COMMERCE— The Texas A&M University-Commerce softball team is set to kickoff the 2018 season with a five-game tournament in New Mexico. The Lions will face five opponents from the South Central Region, including two opponents ranked in the top 25. The tournament will be held at Cleveland High School in Rio Rancho, New Mexico.
 
Feb. 2
A&M-Commerce vs. New Mexico Highlands, 10 a.m. MST (11 a.m. CST)
A&M-Commerce vs. Adams State, 12:30 p.m. MST (1:30 p.m. CST)
 
Feb. 3
A&M-Commerce vs. No. 22 St. Mary's, 10 a.m. MST (11 a.m. CST)
A&M-Commerce vs. No. 8 Colorado Mesa, 12:30 p.m. MST (1:30 p.m. CST)
 
Feb. 4
A&M-Commerce vs. Metro State, 10 a.m. MST (11 a.m. CST)
 
LIVE STATS: http://lionathletics.com/schedule.aspx?path=softball
 
The Lions are coming are coming off of a 34-20 campaign from a season ago, which earned them sixth place in the Lone Star Conference. The Lions were knocked out in the first round of the conference tournament and just missed advancing to the South Central Regional Tournament.
 
The Lions Softball program is entering its fourth year of existence. In the program's first three seasons, the team has become the fastest program in NCAA history to reach 100 wins, which the Lions did on the final game of the 2017 regular season. With the original freshman class now entering their senior years, head coach Richie Bruister is looking to bring the program to its best finish to date.
 
"Time has definitely flown fast," Bruister said. "It is hard to believe it is our fourth year. This year those freshmen that came in and started the program, I want the best season that we have ever had on the field for them. I want them to go out on top. They have been here from day one and have seen our program grow and I want to get it to the top. That has been my goal in recruiting, to surround them with a team that can take us to new heights."
 
The Lions return 12 players from a season ago, including All-American Mariah Jameyson. Jameyson led all of Division II last year in home runs and was third in the nation with 70 runs batted in. She became the second player in school history to be named an All-American, being named a Second Team All-American by three different organizations. Bruister is excited to have the reigning LSC Newcomer of the Year back for her senior season.
 
"It is great to have her on your team," Bruister said of Jameyson. "She was the nation's leading home run hitter and having her come back, it is easy to build a team around her. We are excited to have her back for another year and we are excited for the team we have built around her offensively. We have added protection to her. People know who she is now. She is going to continue to work hard; she is one of the hardest workers that we have in the program. She knows what to expect and the players that are around her are better and they need to do their part to help her get those pitches and have another outstanding year."
 
The Lions return seven of their nine starters from last season and have another senior returning from an early season injury. The team returns all five of its All-Conference selections and two of the team's three golden glove winners. The team was in the top 20 in the country in double plays turned and in fielding percentage and Bruister looks for the defensive side of the ball to continue to excel.
 
"One of the things we are very proud of is our defense," he said. "When you talk about the gold glovers that we had up the middle last year, that is what you want. We are certainly excited about our defense and what we are doing. It is exciting to keep people from scoring runs."
 
The Lions have also added 10 new players to the roster. These include five freshmen, two Division I transfers, two junior college transfers and one graduate student. Bruister is excited to see the new players gel with the returners and help lift the team to its goals.
 
"We brought in new people to fill in some holes that we had," he said. "It is going to be exciting to see them on the field and get to see them perform at the level that they are capable of. It is going to be fun."
 
With the new additions and the returners back for another season, Bruister is confident he and his staff have put together a team that will be able to score runs. He knows the Lone Star Conference is a conference that is full of high powered offenses. Bruister feels like his team can compete with the best of the conference, and the best in all of Division II. After finishing second in the country in stolen bases and in the top 20 in on base percentage, slugging percentage and home runs, Bruister has set the team's sights even higher.
 
"We hope for even better things," he said. "Our goal is to lead the nation in scoring and lead the nation in stolen bases. That is something that we pride ourselves in. Coach [Christina] May is doing an outstanding job on the offensive side of things It is wonderful to have her on my staff. We are built with a lot of speed and power. It is a well-balanced offense that we are looking at. We want to go to the top with it. Let's score more than everybody. That is one of our goals this year."
 
Bruister is also excited to have the majority of his starters return. After the team finished as one of the best fielding teams, he is confident the team can excel once again. With a few new additions to the pitching staff, he feels his team will keep runs off the board.
 
"We are excited about Coach [Doug] Caison and our pitching staff," Bruister said. "They are much improved having a full year to work with him. It's exciting to see the development of the returning pitchers along with our new pitchers that we have. That's one of the things that I think we are even better at than last year. Defense wins championships and that is what we are counting on. We are counting on them to get the job done. We know we are going to score runs. That is a good combination for success there."
 
The Lions begin their season with a tournament in New Mexico against five regional opponents. The teams include two teams ranked in the top 25 in the country and other successful programs. Bruister is excited to test his team right off the bat.
 
"It is a great in-region tournament for us," he said. "We have one of the toughest schedules in the country this year and it was built that way for a reason. We want the opportunity to be able to host regionals in Commerce. And to do that, you have to go out and play the best in your region and in the country and that is what this weekend is affording us.
 
"We are going out there to be able to play some of the top teams in our region. Two conference champions from the RMAC and Heartland Conference and other teams that have been regionally ranked in these past years. We are excited about the opportunity to go out there and play great competition. We feel like we have a very good team that is going to go in there and do a really good job and be able to reach those goals that we have. We want to be nationally ranked and be able to host regionals. These are the kinds of tournaments that give you that opportunity, if you do your job. We plan on doing that."
 
After the tournament, the Lions return home to host their home-opening series against St. Edward's. The Lions will face the Hilltoppers in a doubleheader on Feb. 7 starting at 3 p.m. at the John Cain Family Softball Field.