A&M's Lessentine picks up where Peters left off by tossing shutout against Bulldogs
Friday was the Sidne Peters show in the circle for Texas A&M and on Saturday it was Sydney Lessentine's turn.
Lessentine led the 12th-ranked Aggies to their first shutout in Southeastern Conference play this season with a 4-0 win over No. 14 Mississippi State in Game 2 to win the three-game series at Davis Diamond.
"At the beginning of the game I felt like she could've made her ball spin a little bit, so her and I talked about that," Texas A&M head coach Trisha Ford said. "But [Lessentine] is special. She can go up, she can go down, she can go inside, she can go outside and she has a changeup. Any coach would love to have a pitcher like that."
Ford, who is also the team's pitching coach, says the message that she constantly sends to Lessentine is that the sophomore "is really good" and that she needs to own her greatness.
Ford says as the season's gone on that Lessentine has grown.
Signs of the growth were on display for Ford in the shutout as the right-hander shook off Ford in the sixth inning and got the batter out.
"She shook me for the first time tonight and I was so happy because I keep saying you have the best view, like I want to know what you want to throw," Ford said. "And so, for me, that was a really big growth moment. And so, when she came back in the dugout, I was like, ‘Oh, I liked that' and she was like, 'Yeah, I didn't feel great with that pitch. I wanted to do this.' And I'm like, ‘That's what I want to see out of you. I want you to own your process and your pitching.'"
As a team, the Aggies (33-12, 13-4) have owned the pitching in this series so far. In 14 innings against the Bulldogs, A&M's pitching staff has allowed just one run, seven hits, six walks, hit one batter and struck out six.
On Friday, Peters gave up four hits, one run, walked two and struck out four. On Saturday, Lessentine gave up three hits, four walks and struck out two.
"She set the standard for us yesterday, so we're just all expected to go out there and do the same thing she did," Lessentine said of Peters. "She started us off on a high note."
The shutout was A&M's first since a five-inning 8-0 win over Kennesaw State at Davis Diamond on Feb. 27.
It was A&M's first conference shutout since a 1-0 win at Tennessee last season. The Aggies' last SEC shutout at home also came last season in a 2-0 win over Arkansas.
Mississippi State (34-13, 6-11) has been shut out five times this season. The Bulldogs have been shut out by Belmont, Clemson, South Carolina, Florida and Arkansas.
The Aggies didn't have to do much at the plate to put runs across as three of A&M's four runs came without swinging the bat. In the second inning, Ariel Kowalewski was hit by a pitch to lead off before Kelsey Mathis and KK Dement both walked.
Paislie Allen struck out but pinch-hitter Maddie Sauni walked and Kennedy Powell was hit by a pitch to put the Aggies ahead 2-0. A short rain delay followed but the Aggies scored again out of the delay as Tallen Edwards walked before a strikeout and groundout ended the chance.
A&M's final run came off a sacrifice fly from Micaela Wark in the sixth inning.
Both teams had just three hits, but the biggest difference was the number of walks that Mississippi State's Alyssa Faircloth issued.
"[They had] nine walks and that's what really cost them the game," Ford said. "I think we do a really good job of making the strike zone feel small and not swinging out of the zone and I thought we battled a tough strike zone today."
The Aggies, winners of eight in a row, will go for the sweep at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.