COMMERCE— The Texas A&M University-Commerce softball team will face No. 1 ranked Angelo State University in a three-game series over the weekend. The Rambelles are leading the Lone Star Conference and are also the top ranked team in the South Central Region.
 
WHO: Texas A&M-Commerce (30-15, 14-10 LSC) at Angelo State (46-4, 21-3 LSC)
WHERE: Mayer Field in San Angelo, Texas
WHEN: Friday, April 21 at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, April 22 at 1 and 3 p.m.
LIVE STATS: http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statbroadcast.php?t=1&gid=tame
LIVE WEBCAST: http://angelosports.com/watch/
 
The Lions are coming off of a series sweep of Western New Mexico. A&M-Commerce had no troubles scoring, bringing 35 runs across the plate over the four-game series. Head coach Richie Bruister knows his team is capable of getting runs across early and often and hopes the trend continues.
 
"We got up early in the first inning of every game," he said. "That's what you want to do. You want to play with the lead so your team can relax and go out there and do their thing. I was very proud of our offense and how they responded. You would love to score 35 runs every weekend. It doesn't always happen but you'd love to do that."
 
The Lions also had some impressive pitching outputs. As a whole, the staff gave up just two runs and held hitters to a .208 batting average. Bruister talked last week about his team's pitching needing to improve and he hopes the performances last week can serve as a springboard for more success in the future, especially against a lethal offense like ASU.
 
"I'd love for it to carry on," Bruister said. "You certainly gain confidence after those four games. They should be feeling good about themselves. We've got a little better team we are playing this week as compared to last week so they will definitely have to continue those efforts and improve on that. Even though their numbers were good, there were still areas that they need to improve on. They know those areas so hopefully they will do that this weekend."
 
The Lions will now face ASU on a field where the Rambelles have lost just once in 26 games. Bruister knows the No. 1 ranked team's success all begins with a pitching staff that has a combined 1.43 ERA and holds batters to a .187 average.
 
"It starts there in the circle," he said. "They have two number ones with [Brandy] Marlett and [Kenedy] Urbany. They are very good pitchers. And Morgan Hill is a good pitcher too, their number three. They have a very solid pitching staff. It starts there with them. And they've got a very good defense and offense too. They are going to keep you from scoring runs and they are going to score runs. They are just well balanced all the way around."
 
With six games remaining before the conference tournament, Bruister knows the importance of this three-game series. But he also feels like his team shouldn't be the ones feeling added pressure. With everything ASU is playing for, he thinks his team will be able to just focus on the games at hand.
 
"The pressure is on them," Bruister said of ASU. "They are number one in the country, they are number one in the conference. It is a tight race and they've got all the pressure. We get to go out there and play softball and they've got to play for a championship. I like our chances going in and doing that."
 
While going into San Angelo and beating the No. 1 team in the country is a tall task, Bruister is confident his team will be able to steal the series win. He knows it all starts with his pitching staff and builds from there.
 
"I've said it several times. They've got to keep us in the ball game," he said. "Our offense is one of the best in the country. We feel like we can score runs even though their pitchers are probably the best in the country. But so is our offense. We are going to give them everything we've got. We are going to put the ball in play and make them play good defense. Hopefully we will get some of those big swings and get people on base and hit some of those two or three-run home runs that we are capable of doing. If we do that, we've got a really good shot at winning."
 
While the team is no longer in contention to win the regular season conference title, the Lions are still fighting for position in both the conference and the regional standings. As things currently sit, the Lions are ranked ninth in the region, just one spot below the final seed that would qualify for the NCAA Tournament. The team is also fifth in the conference standings with six teams qualifying for the conference tournament. With eight games left on the schedule, Bruister knows his team needs to win each of its final three series to get the best position possible.
 
"It comes down to these games," he said. "We've got to win the series against Angelo. Then we've got a midweek, non-conference series against Oklahoma Baptist, a doubleheader. We need to win both of those games. Then we finish with TWU here. If we win that series, we finish 36-17. If we do that, we will probably be number five in the region and we are in the regional tournament at that point. We control our own destiny, which is good. It is in our hands. We've got to go out there and take care of business."