HIGHLIGHTS:
• Morgan Robinson and Emily Snider each had 4 RBI in game-1
• Four Eagles scored multiple runs in first game
• Lydia Witkowski and Emily Snider each had an RBI in game-2
• Witkowski had multiple hits in both games of the twinbill
• The five scoreless innings to start game-2 was the longest Texas A&M had gone into a game without scoring this season.
 
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Georgia Southern softball team went up against a nationally-ranked team in Texas A&M Tuesday afternoon, and in both games of the non-conference doubleheader, the Eagles gave the Aggies everything they could handle. Between the two games, the Eagles scored 12 runs and racked up 19 hits in a pair of games that combined to last nearly six hours.
 
When it was all said and done, the Eagles (14-10) came up just short against the No. 10 Aggies (25-2) from the SEC, falling 13-10 and 3-2, despite leading for much of both contests.
 
Game 1 – GS 10, #10 TAMU 13
No. 10 Texas A&M got on the board first in the first game of the day with two runs in the bottom of the first inning followed by another single run in the second. That's when the Eagles turned on the heat both in the field as well as at the plate.
 
In the top of the third inning, the Eagles soared past the Aggies to take the lead by plating five runs before the Aggies could get a single out. Shortstop Alesha Mann led things off by breaking the TAMU no-hitter up with a double to left field and she then advanced to third on a wild pitch. India Davis drew a walk against the Aggies' freshman starting pitcher, Samantha Show, and then Sun Belt Conference Community Coffee Student-Athlete of the Week Lydia Witkowski scored Mann with a rocket of a single to right field.
 
Following Witkowski, centerfielder Taylor Rogers singled with a well-placed bunt to load the bases for Emily Snider who capitalized with a double to right-center field, scoring Davis and Witkowski. Morgan Robinson then stepped to the dish and sent a single off the pitcher, scoring Rogers and Snider to give GS the 5-3 lead.
 
After the nationally-ranked Aggies got a run back in the bottom of the fourth frame, Robinson delivered a towering home run over the right field wall to set the score at 6-4 in favor of the Eagles. It was Robinson's fourth round-tripper of the season.
 
Despite some brilliant play in the field by the Eagles behind solid pitching from sophomore Kierra Camp, Texas A&M was able to retake the lead in the bottom of the fifth when Kaitlyn Alderink hit a grand slam to right-center field following Alex Masek scoring on an error.
 
Despite being down, the Eagles showed a lot of fight by mounting a bit of a come-back in the top of the sixth inning with three runs off three hits. Snider started the scoring for GS by drawing a bases-loaded walk to score Davis. Robinson then came up and sent a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Witkowski from third. Freshman third baseman Hannah Farrell concluded the scoring drive with a single to left-center field that scored Rogers from second.
 
The Aggies were able to counter with two runs in the bottom of the sixth, but the Eagles would not go quietly, getting a run back in the top of the seventh when Snider drove in Mann with a blooper of an RBI single.
 
At the plate, six Eagles racked up multiple hits as GS finished the game with 13, including four extra base knocks, and 10 runs batted in. Leading the way was Davis who went 2-for-3 with two runs scored while Snider, Robinson, Farrell and Mann all went 2-for-4. Witkowski also finished the game with two hits and matched Rogers, Mann and Davis with two runs scored each. Both Snider and Robinson drove in four runs.
 
For the Aggies, Keeli Milligan went 3-for-5 at the dish with three runs scored while Alderink had her five runs batted in.
 
In the circle, Camp (5-5) went the distance for GS, pitching all six innings in the nearly three-hour affair (2:48). Katie Marks (7-0) came in to pitch just 2.0 innings for Texas A&M to earn the win for No. 10 Texas A&M. Show, the Aggies' starting pitcher, came back into the game late to earn her second save of the season.
 
Game 2 – GS 0, TAMU 0
Similar to the second game of Sunday's doubleheader against Texas State, Tuesday's second game against the nationally-ranked Aggies turned into a grueling pitcher's duel as the first four innings passed by scoreless. The Eagles were the first team to break up the scoreless tie with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth inning when Witkowski and Snider each recorded RBI singles to put GS up 2-0.
 
From there, the Eagle defense continued to battle the Aggies hard behind freshman pitcher Dixie Raley. Raley dished out eight strikeouts in the game and held the Aggies to just one hit through the first five innings.
 
The Aggies didn't score their first runs until the bottom of the sixth inning when Ashley Walters hit a two-run home run to left-center field, also scoring Cali Lanphear. The five scoreless innings to start the game was the longest Texas A&M had gone into a game without scoring this season.
 
In the top of the seventh, the Eagles had an opportunity to get the go-ahead run when Snider was hit by a pitch and then advanced to second when Robinson was walked. But GS was unable to push either runner any further.
 
In the bottom of the frame, with one out and one runner on base, Kristen Cuyos delivered a walk-off single to left-center field, scoring Lanphear from third to end the game.
 
Witkowski, followed up her solid performance in game-one with another multi-hit performance in game-two. She led the way at the plate going 2-for-4 with a run scored and one run batted in. Rogers, Snider, Mann and Davis had the other hits for Georgia Southern.
 
Raley (9-5) had another solid performance in the circle for the Eagles as she pitched the entire game, dealing five innings of one-hit ball and then holding the Aggies to just five hits compared to her eight strikeouts. Her eight strikeouts were the fourth-most by the freshman this season.
 
For Texas A&M, Show (14-2) came in late to secure the win, pitching 2.1 innings after Kayla Ober started the game, giving up six hits and two earned runs.
 
COACH SMITH SAYS
"We schedule tough opponents like this because we are looking to compete and win. I feel like we competed for all seven innings of both games against them and that's not something that very many people have done this year. I was very happy for our entire team; the pitchers and all up and down our lineup. We made a couple mistakes, but this is why we play tough opponents like them, to get us ready as we keep working to get better throughout the season and to prepare us for more tough games like these. Obviously we would have liked to have a different final result, but I was really pleased with how we competed today."
 
UP NEXT
The Eagles will close out their long trip through Texas this coming weekend at the Jeannine McHaney Memorial Classic hosted by Texas Tech in Lubbock. The Eagles will open the tournament with a 7 p.m. ET game against the host Red Raiders on Thursday, Mar. 17. The next day, on Friday, Georgia Southern will face Boise State in a single game at 6:30 p.m. ET. GS will close out the tourney on Saturday, Mar. 19 with two games, one against Boise State at 1:30 p.m. ET and then the finale against Texas Tech at 4 p.m. ET.
 
 
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