COMMERCE – The No. 7 Texas A&M University-Commerce softball team picked up two varieties of walk-off wins Tuesday in a sweep of No. 16 Rogers State University.
 
In the opening game, the Lions won 5-4 in eight innings, followed by an 8-0 win in five innings in the second contest.
 
The Lions are now 6-4 on the season and the Hillcats fall to 4-2. A&M-Commerce opens Lone Star Conference play this Friday with a home doubleheader against Eastern New Mexico at 4 p.m.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE (Game One)
- Kinsie Hebler (Cy-Fair) led the Lions with two RBIs and Uxua Modrego (Burlada, Spain) had two hits and two runs scored.
- Madison Schaefer (Frisco – Independence) and Alyssa LeBlanc (Katy) each had a solo homers.
- LeBlanc picked up the win in the circle, striking out five and walking two in 2.0 innings of relief to move to 5-2 on the season.
- Emily Otto (Lamar Consolidated) had a no decision, allowing three earned runs in 6.0 innings of work.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED (Game One)
The Lions took the lead in the bottom of the first, when Schaefer led off the inning with a monster homer to left for her second dinger of the season.
 
The Hillcats took advantage of an error in the third, then followed that up with a two-run homer by Makayla Bowman to go ahead 3-1. The guests extended that lead to 4-1 when Elexis Watson led off the fourth with a solo homer.
 
LeBlanc answered by leading off the bottom of the fifth with a solo homer to narrow the deficit to two runs. In the sixth, Mackenzie Dugi (St. Hedwig – East Central) led off with a bunt single and Modrego reached on an infield single. After the duo advanced to scoring position on a sacrifice bunt, Hebler doubled to left-center with two outs to tie the game.
 
After a scoreless seventh, LeBlanc pitched a perfect eighth, and Modrego used her legs to do the rest. She hit a single with one out and then stole both second and third base, setting up Avery Boley (Fort Worth – Nolan Catholic) for a walkoff sacrifice fly.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE (Game Two)
- Schaefer went 2-for-3 with three RBIs.
- LeBlanc had a two-run homer and a complete game shutout in the circle. She struck out seven, walked one, allowed one hit, and no runners reached scoring position.
- Hebler also mashed a homerun.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED (Game Two)
LeBlanc's dominance allowed the Lions to assert themselves at the plate. The scoring started in the third after Chealsea Slider (Texarkana – Texas) led off with a double and scored on Schaefer's single.
 
Boley was hit by a pitch to lead off the fourth, immediately followed by LeBlanc's second homer of the day to make it 3-0. With two runners in scoring position, Schaefer doubled, then scored on Dugi's single to make it 6-0. Modrego plated Dugi with a single, putting the run-rule in sight at 7-0 headed to the fifth.
 
The Lion faithful didn't have to wait long for the early ending, as Hebler mashed a one-out solo homer to left-center to complete the sweep.