TUCSON, Ariz. – The Texas A&M University-Commerce softball team scored 25 runs on Saturday at the Hillenbrand Stadium to split the second day of the Hillenbrand Invitational, falling 17-8 in five to No. 18/16 Arizona and snapping a nine-game winning streak by beating CSUN, 17-12, to end the night.
 
The Lions now stand at 3-17 on the season and had the lead early against the Wildcats as well as recording a six-run inning in the game. A&M-Commerce led from the start against CSUN and collected its third win of the season.
 
"It was a great day offensively," said coach Brittany Miller. "We overcame some adversity today and fought together. We came out with a great team win and are making strides in the right direction as we get closer to conference play."
 
Offensively, the Lions were led by America Rubio (El Paso – Montwood), who had a home run in both games and three hits, while scoring four runs. In total, the Lions hit five home runs on Saturday, they had just four this season prior to Saturday.
 
Game 1: NO. 18/16 ARIZONA 17, A&M-COMMERCE 8 (FIVE INNINGS)
In the top of the first, Kaydee Bennett (Caddo Mills) reached on an error with no outs and moved to second on the play. She stole third and scored on a passed ball to give the Lions a 1-0 lead.
 
Arizona quickly jumped out to the lead with an 11-run first inning. Olivia DiNardo hit a two-run double to left center to give the Wildcats a 2-1 lead. Allie Skaggs and Dakota Kennedy drove in a run each, while Izzy Pacho hit a two-run double, Blaise Biringer drew a bases loaded walk, and Carlie Scupin hit a two-run double with the bases still loaded.
 
The 10^th run of the inning scored on a passed ball and DiNardo hit another RBI single for the 11^th run of the inning. Arizona had eight hits in the inning as well as the Lions had one fielding error.
 
Ayanna Williams (Round Rock – Cedar Ridge) homered to center in the third, her third of the season. In the bottom of the third, Scupin hit a solo home run, Skaggs hit a two-run home run, and Paige Dimler hit a two-run inside the park home run.
 
The Lions made their charge in the top of the fourth with six runs on five hits. Rubio homered to right, her first of the season. Shelby Hodge (Katy – Cinco Ranch) doubled to right center, and KK Cosek (Helendale, Calif.) pinch ran for her. After back-to-back walks by Emma Olsen (Elk Grove, Calif.) and Jodi De Hart (Pittsburg – Lindale), Camile Nunez (Madera, Calif.) cleared them with a grand slam with a home run to left.
 
Nunez' grand slam is the first for the Lions since Williams had one last season. After a strikeout, Bennett reached on an infield single, she stole second, and moved to third on a base hit by Emmie Miehe (Cameron Park, Calif.). Bennett scored on a sacrifice fly to left by Diamond Sefe (Carson, Calif.).
 
The Wildcats went down in order in the bottom of the fourth as did the Lions in the top of the fifth to end the game in five. DiNardo went 3 for 3 with 3 RBIs in the game, while both Scupin and Pacho had two hits each for the Wildcats. Ali Blanchard got the win, but allowed five earned runs in three innings, as Arizona used three pitchers in the game.
 
A&M-Commerce had six hits in the game with six hitters having a hit each. Nunez tallied four of the team's seven RBIs. It was her first home run of the season as well. Olsen was charged with five earned runs in 0.1 innings for the loss. Three of the four pitchers used by the Lions allowed at least five earned runs.
 
Game 2: A&M-COMMERCE 17, CSUN 10
Just like the first game, Bennett led off the game by reaching on a fielding error and moved to second. She advanced a base on a double to left by Sefe and Elizabeth Guerrero (International School of Americas) walked to load the bases with no outs.
 
De Hart drove in Bennett and Sefe on a long two-run double to left field. Guerrero scored on a fielding error by the Matadors, which also allowed Nunez to reach base. Avery Zeigler (Southlake Carroll) brought home De Hart with a sacrifice fly and Nunez scored on a wild pitch.
 
In the bottom of the first, the Matadors had the bases loaded with one out and the lone scored on a pitch that hit Shaylan Whitman.
 
The Lions had two on with no outs in the second, but were held scoreless and CSUN did not score a run in the bottom of the inning either. Zeigler hit a solo home run with one out in the top of the third, her first of the season.
 
Rubio followed with a walk and made her way to third by stealing second and advancing on a wild pitch. She scored on an RBI single to center by Ashlynn Griffith (Cedar Hill), who scored on an RBI double to left center by Bennett.
 
Looking for the run-rule win, the Lions scored seven in the fifth. Nunez led off the inning by reaching on an error and Zeigler followed with an infield single. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch, and both scored on a sacrifice bunt by Rubio, on which the Matadors had a fielding error, allowing the two runners to score.
 
Hodge kept the hits coming with a single and Bennett brought home both Hodge and Griffith, who returned to the game, on a two-run double to left. Sefe also doubled to center, which plated Bennett and Sefe scored on a single to center by Guerrero. Olsen came in as a pinch runner for Guerrero and scored on an RBI infield base hit by Tatum Wright (Frisco – Centennial).
 
The Lions had a 15-1 run going into the bottom of the fifth, needing just three more outs for the win, but CSUN extended the game with seven runs in the inning. Both Macy Mohrlock and Raegan had three-run home runs each and Alexis Garcia hit a single to center that scored another run.
 
Rubio hit her second home run of the day in the sixth to push the lead back up to eight, but in the bottom of the sixth, Kylie Galindo hit a double to left center that scored two runs. Guerrero tripled to left center in the top of the seventh and she scored on a throwing error by the Matadors, who had five errors in the game.
 
Padilla hit an RBI base hit and Mikayla Carman hit an RBI triple in the seventh.
 
At the top of the Lion batting order, both Bennett and Sefe had three hits and three RBIs each, while Guerrero, Zeigler, and Rubio had multi-hit games. The Lions had 16 hits in the game.
 
Bella Mejia, Galindo, and Jackson had two hits each for the Matadors. Lauryn Carranco got charged with the loss after allowing three earned runs in four innings of work for CSUN.
 
Julia Sanchez (The Kinkaid School) got the win for the Lions; she pitched 4.1 innings and was charged with four earned runs. Both Anissa Arredondo (San Antonio – Warren) and Madeline Janssen (Earlham, Iowa) also pitched in the game for the Lions.
 
UP NEXT
The final game of the Hillenbrand Invitational is on Sunday at 11 a.m. MST against Weber State.