COMMERCE – Following the first three-game sweep in the Southland Conference era, the East Texas A&M University softball team heads to four-time defending national champions and No. 1 Oklahoma on Wednesday before resuming SLC play at Lamar this weekend.
LIONS' SCHEDULE THIS WEEK
THE 'ET' ERA BEGINS
February 7 marked the first games for the Lions since the university's name change to East Texas A&M. Two of the Lions' three primary uniforms this season will feature the words East Texas A&M
across their chests.
LIONS ROLL OVER ISLANDERS FOR FIRST SLC SWEEP
East Texas A&M took all three games at home last week over A&M-Corpus Christi to pick up the first sweep since joining the Southland, it was also the first series win for the Lions since 2023. The Lions picked up a pair of 9-1 wins in five innings on Friday and came back from being down 3-1 to win Saturday's finale by a score of 6-3. The three wins on the weekend surpass the two conference wins for East Texas A&M last season.
TATUM IS ON FIRE
Tatum Wright (Frisco - Centennial) powered the Lion offense throughout the weekend against the Islanders, hitting two home runs and eight RBIs. She batted .857 in the series, which is second in the country among all Division I batters last week that had at least five at-bats, while her slugging percentage of 2.143 was best in the country among all players that played at least two games last week. Five of her six hits last week went extra bases. including two doubles, a triple, and two home runs. Wright is now the team batting average leader, hitting .333 on the season.
SANCHEZ NAMED SLC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Following a 2-0 week in the circle against the Islanders,
Julia Sanchez (The Kinkaid School) was named the SLC Pitcher of the Week on Monday, her second career weekly honor. She went 2-0 in the circle with an earned run average of 2.33 in 12 innings. She tossed a complete game in both her starts.
BIG CATS, BIG BATS
The Lions hit six home runs last week against the Islanders to increase their season total to 18 on the season, which leads the Southland Conference thus far this season.
Charli Anger (Lubbock - Cooper) has hit five home runs thus far this season, including two last week, which are the most for a Lion in a single season in the Division I era.
LIONS SINK PANTHERS WITH A THREE-RUN SEVENTH
February 28's game between East Texas A&M and Prairie View A&M was scoreless going into the seventh inning. The Lions loaded the bases with no outs and
Charli Anger (Lubbock - Cooper) plated two on a base hit to center and the Lions added another run on a sacrifice fly to snap a four-game losing streak for the win.
STREAK SNAPPED AGAINST THE BISON
Having lost their previous six, the Lions snapped the losing streak with a 4-3 win over North Dakota State on February 22 in eight innings. The Lions had the early lead in the game before the Bison stormed back to tie it in the seventh. Anger is the team leader with 12 RBIs and is third with three home runs.
TAPIA TOUCHES EM ALL (TWICE)
Coming into the weekend with just one hit on the season,
Stephanie Tapia (Yuma, Ariz.) scored the first runs of the game for the Lions against North Dakota State and added another home run on Sunday against South Dakota. She is second on the team in home runs and five of her nine hits have gone extra bases.
RODRIGUES REMAINS ON FIRE
After batting .500 on opening weekend,
Emma Rodrigues (Little Elm - John Paul II) continued to remain on fire at the plate for the Lions, hitting another home run in the second week of the season. She is second on the team with four home runs, while being tied for the team lead in runs scored and is batting .313 on the season, which is third on the team.
HOUSER TOSSES ONE-HITTER AGAINST COYOTES
After allowing a hit to the leadoff batter,
Kate Houser (Lorena) tossed a one-hit shutout in her first career start as a Lion to give East Texas A&M a 2-0 win over South Dakota, which was its first win of the season. Houser struck out five in the game and has team-best 31 strikeouts on the season.
STAYING HOME TO BEGIN 2025
The Lions played the first 15 games of the season at home, which included hosting three tournaments. East Texas A&M's first games away from home came against Prairie View A&M and UT Arlington in Arlington on February 28. The Lions' 15 straight home games to start the season were the second most in NCAA Division I behind Grand Canyon.
LOADED DECK IN 2025
This season, the Lions are slated to play three teams that played in the NCAA Tournament a year ago, including four-time defending national champion Oklahoma as well as Southeastern and Grand Canyon. The Lions also have six games against Power Four conference opponents, though four of them are at home. East Texas A&M faced Iowa and Rutgers twice, challenged Kansas last Saturday and battle the Sooners on Wednesday.
MEEP MEEP
The Lions recorded 76 stolen bases last season, which was 44th in NCAA Division I, while also being the tops among all schools that are currently reclassifying to Division I. This season, the Lions are 34 for 41 in stolen base attempts so far.
A RARE DOUBLE NO-HITTER
A rarity happened in Denton between East Texas A&M and Missouri last seaosn. Both the Lions'
Julia Sanchez (The Kinkaid School) and the Tigers' Cierra Harrison tossed complete games and neither allowed a hit in the game. Missouri took a 1-0 win thanks to a walk, two steals, and a sacrifice fly in the first inning. It was the only double no-hitter in college softball.
WELCOME NEWCOMERS
This season, the Lions have 10 newcomers on the 23-player roster. Of the 10 newcomers, three are freshmen in
Aaliyah Wilcox (Covington, Ga.),
Victoria Masters (Thousand Oaks, Calif.), and
Tori Tiumalu (Indio, Calif.), while the transfers for the Lions are
Avery Rohlman (Littleton, Colo.) from Midwestern State, Neveah Terrell (Pennsauken, N.J.) from Maryland-Eastern Shore,
Lexi Gamez (Anaheim, Calif.) from Orange Coast College,
Emma Rodrigues (Little Elm - John Paul II) from Grayson College,
J'Lailah Dotson (Hitchcock) from Alvin Community College,
Hailey Montemayor (Lubbock - Monterrey) from Frank Phillips College, and
Maddie Cason (Honey Grove) from Howard Payne. All 10 newcomers made their Lion debuts during opening weekend.
PRESEASON POLL
In the preseason poll released by the Southland Conference, the Lions were picked 10th, after finishing ninth each of the last two seasons. The SLC features 10 teams in softball this season with the addition of SFA. The top-eight teams following the regular season will qualify for the SLC Tournament.
2025 SOUTHLAND SOFTBALL PRESEASON POLL
| No. |
Team (First-Place) |
Points |
| 1 |
Southeastern (9) |
152 |
| 2 |
McNeese (9) |
151 |
| 3 |
UIW (2) |
130 |
| 4 |
Nicholls |
106 |
| 5 |
Lamar |
95 |
| 6 |
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi |
70 |
| 7 |
HCU |
68 |
| 8 |
SFA |
62 |
| 9 |
Northwestern State |
46 |
| 10 |
EAST TEXAS A&M |
20 |
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
The first game of the week comes in familiar territory for the Lions, playing at Love's Field against the No. 1 Sooners. East Texas A&M faced Kansas City and Kansas in Love's Field earlier this season and played the Sooners last season. Over the last two seasons, the Lions have played four games in Norman. Last season, the Sooners won 9-0 in five innings, while the two teams also played a fall game in Commerce last October.
This season, the Sooners, who have won the last four Women's College World Series titles, are 26-0. Dating back to last season, they have won 29 in a row and 40 of their last 41 games. Oklahoma is currently the top ranked team in most major rankings and is fourth in the country with 54 home runs and lead the country with an average of 8.77 runs per game. On the pitching end, the Sooners' team ERA of 1.99 is 11th in the country. Ella Parker is third in the country with 12 doubles, while Sam Landry's ERA of 1.16 is 14th in the country.
The Lions play Lamar in a conference series this weekend at Beaumont. The Cardinals are 15-12 on the season and 3-3 in conference play, having already won a series over three-time defending SLC champion McNeese, but lost two of three to SFA on the road last week. Lamar also beat Baylor at home last week and its notable non-conference wins include Louisiana Tech twice, Sam Houston, and St. John's. The Cardinals play at Houston on Tuesday prior to hosting the Lions this weekend. Lamar is 6-0 all-time against East Texas A&M.
Veronica Harrison is batting .355 on the season to lead the team, having hit seven doubles and team-best four home runs and 23 RBIs, while Cala Wilson is batting .354 with a home run and 15 RBIs. In the circle, Madison Guidry is 5-4 with an ERA of 4.18 and 24 strikeouts, while Reagan Smith is pitching to an ERA of 4.83 and is also 5-4, while striking out 30 batters.
-ETAMU-
