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No. 5 Texas A&M walks off No. 3 Florida in thrilling SEC opener

Screenshot 2024-07-31 at 7.46.34 PMby: Brady Vernon03/08/25BradyVernon
Screenshot 2025-03-07 at 7.29.06 PM
Courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics

Mac Barbara has plenty of power, but this time she simply did enough. The blooper into left field appeared to give Mya Perez, the Aggies’ best hitter against Florida starter Katelynn Oxley on Friday, a chance to win it in the seventh.

But as the ball hit the grass, chaos ensued. Kennedy Powell raced into third base, beating the throw. Barbara then headed to second and the throw went into right field, allowing Powell to score the winning run in No. 5 Texas A&M’s 3-2 win over No. 3 Florida in the series opener.

Perez was the first Aggie that found success against Oxley, who started instead of Keagan Rothrock – more on the Gators’ ace later. She blasted her sixth home run of the season, pushing Texas A&M to a 1-0 lead.

Oxley went pitch for pitch against Emiley Kennedy in her SEC debut. The freshman displayed her changeup that kept the Aggies off-balanced most of the night. That put the pressure on Kennedy to be perfect, and she was good for most of the night. She escaped a bases loaded jam in the fourth to maintain the lead. However, a pitcher can only keep Florida scoreless for so long. Freshman sensation Taylor Shumaker tied the game in the fifth, hitting her nation’s best 13th home run.

Kendra Falby once again showed that she’s a game-changer in the outfield. In the biggest moment of the night, Perez faced Oxley again with the bases loaded in a tie game. Perez smoked another ball destined to be a grand slam. However, Falby had other ideas. The speedy center fielder chased it down and robbed Perez of her second home run of the night. While the Aggies took the lead on a sacrifice fly, Falby threw the ball back in quick enough to cut Koko Wooley at the plate trying to score from second base.

Florida didn’t waste long to repay Falby for her efforts. Kenleigh Cahalan hit her seventh home run, tying the game at two. But the Gators could only muster the two solo home runs against the lefty, who had a bounce-back outing. Kennedy went seven innings, allowing two runs on four hits and working around six walks.

Texas A&M will likely turn to either Sidne Peters or Grace Sparks on Saturday. Meanwhile, Kara Hammock or Ava Brown will start for the Gators as sources told Softball America that Rothrock did not travel with Florida due to an injury.

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