COMMERCE – After opening the season last weekend, the Texas A&M University-Commerce softball team heads to familiar territory to take part in the Tarleton Invitational this weekend.
 
A&M-Commerce plays six games this weekend in Stephenville as the Texans open the newly renovated Tarleton Softball Complex. Coverage links for the weekend can be found HERE.
 
LIONS' WEEKEND SCHEDULE

Date	Time	Opponent
Friday, February 17	11:45 a.m.	Akron
Friday, February 17	4:15 p.m.	Northern Colorado
Saturday, February 18	9:30 a.m.	Northern Colorado
Saturday, February 18	11:45 a.m.	Tarleton
Sunday, February 19	11:15 a.m.	Creighton
Sunday, February 19	1:30 p.m.	Tarleton

 
Outside of the two games against Tarleton, the Lions are facing Akron, Northern Colorado, and Creighton for the first time.
 
LIONS MAKE DIVISION I DEBUT IN COLLEGE STATION
A&M-Commerce began the Division I era last week at the Texas A&M Invitational. The Lions played three games against teams from the power five conferences and fell in all five games on the weekend. A&M-Commerce hit two home runs in the weekend, coming off the bats of Ayanna Williams (Round Rock – Cedar Ridge) and Diamond Sefe (Carson, Calif.).
 
TOUGH COMPETITION TO START
The Lions begin the season with numerous games on their schedule against ranked opponents and teams that competed in the NCAA Tournament last season. A&M-Commerce is slated to play at least seven games this season that are currently ranked in the national polls in Arkansas (twice), Arizona (twice), North Texas (twice), and Maryland (once). The Lions also played Texas A&M twice last weekend, who is now nationally ranked.
 
PLENTY OF NEW LIONS
A&M-Commerce retains just four players from last season, welcoming 16 new faces to the squad in 2023. The 16 new players are believed to be the most on any roster in Division I this season. All but one player on the Lions' roster made their season debut last weekend in College Station.
 
WHAT'S AHEAD FOR THE LIONS
The Lions remain in the Lone Star state next weekend, heading to Waco for the Baylor Invitational. A&M-Commerce is the only non-power five conference school in the four-team tournament on February 24-26. The other three teams are Baylor, Minnesota, and Maryland. Each team will play five games in the tournament, which consists of both round-robin and a bracketed playoff.
 
ENDED ON A HIGH NOTE
The Lions ended the Division II era by winning the Lone Star Conference Tournament, the program's first conference title, and served as hosts during the NCAA Regional round. It was the third straight postseason that the Lions served as hosts, and it was their fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.
 
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
The Lions play the Akron Zips to begin the tournament on Friday morning. Akron is making its season debut and went 18-32 last season. Akron is led by first-year coach Craig Nicholson, who was the coach at Texas A&M-Kingsville prior to coming to Ohio. The Zips return Alexis Campbell, who batted .313 last season with 24 RBIs and 11 doubles.
 
The next two games for the Lions come against Northern Colorado. The Bears went 2-3 season, both wins coming over fellow-Division I newcomer, Stonehill at the La Jolla Invitational, hosted by UC San Diego. The Bears went 23-30 last season and collected a win the Big Sky Tournament. This season, Alexsi Barashkoff batted .417 last weekend and both Erin Caviness and Isabelle DiNapoli pitched to ERAs of 2.33.
 
The Lions and the Texans met last Sunday in College Station with the Texans winning 6-2, it was the only win of the weekend for Tarleton, who swept Prairie View A&M in a midweek doubleheader earlier this week. MacKenzie Peterson is batting .417 on the season with two doubles, while Kelci Hill and Katy Schaefer have six RBIs each. Kennedy Ferguson is 2-0 with an ERA of 2.06 and 13 strikeouts.
 
Creighton went 2-2 last weekend in the DePaul Dome Tournament. The Blue Jays went 15-27 last season. Kailey Wilson, Saran Croker, and Maddox Boston are batting .500 each. Wilson has a home run and team-best five RBIs. Alexis Wiggins is pitching to an ERA of 3.75 in two starts.