Searcy, Ark. – Aundria Zunigia-Romero drilled a game-winning grand slam to give A&M-Commerce a 6-5 win in a darkness shortened game two after Courtney Moore turned in her fifth straight dominating performance in the circle in game one to lift the Lions to a 4-3 extra-inning win in game one at Harding Thursday in nonconference at the Harding Softball Field.
 
Courtney Moore dominated the early innings of game one allowing only one hit through the first four innings as the Lions clung to a 1-0 lead. December Rivers doubled in Luci Ponce in the first frame for the Lions lone run.
 
A&M-Commerce pushed its lead out to 3-0 in the fifth inning after Ponce blooped a double down the left field line with runners on second and third. Ponce's ball hit in front of the charging Bisons' left fielder and spun sideways allowing both runners to score and Ponce to reach second. 
 
Harding pushed its first run of the game across in the fifth inning when Emily Jones smacked a one-out double to right center and scored on a two-out RBI single up the middle off the bat of Kinsey Beck.
 
Moore ran into trouble in the bottom of the sixth inning after allowing three consecutive singles and a walk that led to a run cutting the deficit down to 3-2.  Zunigia-Romero came on in relief of Moore with the bases loaded and one out. Zunigia-Romero gave up a sacrifice fly to knot the game at three then ended the threat on a ground out to Ponce at first.
 
Moore's final line after five and a half innings of work was three runs -- all earned -- on six hits with five strikeouts.  She threw 87 pitches, 52 of which were strikes.  It was her fifth straight quality start for the Lions in the circle despite only earning one in the five-game span. 
 
With the international tiebreaker rule in effect for the nonconference game, Johnna Sturm started the eighth inning off on second base.  Cherie Jackson moved Sturm over to third on a sac bunt, and Baylea Higgs deposited a single into right to bring Sturm across the dish.  The hit give the Lions a 4-3 lead. Higgs's single held up to the be game winner after Zunigia-Romero worked through a bases loaded no out jam in the bottom half to pick up her 13th win of the season. 
 
Ponce paced the Lions at the dish with a 3-for-4 performance including two RBI and a run scored.  Two of Ponce's hits in the game both went for doubles.
 
With the Lions trailing 5-2 with two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the fifth of game two, Zunigia-Romero laced a 3-2 pitch into the trees in left field ripping down limbs as it sizzled over the fence for her second grand slam and third on the season for the Lions. The blast gave the Lions a 6-5 lead, their first of the ball game, with darkness looming. 
 
Harding jumped out to its lead with at least one in the first four innings including two in the second following an RBI single off the bat of Kinsey Beck.  Cyanne Fernandez, who was the second Lion relief pitcher, came on in the fourth inning, turned in the first scoreless inning in the bottom of the fifth inning to preserve the 6-5 lead.  Fernandez' scoreless inning came at the most important time for A&M-Commerce because in the top of the sixth with two outs and the base loaded the game was called due to the fleeting daylight.
 
The decision gave the Lions the 6-5 win and moved A&M-Commerce to 27-23 on the season – just three wins shy of the 30-win plateau.
 
Fernandez picked the win in circle, while Zunigia-Romero's grand slam highlighted a 2-for-3 game at the plate.  Oppenheim had three hits in four trips to the plate for the Lions.
 
Harding and A&M-Commerce will finish the home-and-home series Saturday at 1 p.m. at the John Cain Family Softball Field for the Lions regular season finale.  Saturday's game will be Fan Appreciation Day at the ballpark with free attendance to all fans who come out and celebrate the end of the inaugural 2015 regular season.
 
With the conclusion of LSC play for the Lions last weekend, A&M-Commerce sits in sixth place in the league standings with a .462 LSC winning percentage. Seventh place Midwestern State, after splitting a four-game series with Cameron the previous weekend, moved to 9-15 in the LSC for a .375 conference winning percentage. If the Mustangs sweep their final LSC opponent, eighth place Texas A&M-Kingsville at 15-25-1 and 6-17-1 down in Kingsville then MSU will jump A&M-Commerce for the sixth place spot by the narrowest margin -- .002.  Midwestern would carry a .464 winning percentage, while A&M-Commerce would be left out with a .462 percentage. 
 
Fans can follow all the action from the 2014-15 season on www.LionAthletics.com, through twitter @Lion_Athletics and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LionsAthletics.