COMMERCE – After over a week off, the Texas A&M University-Commerce softball team returns to action on Tuesday in Denton to face North Texas prior to starting conference play.
 
LIONS' SCHEDULE vs. UNT

Date	Time	Coverage
Tuesday, March 14	4 p.m.	Live Video • Live Stats
Tuesday, March 14	6 p.m.	Live Video • Live Stats

 
LAST TIME OUT FOR THE LIONS
A&M-Commerce comes into this week's series riding a two-game winning streak highlighted by a five-run comeback in the seventh to beat Weber State in Arizona on March 5. The Lions beat CSUN as well in Arizona.
 
BATS COME ALIVE IN THE DESERT
After being shut out in the first two games of the Hillenbrand Invitational, the Lions scored eight against No. 18/16 Arizona, including a grand slam by Camile Nunez (Madera, Calif.) to highlight a six-run fourth inning. The Lions followed it up with a 17-12 win over CSUN and came back to win 8-7 over Weber State.
 
LIONS LOVE WALK-OFFS
Two of the four wins for the Lions thus far this season have been in walk-off fashion. Last month, Shelby Hodge (Katy – Cinco Ranch) hit a walk-off sacrifice fly to beat Creighton in extra innings, while America Rubio (El Paso – Montwood) had the walk-off grounder against Weber State last week.
 
NUNEZ HITS IT FAR
Nunez hit the program's 34^th grand slam against Arizona on March 4. It was also her first home run of the season for the junior transfer from Vernon College. The Lions have had at least one grand slam in all but one season in program history.
 
LIONS DOWN AKRON FOR FIRST DIVISION I WIN
A&M-Commerce beat Akron at Tarleton on February 17 to open the Whataburger Invitational by a score of 7-4 for the first win as a Division I program. It was also coach Brittany Miller's first win as a head coach.
 
LIONS WALK-OFF BLUE JAYS
On February 19 at the Whataburger Invitational, A&M-Commerce collected a 5-4 win in eight innings over Creighton. Hodge hit a sacrifice fly to left to bring in the game-winning run. It was the first true walk-off win in a game that lasted seven or more innings since Ayanna Williams (Round Rock – Cedar Ridge) had the game-winning hit against No. 2 Augustana in the season-opener last season.
 
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.

Thus far this season, the Lions have played Maryland, Baylor, and Arizona, who were nationally ranked at the time the Lions played them, while Texas A&M, Nebraska, Minnesota, and UNT have all appeared in national polls at some point this season. A&M-Commerce still has two games on the schedule against Arkansas, who is in the top 10 in every major poll.
 
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.
 
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.
 
WHAT'S AHEAD FOR THE LIONS
The Lions compete in Southland Conference play for the first time in school history this weekend when they host Nicholls for their home-opening series. The two teams play twice on Friday starting at 5 p.m. and close it out with a single game at noon on Saturday.
 
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
North Texas is 14-9 on the season, with four of those losses coming to nationally ranked teams. The Mean Green won the Conference USA tournament last season and made it to the championship round of the NCAA Regional round falling to NCAA Semifinalist, Oklahoma State. The Mean Green started the season being nationally ranked.
 
The Mean Green have six shutouts this season, which is 31^st in the country, while their team ERA of 2.24 ranks 49^th. As a team, UNT is batting .268 and has hit 28 home runs, which is 22^nd in the country.
 
Kailey Gamble is batting .333 with 10 home runs and 22 RBIs, while Kalei Christensen has a batting average of .348 and has driven in 14 runs. Five batters have 10 RBIs or more in the UNT lineup this season. McKenzie Wagoner has an ERA of 1.30 with a record of 6-1 in 15 appearances, while Ashley Peters is 4-4 in 12 appearances, nine as starts, and pitching to an ERA of 1.48. Wagoner has recorded 51 strikeouts and Peters has 34.