COMMERCE— The Texas A&M University-Commerce softball team hit the road to face West Texas A&M in a three-game series. The Lady Buffs are currently ranked ninth in the country and are in second place in the Lone Star Conference.
WHO: Texas A&M-Commerce (26-12, 11-7 LSC) at West Texas A&M (29-6, 14-4 LSC)
WHERE: Schaeffer Park in Canyon, Texas
WHEN: Friday, April 7 at 7 p.m., Saturday, April 8 at 2 and 4 p.m.
LIVE STATS: http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statbroadcast.php?t=1&gid=tame
LIVE WEBCAST: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/wtamu/
The Lions are coming off of a series win against Eastern New Mexico. The Lions lost the first game of the series 5-4 but bounced back to take the next two games. Head coach
Richie Bruister was pleased with how his team fought back to win the series 2-1.
"We were dealing with adversity again," he said. "We came out that first game and it was a close ball game that we felt like we should have won. I was really proud of how our team responded. We came back and won the next two games 7-1 and 8-0."
As part of that 8-0 win on Saturday, freshman
Kinsie Hebler threw her second no-hitter of the season. Bruister praised his pitcher/utility player for both her work in the circle and at the plate. He also credited his pitching coach,
Doug Caison, on her development.
"She's got a great mentality," Bruister said of Hebler. "That's what we've seen from her this year. She is growing into a great pitcher and a great hitter. I am very proud of her. I'm very proud of my pitching coach, Coach Caison, with the job he has done with her and the work that they have done in the bullpen to prepare themselves for the ball games."
The Lions have 12 more conference games before the postseason tournament. Bruister knows there are still a lot of games to be played and knows his team still has an opportunity to climb in the standings. He is confident his team will continue to improve over the next month.
"You've got to continue to get better," he said. "I don't feel like we have peaked this year. We are going to continue to keep running those bases and hit a lot and score a bunch of runs. That's the name of this conference. It is an offensive conference. You've got to outscore your opponents so that's what we are going to continue to try to do."
The Lions now travel to take on West Texas A&M in a three-game series. In the first two seasons of the program, WT has had more success, but Bruister has seen how his team has improved going into its third season. The Lions took a game in the series both years, including handing the Lady Buffs their first loss of the season last year.
"We stopped their 30-game win streak last year," he said. We knocked them out of the No. 1 spot two years ago in our first year as a program. Our team should be confident going in there knowing we can beat them. Last year, we led in three of the four game. With that being said, we are excited. We look forward to the challenge."
Bruister also understands it won't be easy. He knows his team will have to execute their game plan and play three complete games to have a chance.
"We've got to play our game," he said. "We've got a lot of strengths that match up really well. We like our chances. But it is a tough place to play. We know that. We know what to expect but we have been there and done that. We are going to have to be disciplined at the plate. We are going to have to execute on defense and on our pitches. If we do that, we will come out on top."
