COMMERCE – Despite hitting a pair of home runs, the East Texas A&M University softball team dropped 10-1 and 9-5 contests to the Iowa Hawkeyes and the SIUE Cougars, respectively, on Saturday afternoon at the John Cain Family Softball Complex.
 
The Lions fall to 2-6 on the season, while Iowa is 6-3 on the season and SIUE is now 5-4, having also picked up a win over Rutgers on Saturday.
 
Game One: IOWA 10, EAST TEXAS A&M 1 (Five Innings)
Jenna Young reached on a throwing error to lead off the game, then Soo-Jin Berry was hit a pitch to put two on with no outs in the first. Tatianna Treton drove in two runs on a single to left in the first.
 
In the fourth, Young walked on five pitches and came around to score on a two-run home run to right center by Berry. Hannah Lindsay drove in another run in the inning on a base hit down the left field line.
 
Allyssa Ramos, Young, and Berry collected RBI singles in the fifth for the Hawkeyes, while Lindsay hit a two-run single to center field. The top four batters in the Hawkeyes went 8 for 13 in the game.  
 
The only run in the game for the Lions was a solo home run to right field by Tatum Wright (Frisco – Centennial) in the bottom of the fifth inning. Emma Rodrigues (Little Elm – John Paul II) went 2 for 3 for the Lions and Lexi Gamez (Orange, Calif.) went 2 for 2.
 
Jalen Adams collected the five-inning win for the Hawkeyes, allowing eight hits and striking out four. Maddie Muller (Frisco – Memorial) got the loss for the Lions, allowing three earned runs in 3.2 innings.
 
Game Two: SIUE 9, EAST TEXAS A&M 5
Rodrigues led off the bottom of the first with a home run to right field on the first pitch. Gamez reached on a throwing error with the bases loaded as Emmie Miehe (Cameron Park, Calif.), Tori Tiumalu (Indio, Calif.), and Wright scored on the play. Charli Anger (Lubbock – Cooper) drove in Gamez to put the Lions ahead 5-0 after one.
 
In the second inning, SIUE's Piper Montgomery drove in Juztyne Torres in the second and Reagan Duncan hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Emma Henderson and Torres tripled to right field, plating Kaylin Fahy in third.
 
The Cougars pulled ahead in the fourth on a three-run home run to left by Anna Henderson with Emma Henderson and Kaylynn Salyars scoring on the home run. Torres added an RBI double to center in the fifth and Anna Henderson added a sacrifice fly in the ninth.
 
In the second game of the night, Rodrigues went 2 for 4 as did Tiumalu. Julia Sanchez (The Kinkaid School) got the loss, allowing seven earned runs in 4.1 innings and McKayla Anderson got the win for the Cougars in relief, tossing six shutout innings.
 
UP NEXT
The Lions are slated to conclude the Lion Invitational on Sunday at 12:15 p.m. against Rutgers and Abilene Christian at 2:30 p.m.