BYU softball falls late to Texas A&M in defensive battle

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Despite a pitchers' duel through nearly six scoreless innings and some defensive gems, BYU softball was overcome by Texas A&M in the bottom of the sixth inning, falling 4-0 Saturday afternoon at Davis Diamond.

"It was a tough pitching and defensive battle today," BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. "Texas A&M put the pressure on us in the sixth inning and a defensive mistake opened the door for them. They deserve credit for finding a way."

Game Highlights

• The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the sixth inning when the Aggies tallied four runs.
• Autumn Moffat and Kerisa Viramontes combined in the game with Moffat pitching five innings tallying four strikeouts and Viramontes finishing the game.

Player Highlights

• Rylee Jensen: 1-3
• Marissa Chavez: 1-3
• Autumn Moffat: L (6-10), 5.0 IP, 3ER, 1BB, 4K

BYU vs. Texas A&M Box

In the first inning, leadoff hitter Rylee Jensen, singled to get the Cougars (13-18, 0-0) on base. A sacrifice bunt from Ashley Godfrey got Jensen into scoring position but the she was left stranded in the top of the first. The Aggies (22-13, 0-0) went down in order in the bottom of the inning to keep the score at 0-0.

In the bottom of the second, Allie Hancock turned a double play, catching a line drive before diving back to tag first base to get the runner on first base out as well, ending the inning.

In the bottom of the fourth, with two Aggies on base, BYU shortstop Marissa Chavez dove to cut off a ball going to the outfield and threw a bullet to home plate in time for Sugg to tag the runner out to keep the game scoreless.

Texas A&M’s bats came alive in the bottom of the sixth. A double to right center followed by an intentional walk put the Aggies in a good position to score. A BYU throwing error resulted in a run for Texas A&M and advanced runners to second and third. A single to right field drove in another runner with no outs on the board.

A diving catch from center fielder Taylei Williams gave BYU its first out of the inning but another runner made it home to make the score 3-0. The Aggies finished out the inning with a single down the right field line to score the fourth run.

BYU was unable to get on base in the top of the seventh and Texas A&M took the win 4-0.

The Cougars head back to Utah to face Southern Utah University in Cedar City on Tuesday, April 2 at 3 p.m. MT. Then BYU will open up West Coast Conference play at Loyola Marymount for a weekend series.