Joel "Jewlz" Morris
Sports Editor
After losing the first game of the series in low-scoring fashion, 3-2, the Texas A&M University-San Antonio women’s softball team rebounded with more offense, scoring 13 runs to close out the series with back-to-back wins over Xavier University-Louisiana Golden Nuggets on April 11 at the Jags’ home field.
Celebrating their senior class was the biggest motivation after the initial loss, as A&M-San Antonio softball head coach Nicole Dame said it was important to give the seniors the best weekend possible.
“We just talked a lot to our players about honoring our seniors,” Dame said. “This is our senior weekend and just locking in on them and trying to give them the best senior weekend possible.”
The A&M-San Antonio Jags finished the series with a 7-2 win over Xavier, scoring all seven runs in the first four innings to take an early 7-0 lead.
The offense was clicking, totaling 10 hits, finding the middle of the field and making it difficult for the Golden Nuggets to make defensive plays.
Hitting the ball up the middle is a key strategy for the Jags, as assistant coach Javi Tovar consistently relays an urgent message about keeping the ball inside.
“If you hear my assistant coach, Coach Javi, that’s something he says, day in, day out, day in, day out, even if we don’t push middle, that is our goal and today, we just kind of really focused in on that,” Dame said “That’s just the biggest thing is we always try to push middle because even if we miss slightly, then we’re still going to get it between the lines.”
Contributing to the offense, while being a key on defense, was sophomore Krisilyn Corral. Corral was the starting pitcher, going all seven innings, and had four at-bats.
In the second inning, Corral got hot in the circle with two strikeouts, getting out of the inning quickly and protecting the Jags’ 4-0 lead.
Corral’s offensive production came from her four at-bats, with one being a hit into right field, sending her to third base while bringing a runner home, pushing the lead to 6-0 in the fifth inning.
Finishing the game with three total strikeouts, two RBIs, and scoring on her own, Corral showed versatility, her biggest selling point in recruiting her to the program, Dame said.
“When we were recruiting her, we felt that she could help us out, both in the circle and at the plate,” Dame said. “She’s a competitor, and she’s gonna find ways to win, that was one of the big things during the recruitment process, why we wanted to bring it to a program.”
Earning two wins in this series, the Jags remain the fifth seed in the Red River Athletic Conference but only 1.5 games behind Texas A&M University-Victoria for the fourth seed.
The Jags would look to pile on more wins in their next series versus the University of the Southwest-New Mexico on the road, starting at 1 p.m. on April 17.
