COMMERCE – The No. 2 Texas A&M University-Commerce softball team steps out of the Lone Star Conference loop Wednesday for a key matchup with nationally-ranked Southern Arkansas.
 
WHO: Southern Arkansas at A&M-Commerce
WHERE: Commerce | John Cain Family Softball Field
WHEN: 2 p.m. on Wednesday, March 24
RECORDS: A&M-Commerce is 18-4 overall and 12-0 in the Lone Star Conference. Southern Arkansas is 9-3 overall and 6-2 in the Great American Conference.
RANKINGS: A&M-Commerce is second nationally in the NFCA Division II Coaches' Poll and Southern Arkansas is ranked 12th in the nation. (New rankings will be announced Wednesday morning.)

LIVE VIDEO: LSC Digital Network
LIVE STATS: http://statbroadcast.com/events/statmonitr.php?gid=tame
 
The latest… 
A&M-Commerce is on a 14-game winning streak with doubleheader sweeps of then-No. 16 Rogers State, Eastern New Mexico, then-No. 17 West Texas A&M, Western New Mexico, UT Permian Basin, Midwestern State, and Texas Woman's. The 14-game win streak is tied for the second-longest active streak in Division II, and second-longest in program history.
 

1	North Georgia	16
2	A&M-Commerce	14
3	Colorado Mesa	13
4	Lincoln Memorial	12
	Shepherd	12
	Sonoma State	12
	UT Tyler	12
8	Rollins	9
	Washburn	9

 
The 10-game home win streak is tied for the ninth-longest in Division II. St. Cloud State leads the nation in that category with 29 straight home wins.

The Lions are ranked second nationally, tying the highest-ever national ranking for the program. North Georgia is the No. 1 team, and neither team was voted lower than second in the nation, with UNG getting 12 first place votes and A&M-Commerce getting four.

The Lions lead the nation in shutouts, with 11 blankings in 22 games, tied with Lubbock Christian. This is in large part due to a 4.17 strikeout-to-walk ration which ranks 20th nationally. Alyssa LeBlanc ranks fourth nationally with 96 strikeouts and her 12 wins in the circle is tied for the national lead.
 
Narrow margins…
We usually highlight individual performances here, but the narrow differences between the teams in terms of key statistics is noteworthy
 

Stat	TAMUC	SAU
Batting Average	.324	.301
Runs per game	6.55	6.17
On-base percentage	.433	.430
Earned Run Average	2.05	2.12

 
On the opponent…
The Muleriders are on a four-game winning streak and held the No. 1 national ranking earlier in the season. In 12 games, three Muleriders have double-digit RBIS. Kaxynn Dixon has a .412 average with three homers and 11 RBIs. Sara Evans leads the team with 12 RBIs and has a .387 average. Five SAU players are hitting over .300.
 
Sydney Wader has a 1.87 ERA in the circle with four complete games and a 3-2 record. Victoria Taylor has a 2.90 ERA with 38 strikeouts in 31 innings, and a 6-0 record.
 
On the series history…
The all-time series is tied 2-2, with the Lions winning twice in 2015 and SAU winning in 2017 and 2020. In 2017, the Muleriders won a wild 15-14 game.