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The stats indicated Texas A&M was the likelier team to explode for five home runs in the opener of the Lafayette regional, but then Tiarra Davis happened. Team leader and senior center fielder Lindsey Stephens had two of Texas' five solo home runs, giving her a dinger in four straight games now. That's a pretty good way to try and extend your senior year.
The other three Texas long balls came from freshman Reagan Hathaway, junior Kelli Hanzel, and junior Mickenzi Krpec. And then there was Davis. She had the Aggie hitters off balance all game long, so much so that one of those solo shots would have been enough to win the game. While Texas was hitting five over the fence, A&M was getting five hits total (to be fair, Texas only had two hits that stayed in the park). Davis struck out 11 along the way (in a 21-out game) and had an answer for every Aggie threat.
In a double-elimination regional, winning both of your first two games is crucial. The winner of tomorrow's Texas-Lafayette game will be sitting pretty--needing to win just one of two against whoever emerges from the losers' bracket on Sunday. The hosts advanced to face Texas with a 9-5 victory over a game team of BU Terriers, who jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. The Cajuns responded quickly with a three-run bottom of the frame behind an RBI double followed by a two-run homer from first baseman Kelsey Vincent. ULL would extend the lead to 7-1 before BU put up a fifth-inning three spot, but they would never get any closer than 7-4.
It's not clear to me at the time of writing what the television situation will be, but you should at least be able to catch the Texas game(s) tomorrow on one of ESPN's platforms. Texas will play Lafayette at 11 AM, followed at 1:30 by an elimination game between the Aggies and Terriers. The winner of that one will play a second elimination game against the UT-ULL loser at 4:00 PM, and the winner of that will take on the UT-ULL winner for the regional title on Sunday.
This will be your open thread for Saturday's games. The once-common feeling of beating Texas A&M at sports is a precious experience now, so savor the Longhorns' opening win. Hook 'em!