COLLEGE STATION – The ACU Wildcats gave the nation's seventh-ranked team all they could handle Saturday afternoon at Davis Diamond, but Texas A&M made a single run stand up as the Aggies handed the Wildcats a hard-luck 1-0 loss in the final game of the Aggie Classic.
The Wildcats went 0-5 on the season's opening weekend after an 11-0 loss to Purdue in their first game Saturday, followed later in the day by the 1-0 loss to Texas A&M. The Wildcats will play three teams from the Big Ten Conference next weekend in Commerce as they play the Lion Invitational. ACU will play Southern Illinois-Edwardsville and Iowa next Friday, Rutgers and Iowa on Saturday, and East Texas A&M (formerly Texas A&M-Commerce) next Sunday.
Here's a brief recap of ACU's games on Saturday at the Aggie Classic:
• Purdue 11, ACU 0 (box score) – Purdue jumped on the Wildcats early, scoring four runs in the first, two in the second, and five more in the third on its way to a run-rule victory over the Wildcats. ACU collected just one hit in the game, a one-out single in the top of the first by Rachel Cook. She was erased on a fielder's choice on a ball hit by Audrey Lacin, and those were the only two ACU baserunners in the game.
Texas A&M pitcher Madi Elish (1-1) went five innings, allowing just the one hit, and struck out four Wildcats. She didn't allow a walk and retired the final 13 ACU batters she faced.
• #7 Texas A&M 1, ACU 0 (box score) – The Wildcats and Aggies engaged in a pitcher's duel late Saturday afternoon as ACU's Lina Russo (0-2) and Texas A&M's Sydney Lessentine (1-0) kept opposing bats quiet the entire game.
Lessentine had a no-hitter working until Lacina singled with two outs in the sixth inning, bringing Ari Maxwell to the plate as the go-ahead run in a game the Aggies led 1-0. But Lessentine got Maxwell to pop out to shortstop Koko Wooley for the final out of the inning, stranding the tying run at second base.
In the top of the seventh, Valerie Ornelas singled to center with two outs, but Lessentine buckled down with the tying run at first, striking out pinch-hitter Chase Mueller for the final out.
Texas A&M scored the game's only run in the fourth inning when Frankie Vrazel doubled to left-centerfield, plating KK Dement. Russo was terrific in six innings of work, allowing just four hits and two walks while striking out a pair of Aggies.
