COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The No. 1 overall seeded Texas A&M softball team kicked off the Bryan-College Station regional Friday afternoon.
The Aggie offense jumped out scoring 18 runs across five innings, picking up exactly where they left off in the SEC tournament, and the pitching staff followed suit in the circle, throwing a combined five inning no hit shutout. A&M, took care of business in game one, taking down Saint Francis 18-0 in 5 innings.
“Obviously, a great job by us today, I felt like we were efficient, and all aspects of the game,” Ford said. “I thought offensively, we again did a tremendous job of making sure that we were hunting pitches over the plate. We stuck to our plan, and then I felt like we pounded the zone like we needed to. So overall, pleased.”
The Maroon & White jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the first, but in the second A&M broke it open with a 10 run inning. Koko Wooley and Amari Harper, led the offense both going 3-3. Wooly, driving in three runs, and Harper finishing with six RBI.
“I think I've never been a home run hitter,” Harper said. “That's kind of something that just popped out randomly this year. So, it's something new that I can do. Obviously, all the time I'm just trying to think, get on base and get them in, get them over. So I think that mentality is just helped me move through the box.”
The Aggie pitching stuff was dominant in the circle, freshman Sydney Lessentine got the start and finished her day throwing three hitless innings, allowing just one walk while striking out five. And after battling an injury for the last couple months, Sophomore Sidne Peters made her first appearance since March 21st. She was able to complete the no-hitter, allowing just one walk, finishing with three strikeouts.
“It's great,” Lessentine said. “Just making sure not to make anything too big out of it, and just, like she [Ford] said, executing everything and taking everything I've been working out into the bullpen to the field.”
“Peters, I think we all were just, 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. I mean, that's all they want to do is get out there and compete and help Texas A&M softball win a softball game.”
The Aggies will take on the Liberty Flames in the winner's bracket, Saturday afternoon. First pitch at Davis Diamond is set for 1 p.m.
