COMMERCE – The No. 9 Texas A&M University-Commerce softball team split a pair of dramatic one-run contests on the road with Cameron University on Monday afternoon.
 
The Lions were 2-1 winners in the opening game, while the Aggies took the second game 4-3. Five of the Lions' last six games and seven of their last 10 have been decided by one run.
 
The Lions wrap up the regular season on Sunday, May 9, at 3 p.m. at home against St. Edward's.
 
GAME ONE: Lions 2, Cameron 1
Emily Otto (Lamar Consolidated) had another strong pitching performance and Avery Boley (Fort Worth – Nolan Catholic) drove home runs in key situations to help the Lions snap a four-game losing streak.
 
Otto moved her record to 11-5 with a complete game effort, striking out four and allowing five hits. In the first inning, the Aggies got the first two runners of the game on base and A&M-Commerce worked around it as Boley caught a runner stealing, and Otto struck out two.
 
In the second, Alyssa LeBlanc (Katy) led off with a single, Serina Aguilar (Spring – Woods) singled, and a double steal put two runners in scoring position. Boley lifted a ball to left field and the sacrifice fly gave the Lions a 1-0 lead.
 
The Lions allowed only one Aggie to reach base from there until the sixth, when Khmari Edwards tied the game with a two-out RBI double.
 
LeBlanc reached on an error and Aguilar walked with one out in the sixth. Boley converted on the opportunity with an RBI single to center for a 2-1 Lion lead.
 
The Aggies were down to their final out and had the go-ahead run in scoring position with a single, hit batter, and wild pitch, but Otto induced a game-ending fly out to hand the Lions the win.
 
GAME TWO: Cameron 4, Lions 3
The Lions had the lead into the late innings, conceded the lead, and barely missed a chance for the late win.
 
Cameron plated two unearned errors on an error in the bottom of the first, but the Lions continually chipped away. In the second, Aguilar singled and moved to second on a groundout, then scored on a dropped fly ball in right field to cut the lead to 2-1.
 
In the third, it was Aguilar who capitalized again, as she was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and two outs to tie the game at 2-all.

Madison Schaefer (Frisco – Independence) gave the Lions the lead in the fifth, leading off the inning with her 11th homerun of the season, tying for the Lone Star Conference lead. She now has the LSC lead in homers and walks.
 
Cameron had a runner on third with none out in the fifth, but LeBlanc struck out a pair and induced a groundout to get out of the jam. Boley singled and Uxua Modrego (Burlada, Spain) doubled, but that duo was stranded in the sixth.
 
The Aggies took the lead in the sixth with two outs as Breley Webb singled and Haley Castle boosted a two-run homer to left-center for a 4-3 lead to the hosts.
 
The Lions loaded the bases in the seventh on a Schaefer walk, Mackenzie Dugi (St. Hedwig – East Central) bunt single, and Aguilar walk, but a tricky ball to right field was caught, and the Aggies escaped with the split.
 
LeBlanc fell to 14-10 on the season with four runs allowed – two earned – on three hits with four strikeouts and two walks.