COMMERCE – Battling light rain and chilly temperatures throughout the day on Sunday afternoon, the Texas A&M University-Commerce softball team earned a split at the John Cain Family Field to close out the Lion Classic, beating Stonehill, 7-3, and falling to Texas Southern, 4-3.
 
The Lions closed out the first weekend of the season with a record of 4-2, being one shy of matching last season's total of wins at home. Stonehill ended the weekend with a record of 1-4, while Texas Southern won four in a row, after losing the first game of the Lion Classic.
 
"After the late end to last night's game and falling behind early to Stonehill today, I am so proud of our team's ability to fight back and rally for the win," said coach Brittany Miller. "There are a lot of positives to be drawn from this weekend, but we still have a lot of things to improve upon going into next weekend, against some tough competition."
 
A&M-COMMERCE 7, STONEHILL 3
Natalie Bottiglieri led the game off with an infield base hit and May Dawes drew a walk. Paige Wodarski reached on a fielder's choice as the Lions tagged out Dawes at second and Bottiglieri moved to third. Shannon Conte reached on a fielder's choice as well with the Lions taking the out at second and Bottiglieri scored the first run of the game.
 
The Lions left a runner on base in the first but, but the Skyhawks added two runs in the second. Following two outs, Chloe Kelly singled to left and advanced to second on a throwing error.
 
Piper Hofmann singled to third, which moved Kelly to third. Hoffman and Kelly tried a double steal as Kelly scored on a Lion throwing error and Hoffman stole second. Following a walk drawn by Bottigleiri, Dawes hit a single down the right field line, bringing home Hofmann.
 
Tehya Pitts (Denton – Guyer) hit a one-out single to center in the third and stole second. Isabella Arzola (Chino, Calif.) followed with another base hit to center as Pitts moved to third. Arzola stole second and Ashlynn Griffith (Cedar Hill) hit a bunt single, which scored Pitts and moved Arzola to third.
 
Griffith stole second as well and Charli Anger (Lubbock – Cooper) followed with a sacrifice fly to center that scored Arzola and Griffith advanced to third. After a pitching change by the Skyhawks, Diamond Sefe (Carson, Calif.) drew a seven-pitch walk.
 
Tatum Wright (Frisco – Centennial) doubled to right center, which scored both Sefe and Griffith. Darby Hickey (Plano Senior) singled to left, which moved Wright to third and both stole a base, as Wright scored. Lencia Powell (Birdville) drove in Hickey with a double down the left field line.
 
Following another pitching change, Stonehill ended the inning with a ground out. In total, 10 batters came to the plate in the third for the Lions as they scored six runs on six errors and left one on base.
 
Pitts once again was in the leadoff spot in the fourth and hit an infield base knock to third. She stole second and advanced to third on a groundout by Arzola. Pitts came around to score on a throwing error by Stonehill.
 
The Skyhawks left seven runners on base in the game and went 1-2 against the Lions this weekend. Pitts and Wright both went 2 for 3 at the plate for the Lions, combining for four of the team's eight hits.
 
Kelly went 3 for 3 for the Skyhawks, scoring a run, while Bottiglieri went 2 for 3 with a run scored as well.
 
The Lions' Emma Olsen (Elk Grove, Calif.) started the game in the circle, tossing 1.2 innings and was charged with two earned runs. Julia Sanchez (The Kinkaid School) tossed 5.1 shutout innings in relief and picked up her second win of the season. She allowed four hits, while striking out a pair.
 
Skylar Brandemarte was the starter for the Skyhawks and was charged with three earned runs in 2.2 innings. Lauren Donovan got the loss, allowing three earned runs without recording an out.
 
TEXAS SOUTHERN 4, A&M-COMMERCE 2
Jordan McClain was the first batter of the game and was hit by a pitch. She made it all the way to third on a pair of wild pitches and Pamela Richardson drew a walk, then stole second for runners at second and third with no outs, and Saniah Henderson loaded the bases with a walk as well.
 
The Lions recovered to strike out a batter, but McClain scored on a wild pitch and Richardson scored on a sacrifice fly by Lanay Carr. After Henderson advanced to third on another wild pitch, she scored on an RBI base hit by Deana Zuniga, as the Lions made a pitching change in the circle.
 
The Lions had five wild pitches in the inning as the Tigers scored three on one hit and left two on base.
 
In the bottom of the second, Griffith drew a one-out walk, stole second, and moved to third on a groundout by Anger. Sefe reached on a fielding error by the Skyhawks as Griffith scored the Lions' first run of the game.
 
A&M-Commerce made it a one-run game in the fifth. Jenna Joyce (Royse City) doubled to left center and Pitts returned to the game as a pinch runner. After a walk drawn by Arzola and a strikeout, Anger hit an infield single that loaded the bases. Sefe drew a bases loaded walk with two outs. The Tigers escaped with a force out at third on a fielder's choice and the Lions left the bases loaded.
 
The Tigers answered with a run in the sixth. Madison Griggs singled through the left side to start the inning and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Zuniga. Ja'Lynn Swiney doubled down the left field line to plate Griggs.
 
A&M-Commerce left a runner at third in the sixth, while the Tigers left the bases loaded in the seventh. The Lions went down in order in the bottom of the seventh.
 
Griggs went 1 for 2 at the plate for the Tigers, while Joyce and KK Cosek (Helendale, Calif.) went 1 for 2 each for A&M-Commerce.
 
Destiny Martinez (Denver, Colo.) got the loss for the Lions as she allowed three earned runs in the first 0.2 innings of the game. Maddie Muller (Frisco – Memorial) pitched the next 5.1 innings, allowing one earned run, but struck out three. Anissa Arredondo (San Antonio – Warren) inherited two runners in the seventh with no outs. She got the three outs without allowing a run.
 
Kristen Driver was the winning pitcher for Texas Southern. She went four innings and struck out two, while recording two hits. Maren Berger tossed two shutout innings and got the save.
 
UP NEXT
The Lions make the quick trip to Denton on Friday to play Missouri (11 a.m.) and South Dakota State (1:30 p.m.) at North Texas, closing out the weekend with a three-game series at home against SIU Edwardsville. The two teams play a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday and the series finale is slated for 1 p.m. on Sunday.
 
Tickets for all home games can be purchased at LionAthletics.com/Tickets.