Stephenville, Texas – Tarleton State rallied twice in the final frame to pick up a pair of walk-off wins, 4-3 in eight innings and 11-10, over A&M-Commerce in a Lone Star Conference doubleheader Friday night at the Tarleton State Softball Complex.
 
With the losses, the Lions fall to 18-18 overall and 7-9 in the LSC, while the TexAnns improve to 20-14 on the season and 7-5 in league play.
 
In game one, Tarleton State started the scoring thanks to a two-out, two-run home run off the bat of Katelyn Conlee, but the Lions answered in the next half inning to tie the game.
 
Luci Ponce led off the inning with a walk, but was forced out at second when Aundria Zunigia-Romero reached on fielder's choice.  After a strikeout, Kylene Hatton smacked an opposite field double into the gap in left to plate Zunigia-Romero.  Johnna Sturm reached on an error that allowed Hatton to score from second on the play to tie the game at two. The inning ended when Sturm tried to advance to second on the over at first.
 
The Lions took the lead, 3-2, in third inning when Monica Cherry reached to lead off the inning on a hit by a pitch. Cherry swiped second and later took third. The throw to third was wide and Cherry advanced home.
 
Conlee and Tarleton State pulled even at three in the bottom of the sixth on Conlee's second homer of the game in almost the exact same spot in right center field.
 
The TexAnns completed the come-from-behind win in the bottom of the eighth.  After back-to-back singles from Conlee and Nyka Wood, the latter of which took a bad hop as it headed into center field, to put runners on the corners with one out.  Erika Menchaca stepped up and hit a ball through the left side of the infield to plate Conlee, who accounted for all of Tarleton State's runs.
 
Zunigia-Romero took the loss for the Lions after working one and a third innings of relief.  She allowed three hits and the lone run while recording one strikeout. Selena Rima got the no decision for the Lions after working six innings and getting the start.  She allowed five hits and three runs while striking out two.
 
Brenna Hennan got the win for the TexAnns after four innings of work.  Hennan allowed only one hit and struck out three.
 
Game two started off sloppy for the Lions defensively. Melody Mayse led off with a single and then swiped second.  Savannah Stech followed with an infield single and moved Mayse to third.  Stech took second on a pass ball to get in scoring position, but the Lions allowed Mayse and Stech to score on a throwing error on a ground ball to third off the bat of Wood.  Wood moved to second on an errant throw attempting to get Stech out at home.  Menchaca followed with double down the left field line plating Wood and giving the TexAnns a 3-0 lead.
 
A&M-Commerce tied the game at three in the top of the fourth when Ponce smashed a double over the head of the left fielder.  Zunigia-Romero followed with a two-run homer over the fence in right to cut the lead down to 3-2, but the Lions were not done yet. Hatton restarted the rally with a double and moved to third on an error, and Cyanne Fernandez drove Hatton home with single to right field.
 
However, the TexAnns answered with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the frame.  Tarleton State scored its three runs on two hits and two more Lion errors. With the bases loaded and two outs, the Lions committed their second error of the inning on a grounder off the bat of Wood allowing the inning to continue and a run to score.  Menchaca followed with a single to left plating Conlee, who reached on an intentional walk, and the third TexAnn run came on an illegal pitch with the bases loaded.
 
Tyler Oppenheim started off the top of the fifth with a walk then stole second to move into scoring position.  After a strikeout, Ponce walked, but Zunigia-Romero hit into a fielder's choice for the second out of the inning. Cherie Jackson stepped to the plate and hit a laser over the right center field fence knotting the game at six.
 
Tarleton State again answered in the home half of the inning. Delaney Wayland led off with a walk to start the rally. After a strikeout, Mayse mashed a triple to right bringing Wayland around to score.  After a groundout and an intentional walk to Conlee, Wood hit a grounder back up the middle bring around both Mayse and Conlee and give the Texas a 9-6 lead.
 
A&M-Commerce took a turn to answering the bell with a statement sixth inning. With one out, Magen Lynch reached on a bunt single and stole second. Oppenheim plated Lynch with a perfectly placed ball over the shortstop's head to trim the lead down 9-7.  Ponce drove home Oppenheim with a two-out single to center, and Zunigia-Romero hit a towering drive over the right field fence to give the Lions their first lead of the game, 10-9.
 
Tarleton State, for the second straight game, picked up the come-from-behind walk-off win.  Mayse started the inning off with a single up the middle and the stole second. After a strikeout, Conlee tied the game at 10 with an infield single deep in the hole. The ball got away and allowed Mayse to round third and score.  After Wood singled to left, Menchaca again delivered the knockout blow, this time it was an RBI single down the right field line to seal the 11-10 win for the TexAnns.
 
Zunigia-Romero was saddled with the loss for the second straight game after two and two-thirds innings of work. She allowed five runs and six hits.  Courtney Moore earned the start for the Lions but lasted only three and two-thirds after six runs with all six runs unearned.
 
Four Lions recorded two hits in the game – Ponce, Zunigia-Romero, Hatton and Fernandez. Both of Zunigia-Romero's hits where homers marking the second time this season a Lion has hit multiple home runs in a game.
 
Hatton moved her current on-base streak to seven games for her longest consecutive on-base stretch of the season after reaching base safely in both games.
 
Zunigia-Romero and Jackson each drove home three runs in the game.  It was Jackson's first three-RBI game of the season and Zunigia-Romero's fourth three-RBI game and eighth multi-RBI game.  Zunigia-Romero and Jackson
 
The two teams will wrap up the four-game LSC series Saturday with a twinbill starting at 1 p.m.
 
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