COMMERCE – The No. 20 ranked Texas A&M University-Commerce softball team is back on the road on this weekend taking on Midwestern State on Friday and Texas Woman's on Sunday afternoon.
 
LIONS' WEEKEND SCHEDULE

DATE & TIME	GAME	WATCH	LIVE STATS
Friday, March 18 4 p.m.	No. 20 A&M-Commerce at Midwestern State	https://lonestarconferencenetwork.com/tamuc/	http://statb.us/v/tame/384960
Friday, March 18 6 p.m.	No. 20 A&M-Commerce at Midwestern State	https://lonestarconferencenetwork.com/tamuc/	http://statb.us/v/tame/384973
Sunday, March 20 1 p.m.	No. 20 A&M-Commerce at Texas Woman's	https://lonestarconferencenetwork.com/tamuc/	http://statb.us/v/tame/385071
Sunday, March 20 3 p.m.	No. 20 A&M-Commerce at Texas Woman's	https://lonestarconferencenetwork.com/tamuc/	http://statb.us/v/tame/385088

 
NATIONAL AND CONFERENCE RECOGNITION
Earlier this week, Sabrina Anguiano (Riverside, Calif.) was named the Louisville Slugger/NFCA Player of the Week as well as the Lone Star Conference Hitter of the Week. She batted .909 with three home runs and seven RBIs last week against Western New Mexico and UT Permian Basin.
 
Lion pitcher Alyssa LeBlanc (Katy) was named National Pitcher of the Week by NFCA on February 22, following a perfect game against Fort Lewis on February 16. She was also named Lone Star Conference Pitcher of the Week, joining teammate Emily Otto (Lamar Consolidated), who earned the award earlier on February 8.
 
NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Lions have appeared in all but one NFCA poll this season. This week, A&M-Commerce climbed another spot to reach the season-best ranking of No. 20. The Lions are one of seven teams from the LSC that are nationally ranked.
 
A LOOK AT THE LIONS
A loss in game one to Embry-Riddle on Wednesday evening halted a seven-game winning streak for the Lions, who responded with a 21-3 win in game two over the Eagles. The Lions have won 16 of their 18 games and are 22-6 on the season and 7-1 in LSC play, which puts them in a four-way tie for first place after the first two weekends of conference play.
 
In game two against the Eagles, Ayanna Williams (Round Rock – Cedar Ridge) hit two three-run home runs and totaled seven RBIs, which are tied for second most in program history. She leads the team with 35 RBIs and is tied with Uxua Modrego (Burlada, Spain) with six home runs on the season. Anguiano is the team leader in batting average, .484. She is batting .739 in the last eight games.
 
Alina Jasso (San Benito) is batting .536 with four home runs, four doubles, 11 RBIs, and seven stolen bases in her last 10 games. The Lions have stolen 90 bases this season, which leads the country and their stolen bases per game average of 3.21 is eighth.
 
LeBlanc also hit a three-run home run on Wednesday. She has 23 RBIs and four home runs this season. Leo Terry (Emory – Rains) leads the team with 18 stolen bases.
 
Otto has won her last three starts and is 10-2 on the season. She is pitching to an ERA of 2.21 with 87 strikeouts and nine complete games. LeBlanc has lowered her ERA down to 2.13 and has won her last seven starts. She had 71 punch outs on the season and has an opponent batting average of .182.   
 
WHAT'S AHEAD
The Lions begin an eight-game road trip with the doubleheader at Midwestern State on Friday. After this weekend's action, the Lions head to Lubbock Christian and Angelo State next weekend, who are both nationally ranked.  
 
SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS
Midwestern State is 5-18 on the season, but 4-4 in LSC play. The Mustangs dropped two games to Embry-Riddle on Tuesday, but had won two in a row prior to that. Bailey Brenek leads the team with a batting average of .394 with 14 RBIs. Hanna Hetherington has hit nine home runs and 21 RBIs.
 
Kennedy Cameron is 3-5 on the season with six complete games in eight starts and has 50 strikeouts this season. Malea Rodriguez has an ERA of 3.20 with 20 strikeouts in five starts and nine appearances.
 
The Lions have won seven straight meetings against the Mustangs and are 15-4 all time. Three of the four wins for Midwestern State in the series have come in Wichita Falls. This is the first meeting between the two teams in Wichita Falls since 2018.
 
SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
Texas Woman's is 8-11 on the season and 3-5 in conference play. The Pioneers have lost five of their last six. They will take on No. 1 UT Tyler on Friday before hosting the Lions on Sunday.
 
In 16 games, Kristin Rodriguez is batting .394 on the season, Missy Wise has two home runs and 12 RBIs, and Nya Brown is averaging .333 with 11 RBIs. Kelsie Briggs is 4-4 on the season with an ERA of 4.17 with 21 strikeouts in 42.0 innings. Jules Malis has started nine games and is 3-6 on the season.
 
A&M-Commerce has won 12 straight games over Texas Woman's, posting a record of 15-6 in the all time head-to-head. The Lions lost their first three games in Denton, but have won their last four and return to Denton for the first time since 2018. Two of the last four wins for the Lions have come via the run-rule.