COMMERCE – After a 4-2 week at home, the Texas A&M University-Commerce softball team plays a pair of games in Denton on Friday, including No. 14/15 Missouri and closes out the weekend with a three-game series at home against SIUE.
LIONS' WEEKEND SCHEDULE
PROMOTIONS
Following Saturday's game, Lion Softball players will be signing schedule posters for the 2024 season.
All kids can run the bases following the conclusion of Sunday's games.
SPEED THRILLS
During the first six games of the season, the Lions stole 24 bases, going 24 for 29 in stolen base attempts last week. The 24 stolen bases rank second in NCAA Division I, while the average of 4.0 stolen bases per game is fourth in the country.
BACK-TO-BACK JACKS
The Lions just hit one home run at home during the 12 home games in 2023, it took just two innings in the 2024 season to surpass that total.
Charli Anger (Lubbock - Cooper) and
Diamond Sefe (Carson, Calif.) went back-to-back in last Friday's game against UMass Lowell to put the Lions ahead.
TOUCHING HOME PLATE
Thus far this season, the Lions have scored 36 runs at home, while having scored just 28 last season.
Isabella Arzola (Chino, Calif.) scored eight of the 36 runs, while Sefe and
Emmie Miehe (Cameron Park, Calif.) scored six each.
MULLER GETS IT DONE IN THE CIRCLE
Pitching in her first weekend as a Lion,
Maddie Muller (Frisco - Memorial) started three games last weekend. She pitched to an ERA of 0.86, going 2-0, with 10 strikeouts. She tossed 16.1 of the team's 40.0 innings last week.
TENTH SEASON OF LION SOFTBALL
Last weekend began the 10
th season of Lion Softball. The first season of competition for the program was the 2015 season, and this is the second season for the Lions in NCAA Division I and the Southland Conference.
WELCOME NEWCOMERS
This season, the Lions have 10 newcomers on the 22-player roster. Of the 10 newcomers, freshmen Anger, Arzola,
Jenna Joyce (Royse City), and
Tehya Pitts (Denton – Guyer), made their Lion debuts last week as did transfers: Muller from Arkansas Rich Mountain,
Ashley Diaz (Chino, Calif.) from Mt. SAC,
Lencia Powell (Birdville) from Weatherford College,
Darby Hickey (Plano Senior) from Temple College, and
Stephanie Tapia (Yuma, Ariz.) from Pima Community College.
PLAYING THE BEST OF THE BEST
The Lions play six games against Power Five conference teams and eight games against teams that played in the 2023 NCAA Tournament.
The games against Power Five conference opponents include three-game series against Houston, and a game against Arkansas, both at home, while heading to Oklahoma, the winner of the last three Women's College World Series, and at Texas A&M. On Friday, A&M-Commerce plays nationally ranked Missouri.
Along with the Power Five conference opponents, the Lions also welcome Omaha, who made the NCAA Tournament last season and host McNeese during Southland play. The Cowgirls were a Regional Finalist last season.
PRESEASON POLL
In the preseason poll released by the Southland Conference last week, the Lions were picked ninth, after finishing in that exact position in their first season in the conference last year. A&M-Commerce received 17 points.
2024 SOUTHLAND SOFTBALL PRESEASON POLL
| Rank |
Team (First-Place Votes) |
Points |
| 1 |
McNeese (16) |
128 |
| 2 |
Southeastern (2) |
114 |
| 3 |
Nicholls |
97 |
| 4 |
Lamar |
78 |
| 5 |
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi |
72 |
| 6 |
Northwestern State |
63 |
| 7 |
HCU |
49 |
| 8 |
UIW |
30 |
| 9 |
A&M-COMMERCE |
17 |
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
On Friday, the Lions head to Denton to take part in the Tracy Beard College classic, facing Missouri and South Dakota State. Missouri is undefeated on the season, which includes a win over No. 5 Clemson at the NFCA D1 Leadoff Classic. The Tigers are ranked No. 15 in the country by ESPN/USA Softball and No. 14 by NFCA. Missouri batted .341, hitting 11 doubles. Cierra Harrison has pitched two games, tossing shutouts against South Alabama and North Carolina State. Last season, the Tigers went 35-26, playing in the NCAA Regional at Oklahoma.
South Dakota State is the defending Summit League Champion and is the preseason favorite as well. The Jackrabbits played in the National Invitational Softball Championship (NISC), falling in the semifinals to BYU. Last weekend, SDSU went 3-2 against Fresno State, Santa Clara, and CSU Bakersfield. Emma Osmundson was named the Summit's Peak Performer of the Week, after going 7 for 17 with six RBIs last week.
The Lions welcome SIUE for a three-game series with a doubleheader on Saturday and the series finale on Saturday. The Cougars went 1-4 last weekend in Florida at Stetson, winning 7-4 over Stetson, while losing to Boston University and Binghamton twice each. Last season, SIUE went 30-26 last season, falling the championship game of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. Jenna Herron batted .417 last week with five singles, while Paige Rocha slugged .556. In the circle, Kelsey Ray is pitching to an ERA of 1.14 in 12.1 innings.
-TAMUC-
