OKLAHOMA CITY – The No. 10 Texas A&M University-Commerce softball team lost in the Lone Star Conference Championship quarterfinals to Texas A&M International on Friday, falling by. A 9-3 score.
 
The Lions' run in the LSC Tournament ends with an overall record of 28-16, while TAMIU advances to the semifinals with a 26-18 record.
 
A&M-Commerce now awaits the final decision of the Division II Softball Committee, which will announce the six-team field for the South Central Regional on Sunday at 9 p.m. on NCAA.com
 
Kimber Qualls (Humble – Atascocita) had a two-run homerun and Alyssa LeBlanc (Katy) drove in a run with a single to account for the Lions' runs.
 
A&M International had 15 hits in the game off Lion pitching, with nine of those going as doubles.  Emily Otto (Lamar Consolidated) went 4.0 innings in the start and allowed seven earned runs on nine hits with five strikeouts.
 
The Dustdevils took a one-run lead in the top of the first, but the Lions immediately responded when Qualls was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a Samantha Dutton (Tulsa, Okla.) sacrifice bunt, and scored on LeBlanc's single to tie the game at 1-1.
 
TAMIU hit three straight doubles to start the second to score a pair of runs to make it 3-1. Jasmine Mott (Emory – Rains) and Uxua Modrego (Burlada, Spain) had singles in the second but were stranded after a pair of strikeouts by TAMIU's Erika Cortez, who struck out 10.
 
The Dustdevils extended their lead with four runs on three doubles and a single in the third, and tacked on another run in the fifth to make it an 8-1 game.
 
Ta'Lyn Moody (Mansfield – Legacy) walked to lead off the bottom of the fifth, and Qualls bashed an 0-1 pitch over the left field fence for her first homer of the season in limited action, cutting the lead to 8-3.
 
Though the Lions' spirits were up after the round-tripper, Cortez was efficient for the rest of the game, allowing only another Mott single in the final nine outs. TAMIU scored an unearned insurance run in the seventh and the Lions went down in order to end their tournament trip.