From excellent at-bats to stellar pitching performances, Texas A&M softball advanced to Game 2 of the Bryan-College Station Regional after run-ruling Saint Francis 18-0, in five innings on Friday, May 16.

“[Players] know every day when we come to practice, they [know], we do not accept mediocracy here,” A&M coach Trisha Ford said. “I wake up competitive. That’s how I am wired.”

The lopsided win was in great part due to the pitching duo of freshman left-handed pitcher Sydney Lessentine and sophomore right-handed pitcher Sidne Peters, who combined to throw a no-hitter and eight strikeouts.

“S squared [Lessentine and Peters] was in full effect today,” coach Ford said. “I thought Lessentine did a great job. I felt like she hit some quadrants of the zone that we haven’t hit consistently. And her change up looked really good. It was back to its normal self. So, you know, this kid can spin the ball.”

Lessentine started off the party in the top of the first with two strikeouts, delivering a quick 1-2-3 to the Red Flash. 

“Just making sure not to make anything too big out of it,” Lessentine said about the pressure she faces as a freshman. “And just like [Ford] said, executing everything and taking everything I’ve been working on into the bullpen.”

Saint Francis got off to a shaky start in the outfield after allowing lead-off batter and junior third baseman Kennedy Powell’s triple to bounce off the center fielder’s glove. A single by senior shortstop Koko Wooley in the following play drove Powell home for the ice-breaking first run. 

Another deep hit to center field — this time from junior first baseman Amari Harper —  ricocheted off of Red Flash’s junior center fielder Savannah Nash for the second time in the inning to give A&M a 2-0 lead.

After the Flash’s ace-in-the-hole, sophomore left-handed pitcher Allie Braly loaded up the bases off a walk on freshman second baseman KK Dement. Stepping up to the plate, senior CF Allie Enright knew what was expected of her and sent a shallow hit to the middle of the diamond for a two-run RBI.

Braly looked rattled as she walked her third batter of the inning, but finally got the much-needed third out as freshman right fielder Kelsey Mathis grounded out to third base for a last single-run RBI, leaving A&M up 5-0. 

Lessentine found her groove in the top of the second after giving up two free bases, striking out two more batters in a quiet offensive inning for Saint Francis. 

“Ball six, seven and eight” chants crept up from the 12th Man in the bottom of the second — reminiscent of the Aggies on the corner of Olsen and Bush — before Barbara broke the score open with a three-run RBI home run shot to the fans waiting outside of the center field wall. 

Woes continued in the circle as the Red Flash subbed in freshman right-handed pitcher Madelynn Bates who quickly loaded the bases for the Aggies. Powell was hit by pitch after Mathis flied out on the previous play, pushing the score to nine before Wooley could extend it to 11 with a two-run RBI single past SS sophomore Hannah Bendle.

Needing one more out to close the inning, pressure crumbled the team from Lorretto, Pennsylvania, as the Aggies’ lineup came at the Flash full-force, loading on four runs behind another handful of mistakes. 

The second inning finally came to a close after sophomore pinch hitter Scout Lovell grounded out, but not before hearts were broken and tears were shed, particularly those in the outfield who dropped fly balls that even little leaguers would be ashamed of. 

Another uneventful inning came and left, with Saint Francis still struggling to connect bat-to-ball. Newcomers and backup infielders flooded the A&M batting lineup in the third inning, with the next run coming from freshman CF Frankie Vrazel. Vrazel was originally called out on a throwing error, but following the review, it was overturned as obstruction by the defense — another fatal error from the Red Flash.

“I think it’s huge,” Ford said about the use of backups and fresh-faces today. “And I think you can kind of draw from last year, like, this is the time of year that [sophomore designated player] Mya Perez really came out and and really started to understand what it was like to play at this level. And so my anticipation is there’s going to be somebody that got some at bats today, that you know has been in and out of our lineup that we’re going to look at next year and be able to talk about the Mya Perez effect.”

Despite going for the no-hitter, Lessentine retired in the top of the fourth for Peters, who threw two strikeouts in her first glance on the circle since March 21, after going down with an injury that could have sidelined the transfer from Washington.

“I think we all were just, yeah, really happy for Peters.” Ford said. “Today she was like a little kid, like she was playing her first tee ball game. So the whole bench, I think the whole pitching staff, will tell you, we’re really happy for her to get out there again and compete.”

It wouldn’t be a normal Aggie softball game without at least one wild grab, this time it was Dement who sealed her submission for a Sports Center Top-10 Play, complete with a diving catch at shortstop. 

Three more walks issued by the Flash’s freshman LHP Addison Deal would end her reign in the bottom of the fourth after giving up two runs and five walks, tied for the most in a 5-inning NCAA Tournament game for walks thrown by a bullpen, with 14 total.

“The worst has happened,” Saint Francis coach Beth Krysiak said when asked about pitching problems. “Let’s move on … we talk about like, let one day be one day. Let one thing, be one thing, and trust that you’ve had a lot of days that you pitched really well. Everyone has a bad day.”

Scrapping the bottom of its pen for anyone who can throw a strike, sophomore DP and RHP Olivia Kolowitz got Saint Francis out of the inning, but not before giving up another two runs, A&M leading 18-0.

Next, A&M will face Liberty on Saturday at 1 p.m., a foe who trounced Marist in its first game of the Bryan-College Station Regional, 10-5.