COMMERCE – The No. 6 Texas A&M University-Commerce softball team picked up a doubleheader sweep of St. Mary's University on Sunday, avenging a pair of losses from earlier this season.
 
The Lions took an 8-0 win in six innings in the first game, followed by a 5-3 win in the second game.
 
With the sweep, the Lions are now 25-10 overall and 18-4 in the Lone Star Conference, while St. Mary's is 16-16 overall and 11-9 in the league.
 
A&M-Commerce has four LSC doubleheaders remaining in the regular season, with the next two on the road. The Lions play at Cameron on Friday and Oklahoma Christian on Sunday.

HEAD COACH RICHIE BRUISTER AFTER THE GAMES
 
GAME ONE
Alyssa LeBlanc (Katy) had a dominant performance both in the circle and at the plate to push the Lions to the 8-0 win in the opening game of the day. She moved her pitching record to 14-6 on the season with the complete game shutout, striking out 10 and walking one, while allowing two singles. Only one Rattler made it to scoring position in the entire contest.
 
The Lion offense made sure to take advantage of opportunities they were given after leaving runners on the corners in the first inning. Six straight Lions reached base in the third to score the opening runs of the day. LeBlanc plated the first two runs with a bases loaded single, Avery Boley (Fort Worth – Nolan Catholic) scored a run with a single, pinch runner Da'Jia Davis (Waco Midway) scored on a wild pitch, and Chealsea Slider (Texarkana – Texas High) brought home a run with a groundout to put the Lions ahead 5-0.
 
Madison Schaefer (Frisco – Indepedence) drew a one-out walk in the fifth, moved to second on a groundout, then scored on Boley's second RBI single of the day to make it 6-0.
 
The early conclusion to the game came in the sixth, as Ta'Lyn Moody (Mansfield – Legacy) singled to start the inning, followed by Samantha Dutton (Tulsa, Okla.) and Mackenzie Dugi (St. Hedwig – East Central) walks. With two outs, LeBlanc closed out the game with a two-run double for the 8-0 win.
 
LeBlanc went 2-for-4 with four RBIs and Boley went 2-for-3 with two RBIs.
 
GAME TWO
The Lions fought back from an early deficit and held off the Rattlers' late strike attempt in a 5-3 win to close out the day.
 
St. Mary's opened the game with three straight singles, and a sacrifice fly and single put the Rattlers up 2-0 with only one out in the game.

Schaefer cut into the lead with a solo homerun in the bottom of the first, and Dutton's two-out single in the bottom of the second tied the game.
 
The Lions took the lead with three runs in the third. Slider hit a two-run through the pitcher's legs with one out to make it 4-2 and then scored on Kuea Angliau's (Salt Lake City, Utah) RBI fielder's choice to make it 5-2.
 
The Rattlers made it interesting in every inning after that, but Lion pitching minimized damage. The bases were left full in the fourth, and three more runners were stranded in the next two innings.
 
In the seventh, a walk, a double, and a single plated a St. Mary's run and put the go-ahead run on base, but a deep flyout gave the Lions the win.
 
Emily Otto (Richmond – Lamar Consolidated) moved to 11-4 on the year with the win in 4.0 innings, striking out four and walking none, while conceding two runs on nine hits. LeBlanc earned her third save of the year, allowing one run on three hits in 3.0 innings with two walks and two strikeouts.