CONROE – The No. 9 Texas A&M University-Commerce softball team fell to No. 25 Augustana, 4-1, to close out the Arkansas Tech Winter Invitational on Monday morning at the Scrap Yard Sports Complex.
 
A&M-Commerce is now 5-1 on the season after a strong overall performance at the ATU tournament. The Lions return to action at the St. Mary's College Classic on Friday through Sunday in San Antonio.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Ciera Nunez (Amarillo – Randall) went 2-for-4 with a stolen base.
- Kimber Neal (Humble – Atascocita), Bri Sims (Rowlett), and Kynslee Noriega (Kyle – Lehman) each notched hits, with Noriega driving in a run with a double.
- Kinsie Hebler (Cypress) was tagged with the loss to fall to 0-1 on the season, allowing three runs on four hits in 4.2 innings.
 
COACH RICHIE BRUISTER AFTER THE GAME
Thoughts on the day: "I'm proud of the weekend we had. We just got deep in the count today. We had a big zone when we were batting and instead of hitting early in the count, we let other people dictate what we were doing. We just didn't hit the ball. When you score one run, you aren't going to win. It makes it tough. [Augustana] did their job and had a big inning and that unfortunately was the end of it."
On working around base runners: "Kinsie did a great job pitching. That's what we wanted to see going into today. She had a tough outing earlier. We are really proud of the way Kinsie pitched this game. If we score runs for her, it's going to be a good season."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lion offense got runners on base early in the game but struggled to convert, stranding runners in scoring position in the first and third inning. Hebler worked around Augustana baserunners in the opening stages, and had a perfect inning in the fourth.
 
A&M-Commerce scratched across the game's opening run in the fourth. With a runner on second thanks to a leadoff single and advance on a fly out, Noriega doubled to the right-center gap to plate the run and put the Lions up 1-0.
 
Augustana rallied with two outs in the top of the fifth. A walk and a single put runners on base, and an Ashley Mickschl triple to left-center put the Vikings up 2-1. A two-run homer just over the left field fence pushed the lead for Augie to 4-1.
 
The Lions were retired in order in the fifth and stranded a runner in the sixth, while Emily Otto (Richmond – Lamar Consolidated) kept the Vikings off the board in the sixth and seventh to keep A&M-Commerce in striking distance.
 
Vanessa Muro (Oak Hills, Calif.) walked in a pinch hit situation with one out in the seventh, but the next two Lions were retired to end the game.