WICHITA FALLS – Chanlee Oakes broke a scoreless tie in the top of the ninth inning with her first career home run to help the No. 20 ranked Texas A&M University-Commerce softball team sweep the Midwestern State Mustangs on Friday evening by scores of 4-1 and 1-0 in nine innings, respectively, at Mustangs Park.
Alyssa LeBlanc (Katy) pitched a no-hitter through the first 7.2 innings in game two and recorded 17 strikeouts, which is the new school record. She pitched all nine innings to win her eighth start in a row.
Emily Otto (Lamar Consolidated) pitched a one-run complete game and improved to 11-2 on the season in game one. The two Lion pitchers combined for 29 strikeouts.
The Lions have won 18 of their last 20 games and have an overall record of 24-6 on the season and 9-1 in Lone Star Conference games, which puts them in a three-way tie for first place. The Mustangs drop to 5-20 overall and 4-6 in LSC games.
POSTGAME INTERVIEW
GAME 1: No. 20 A&M-Commerce 4, Midwestern State 1
Alina Jasso (San Benito) drew a walk to lead off the game and made her way around the bases, the small-ball way. She moved to second a wild pitch, advanced to third on a groundout, and scored on an RBI groundout by
Madison Schaefer (Frisco – Independence).
A base hit and two walks loaded the bases for the Mustangs before the first out was recorded in the bottom of the first. Otto struck out the next two batters and picked up an infield pop-fly to get out the inning without a run on the board.
Sabrina Anguiano (Riverside, Calif.) led off the second with a walk and quickly stole second base. She scored on an RBI double by
Uxua Modrego (Burlada, Spain). The Lions had runners on the corners with an out in the inning, but two shallow fly outs did not allow another run.
Another small ball run for the Lions gave them their third run of the game.
Leo Terry (Emory – Rains) reached first on a lead-off walk in the third and moved to third on a single by Schaefer, who then stole second bases to give the Lions runners at second and third with no outs. A one-run single up the middle by
Avery Boley (Fort Worth – Nolan Catholic) brought in Terry and Schaefer scored on a sacrifice fly by Anguiano.
Midwestern State scored its only run of the game in the fourth on a solo home run to left field, against the strong winds, by Mikey Dominguez. The Mustangs had runners at first and second with no outs in the sixth, but Otto caught a line drive hit straight to her and threw to first for the double play.
Otto struck out two in the bottom of the seventh to improve to 11-2 on the season. She allowed five hits and four walks, while recording double-digit punch outs for the third time this season. Boley had two of the five hits for the Lions, while five players had one stolen base each for the Lions, who lead the country in that category.
Ashley Turner had two of the five hits for the Mustangs. Malea Rodriguez got the loss for Midwestern State. She went three innings and allowed all four runs on three hits and four walks.
GAME 2: No. 20 A&M-Commerce 1, Midwestern State 0 (Nine Innings)
The Lions had the bases loaded twice in game two, but could not get a run across either time. They left 10 runners on base. The Mustangs left seven.
The Mustangs got the leadoff runner on base in the first three innings, two on walks and another on a fielding error by the Lions. LeBlanc worked around the base runner each time.
With two outs in the eighth inning, Hannah Hetherington broke up the no-hitter with a single to left. Midwestern State had runners at first and second in both the seventh and the eighth innings, but could not get the walk-off hit in either game.
Oakes (Emory – Rains) led off the ninth inning and drilled the ball to straight center for her first home run of her college career.
CHANLEE OAKES HOME RUN HIGHLIGHT
The Mustangs singled to start the ninth, but the threat ended with an unassisted line-out double play by Boley at first. LeBlanc collected the win with a ground ball hit right to her for the final out.
LeBlanc breaks the previous strikeout record of 13, which was set by both her and Otto earlier this season. She has 30 strikeouts in her last two starts. Kennedy Cameron pitched 13 innings on Friday and got the loss in game two. Boley and Oakes were the only Lions with hits in game two, both had two each.
UP NEXT
The Lions head to Denton to take on Texas Woman's on Sunday for a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.
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Lion Athletics Mission: Committed to a "Best in Class" experience for all.
