Alabama Drops Back-and-Forth Series Finale Monday to Texas A&M

Monday, April 15

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

6 p.m. CT

Alabama

30-10, 7-8

Texas A&M

33-9, 12-6

Texas A&M

Alabama

A bat and softballs on the field at Rhoads Stadium (March 10, 2024)

Alabama Drops Back-and-Forth Series Finale Monday to Texas A&M

4/15/2024 10:07:00 PM | Softball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Photo Gallery

The Crimson Tide continues SEC play next weekend on the road at Arkansas

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama and Texas A&M battled back and forth in Monday's series rubber match until a five-run sixth from the Aggies ultimately gave them enough cushion to win the game, 9-4, and take the weekend series.

After three scoreless innings between Alabama (30-10, 7-8 SEC) and Texas A&M (33-9, 12-6 SEC), the Aggies got on the board in the top of the fourth with a sac fly and error on the same play to take the 2-0 lead. In the bottom half of the inning, the Crimson Tide loaded the bases with one out and Abby Duchscherer was hit by a one-hopper in the dirt to move everyone up 60 feet and plate a run. After a pitching change, Kali Heivilin chopped a single up the middle to drive in two and give Alabama the 3-2 lead.

Texas A&M quickly tied it at 3-3 in the top of the fifth with an RBI single and an RBI groundout in the next at-bat gave them back the lead at 4-3. Kenleigh Cahalan led off the home half of the fifth with a triple to right and scored two batters later on a wild pitch to tie it at 4-4. Things unraveled in the top of the sixth as the Aggies plated five runs on four hits and a pair of errors to push ahead 9-4, which proved final.

From Head Coach Patrick Murphy

"They scored two, we scored three. They scored two, we score one and then we couldn't keep up. We can't give a team four extra outs with errors plus even more mental mistakes that don't go down as errors. We just can't do that. We have one practice this week to try and clean everything up before we head to Arkansas. All of the errors are makeable plays, which is the frustrating thing. We're all beat up, it's a long season, but we have to bounce back."

Highlights

Alabama is now 21-8 all-time vs. Texas A&M, including a 9-3 mark at home
The series loss is just the Tide's second to the Aggies since they joined the SEC in 2013, and the first in Tuscaloosa
Jenna Johnson went 2-for-3 with a run scored, her fifth multi-hit game of the season to extend her reached base streak to 10 games
Kali Heivilin's two RBIs push her season total to 22, tied for second on the team
Kenleigh Cahalan hit her third triple of the season, now one shy of cracking the Alabama single-season top 10

Scoring Summary

T4 | A sac fly and an error on the same play scored two for Texas A&M (0-2, 1 Out)
B4 | Abby Duchscherer was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded (1-2, 1 Out)
B4 | Kali Heivilin chopped a two-run single up the middle (3-2, 1 Out)
T5 | The Aggies tied it up with an RBI single through the left side (3-3, 1 Out)
T5 | An RBI groundout gave Texas A&M back the lead (3-4, 1 Out)
B5 | After a leadoff triple, Kenleigh Cahalan scored on a wild pitch (4-4, 2 Out)
T6 | Aiyana Coleman pulled a two-run single through the right side (4-6, 1 Out)
T6 | Amari Harper drove in two with a single to center (4-8, 1 Out)
T6 | Another Aggie run scored on a fielding error (4-9, 2 Out)

Up Next: vs. #17/14 Arkansas (Fayetteville, Ark.)

Friday, April 19 – 6 p.m. CT
Saturday, April 20 – 8 p.m. CT – SEC Network
Sunday, April 21 – 1 p.m. CT - ESPNU

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