LAREDO – The fourth-ranked Texas A&M University-Commerce softball team broke out the big bats late in the second game to salvage a doubleheader split with Texas A&M International on Friday.
 
The Dustdevils won the first game by a 10-2 score in six innings, while the Lions were 7-2 victors in the second game.
 
The Lions are now 22-9 overall and 15-3 in the Lone Star Conference, while TAMIU is now 20-10 overall and 12-5 in the league.
 
A&M-Commerce completes the South Texas swing on Sunday at noon at No. 12 Texas A&M-Kingsville.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE (Game One)
- The Lions were held to four hits in the game, with a homerun by Mackenzie Dugi (St. Hedwig – East Central) going as the only extra base knock.
- Madison Schaefer (Frisco – Independence), Alyssa LeBlanc (Katy), and Chealsea Slider (Texarkana – Texas) earned the other singles for the Lions.
- LeBlanc fell to 13-5 after allowing five runs – four earned – in 2.2 innings.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED (Game One)
The Lions led early in the game thanks to a two-out rally. Schaefer singled to left, then scored on a LeBlanc single to make it a 1-0 game. A&M-Commerce stranded two runners in scoring position with one out in the second before the Dustdevils swarmed.
 
A single and double put two runners in scoring position, an Erika Cortez single plated a run, a sacrifice fly put TAMIU in front, and an error made it a 3-1 game in the hosts' favor after two complete innings.
 
Dugi cut into that lead by leading off the third with a homerun pulled to right field, but International answered in the bottom of the third when a Darrian Smith two-run homer made it a 5-2 game.
 
A two-run homer for the Dustdevils in the fourth made it a 7-2 game, and the Lions managed only one more baserunner before the game came to a premature end with another three-run homer for the home side in the bottom of the sixth.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE (Game Two)
- The Lion offense improved in the second game with eight hits, including four for extra bases.
- A&M-Commerce had a pair of two-run homers by Kinsie Hebler (Cy-Falls) and Kuea Angilau (Salt Lake City, Utah).
- Avery Boley (Fort Worth – Nolan Catholic) and Samantha Dutton (Tulsa, Okla.) each had doubles. Dugi went 2-for-4.
- Emily Otto (Lamar Consolidated) went the distance in the circle, allowing two runs on six hits with five strikeouts and two walks to move to 8-4 on the year.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED (Game Two)
The top of the lineup speed put the Lions up 2-0 in the first inning as Schaefer singled, stole second, and scored on Dutton's double. Dutton then stole third and scored on a Dugi single. Dugi stole second before the train stopped with the Lions ahead.
 
The Dustdevils were swinging well early also, as the first three batters reached, and Shelby Edwards' two-run single tied the game.
 
Both teams stranded runners in scoring position during the tie game for the next four innings before the Lions broke it open in the sixth. Dugi singled, stole second, then took third on a sacrifice bunt and put the Lions ahead on a LeBlanc RBI single. Hebler mashed a homer to left-center to make it a 5-2 game. Boley doubled and Angilau pinch hit after a pitching change and immediately made the Dustdevils regret that decision with a two-run homer of her own, making it 7-2.
 
Otto made the lead stand up, allowing only one baserunner in the final two innings to help lead the Lions to a split.