COMMERCE – The Texas A&M University-Commerce softball team is back on the road this weekend to face McNeese, the Southland Conference's defending champion. The series is tentatively scheduled for Friday and Saturday in Lake Charles, Louisiana, which is also the site of this year's conference tournament.
LIONS' SCHEDULE VS. MCNEESE
LAST TIME OUT FOR THE LIONS
A&M-Commerce opened Southland play against Nicholls last weekend, which was the also the home opener. The Lions walked it off in eight in game one but lost the other two games during the weekend.
WHAT'S AHEAD FOR THE LIONS
The Lions remain on the road next weekend heading to Southeastern on March 31-April 1. The Lady Lions are 23-7 thus far this season.
A HISTORIC COMEBACK AGAINST THE WILDCATS
The Lions recorded a five-run seventh inning comeback against Weber State this season to win 8-7. According to our research, that is the second-best comeback in the seventh inning this season among Division I programs.
TOP COMEBACKS IN DIVISION I IN 2023
| Date |
Team |
Opponent |
Deficit starting 7th |
Final Score |
Notes |
| March 4 |
Texas Tech |
Rutgers |
5-0 (5) |
6-5 |
|
| March 5 |
A&M-Commerce |
Weber State |
7-3 (4) |
8-7 |
|
| March 8 |
SIUE |
Saint Louis |
5-1 (4) |
6-5 |
SIUE trailed 5-0 entering sixth |
| March 4 |
Seton Hall |
North Dakota |
5-1 (4) |
6-5 |
|
| March 8 |
Maryland Eastern Shore |
Holy Cross |
7-4 (3) |
8-7 |
|
SPEED THRILLS
Ashlynn Griffith (Cedar Hill) is 8 for 8 in steal attempts, while
Kaydee Bennett (Caddo Mills) is 8 for 9, with both being tied for 15
th in the conference in stolen bases. As a team, the Lions are 32 for 39, which ranks them fifth.
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
Three of the five 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. In the conference opener,
Avery Zeigler (Southlake Carroll) hit a walk-off one-run single in the eighth for the Lions' first win at home.
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.
FIRST SOUTHLAND ACTION
Last Friday was the first Southland Conference game in program history for the Lions, who walked it off in eight over Nicholls. 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.
SLC 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 |
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 North Texas 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 nationally ranked 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 COWGIRLS
McNeese, the defending conference champion, and a regional finalist last season, is 19-10 on the season with wins already over No. 22 North Texas and No. 12 Washington. The Cowgirls took all three games in the conference-opening series over UIW last weekend and fell 6-2 to No. 10/15 LSU earlier this week in Baton Rouge.
The Cowgirls lead the country with 0.72 double plays turned per game, 22
nd with eight shutouts, 13
th with 70 stolen bases. Whitney Tate already has four shutouts on the season, which is 10
th in the country. Reese Reyna is second in the country with five sacrifice flies, while both her and Crislyne Moreno are tied for 29
th with three triples each.
Alayis Seneca is batting .342 with six RBIs, while Chloe Gomez is batting .333 with 12 RBIs. Mariana Torres leads the team with 17 RBIs, while Torres, Brooke Otto, and Jil Poullard have team-high two home runs each. Tate has an ERA of 1.70 with 43 strikeouts, while Ashley Vallejo is 5-7 with an ERA of 3.34. She started 11 games this season.
-TAMUC-
