No. 15 Texas A&M softball is slated to host No. 1 Oklahoma in a top-15 matchup beginning on Thursday, April 30. The two teams share history, having been last scheduled to face off on May 10, 2025, in a battle for the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship. However, in an anticlimactic finish, the contenders never played due to inclement weather and were instead named co-champions.
A&M heads back to College Station after a series loss against South Carolina. The Aggies managed to avoid the sweep with a win in Game 2 but dropped the finale due to a throwing error from senior right-handed pitcher Grace Sparks, with the Gamecocks taking advantage of an error and walking off the game.
The Maroon and White folded in a pivotal moment of the series, but it won’t overshadow the pivotal players on their roster this season.
Junior first baseman Mya Perez is a name that has been in every Aggie softball fan’s mouth, and they should be thankful that Perez isn’t “going back to Cali.”
The Californian has resided with the Aggies since her freshman season in 2024. She broke a 43-year-old A&M record after she produced 73 RBIs in the 2025 season, and this year has been no different, with Perez recording an eye-popping batting average of .455 and 17 home runs.
“I just think she’s special, you guys,” head coach Trisha Ford said about Perez in a press conference. “We are so lucky to have her at Texas A&M. She’s probably one of the best pure hitters that I’ve ever coached.”
Oklahoma will still need stellar pitching to overcome Perez, but unfortunately for the Aggies, the red-hot Sooners’ pitching staff has played a substantial role in them earning their No. 1 rank.
Sophomore left-handed pitcher Audrey Lowry is a threat to watch out for. With 102.2 innings of work and flaunting a 2.45 ERA, Lowry is a testament to the Sooners’ strength in the circle.
The Sooners approach Davis Diamond coming off of a series sweep against then-No. 11 Georgia and are 18-3 in conference play. While its pitching is exceptional, it’s Oklahoma’s chart-topping offense that stuns its opponents.
A major contributor to the team’s nation-best batting average of .401 is junior utility player Ella Parker, the Sooner powerhouse hitter. Part of the 2024 national championship-winning team and having earned 2025 NFCA First Team All-American accolades, Parker continues to impress in her junior campaign.
The junior yields talent, experience and a whopping .430 batting average. Another Californian slugger, Parker has had four multi-home run games this season, and her bat has yet to cool down. Parker is a key cog in Oklahoma’s potent offense that A&M will have to keep in check this weekend.
In contrast to Perez, Aggie fans may begin to wish that Parker was “going back to Cali.”
Oklahoma is one of the most highly regarded softball programs in the country, partly due to the fact that it has won six national championships in the past 10 years. A&M stands in a great position to dethrone the top-ranked team because of its home field advantage — and sophomore RHP Sydney Lessentine.
Lessentine has thrown 119 innings and bears a 2.82 ERA. The New Mexico native has provided a dominant, reliable arm in the circle. In her freshman break-out season, Lessentine set the program record for most strikeouts in a seven-inning game after she chalked up 19 against Florida A&M.
Now a sophomore, Lessentine has recorded 93 strikeouts across 30 appearances. Even more impressive, Lessentine has pitched six complete games thus far, leading her team to victory in all six appearances.
Aside from Lessentine, the Aggies found another reliable arm in junior RHP Sidne Peters. The joint effort from the duo is something that the Maroon and White preached from the beginning of the season.
“Our saying this year is, ‘one circle, one standard,’” Lessentine said in a postgame interview. “So pitching staff together, we’re all in it together, we’re gonna work together to beat teams.”
The Fightin’ Farmers’ pitching staff will need to practice what they preach and work together to beat the Oklahoma phenomenon, freshman catcher Kendall Wells.
Wells has put up shocking numbers, and in a non-conference game against Wichita State, the freshman set the single-season SEC record for home runs after she hit her 27th of the year. The Sooner sits at 36 bombs on the season with a batting average of .377.
It may seem like a David versus Goliath matchup, but the SEC is a conference where anything can happen, and the Aggies’ 15-6 conference record is a reflection of their winning ability. And, not to mention, David ended up beating Goliath.
“I think this is who we are, I think we fight,” Ford said about her team. “You know, we’ve talked about that over and over. It’s something that I take a lot of pride in.”
No doubt the Maroon and White will fight in the upcoming series.
This meeting will mark the first-ever SEC matchup between A&M and Oklahoma. The Aggies and Sooners will begin their final conference series of the season on Thursday, April 30, with first pitch set for 8 p.m.
