frustrated, you know, I want to see some pitches, especially going into conference,” Perez said. “I want to see at-bats, and I want to learn from each at-bat, and I’m really not doing that.
“I’m ready to see a pitch and hit it. I think tomorrow they're going to throw to me or Micaela or [Ariel Kowalewski]. I just have to be patient and just trust myself.”
As for the standout transfer, Wark's cleats were the last to run the bases on Friday.
With the bases loaded and a run-rule victory at her fingertips, Wark drove a grand slam out to center, closing out the evening at Davis.
Those fireworks weren’t the only thing that were planning to pop off, because evidently the Aggies were too.
Game 2 of the series between the Ags and Cats is set for 4 p.m. CT on Saturday.
