COMMERCE – After playing the first 23 games away from Commerce, the Texas A&M University-Commerce softball team plays its first games at the John Cain Family Softball Complex as a Division I program, also playing its first Southland Conference games, when it hosts Nicholls this weekend.
LIONS' SCHEDULE VS. NICHOLLS
LAST TIME OUT FOR THE LIONS
A&M-Commerce played its first of two midweek doubleheaders this season on Tuesday at North Texas. The Mean Green squeaked out a 4-3 win in game one, while rolling to an 8-0 win in five in the second game. North Texas was nationally ranked earlier this season and made the NCAA Tournament last season.
WHAT'S AHEAD FOR THE LIONS
After this week's series at home against Nicholls, A&M-Commerce heads on the road for two crucial series, facing defending Southland champion, McNeese on March 24-25 and last season's Southland runner-up, Southeastern on March 31-April 1.
FIRST SOUTHLAND ACTION
Friday marks the first Southland Conference games for the Lions, who won the Lone Star Conference Tournament last season, in their final season in NCAA Division II. A&M-Commerce was picked to finish seventh among nine teams in the preseason poll. At the end of the season, the top seven teams in the SLC will qualify for the conference tournament.
SOUTHLAND PRESEASON POLL
| Place |
School |
1st |
Pts |
| 1 |
McNeese |
16 |
128 |
| 2 |
Southeastern |
2 |
113 |
| 3 |
Northwestern State |
|
91 |
| 4 |
A&M-Corpus Christi |
|
85 |
| 5 |
HCU |
|
58 |
| 6 |
Lamar |
|
49 |
| 7 |
A&M-COMMERCE |
|
47 |
| 8 |
UIW |
|
45 |
| 9 |
Nicholls |
|
32 |
SPEED THRILLS
Ashlynn Griffith (Cedar Hill) is 8 for 8 in steal attempts, while
Kaydee Bennett is 8 for 9, with both being tied for 10
th in the conference in stolen bases. As a team, the Lions are 31 for 35, which ranks them fourth in the Southland, being tied for the fewest caught stealing tries in the conference among all nine teams.
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.
SCOUTING THE COLONELS
Nicholls is one of four teams in the SLC that began conference play last weekend, going 2-1 at home over UIW. The Colonels are 15-9 this season, falling by just one run to No. 20 ranked LSU earlier this season in Baton Rouge.
The Colonels are second in the conference with a batting average of .307 with 17 home runs and have stolen 70 bases thus far this season. In the circle, Nicholls is the conference leader with a team ERA of 2.58, having recorded 101 strikeouts, which is tied for second. The Colonels have tossed six shutouts.
Erin Krause is the conference's batting average leader at .446, while Melise Gossen leads the SLC with eight home runs and 28 RBIs. Audrey McNeill is the reigning conference pitcher of the week, she is pitching to an ERA of 1.63, which is third in the conference, and she is also fourth with 44 punch outs. Molly Yoo is 6-3 with an ERA of 2.83 and has tossed five complete games.
-TAMUC-
