COMMERCE – The No. 3 Texas A&M University-Commerce softball team heads west this weekend for two Lone Star Conference series, starting at Western New Mexico on Friday.
 
WHO: A&M-Commerce at Western New Mexico
WHERE: Silver City, N.M. | WNMU Softball Field
WHEN: Noon MST (1 p.m. CST) on Friday, March 12
RECORDS: A&M-Commerce is 10-4 overall and 4-0 in the Lone Star Conference. Western New Mexico is 1-3 overall and in LSC play.
RANKINGS: A&M-Commerce is ranked third nationally in the NFCA Division II Coaches' Poll.

LIVE VIDEO: LSC Digital Network
LIVE STATS: http://statbroadcast.com/events/statmonitr.php?gid=tame
 
The latest… 
A&M-Commerce is on a six-game winning streak with doubleheader sweeps of then-No. 16 Rogers State, Eastern New Mexico, and then-No. 17 West Texas A&M. The last five wins have been shutouts and the Lions are on a program-record 33.1 inning scoreless streak.
 
This series marks the Lions' first away games of the season and ends a run of 18 straight games in Commerce. The Lions have played 120 innings of softball since the last time they batted in the top half of an inning.

Alyssa LeBlanc (Katy) was the LSC Pitcher of the Week for the second time this season, going 4-0 without allowing a run and holding opponents to a .133 batting average. For the year, she leads the nation with eight wins in the circle, an 8-2 record, 1.43 ERA, and 69 strikeouts in 49.0 innings. She ranks second in the conference and fourth in the nation in strikeouts this season with 69, only one behind the LSC leader.
 
Uxua Modrego (Burlada, Spain) was last week's LSC Hitter of the Week, leading the Lions at the plate, earning at least one hit in every game of the week with a batting average of .526. For the season, she is hitting .442 with 19 hits, 8 RBIs, and 11 runs. Her 19 hits ranks eights in the LSC.
 
Madison Schaefer (Frisco – Independence) ranks seventh in the LSC in hits with 20, ninth in walks with 8, 10^th in batting average at .444, 11^th in RBIs with 13, 11^th in doubles with five, 12^th in homeruns with three, and 12^th in on-base percentage at .528. Kinsie Hebler (Cy-Fair) leads the league in walks drawn with 13.
 
On the opponent…
In only four games this season, Western New Mexico is hitting .301 with 15 runs scored. The Mustangs beat Texas Woman's in their opener, then dropped three straight. As a team, the Mustangs have a 5.68 team ERA.
 
Brittany Santellanes went 8-for-11 in the Mustangs' first weekend with three RBIs and a .769 on-base percentage. Bryana Munoz has struck out 13 batters in 15.2 innings.
 
On the series history…
The Lions are 10-0 all-time vs. WNMU since the Mustangs joined the LSC prior to the 2017 spring season. This is the Lions' second trip to Silver City, where they picked up a three-game sweep in 2018. The Lions have either shutout the Mustangs and scored less than 10 runs (twice) or won with double digit runs and at least a nine-run margin (eight times). The Lions have outscored WNMU 142-19 in the 10 meetings.