COMMERCE – The East Texas A&M University softball team plays its final three Southland Conference games at home this weekend as it welcomes UIW for a thre-game set.
LIONS' SCHEDULE AGAINST THE CARDINALS
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.
$2 BEER NIGHT
Friday is $2 Beer Night at John Cain Family Softball Complex. All beers will be $2 at the concession stand.
ALUMNI DAY
The Lion Softball program is celebrating its 10th anniversary this season and Saturday's game is Alumni Day. All alums in attendance will throw out the first pitch and be recognised prior to the game.
EASTER EGG HUNT
Following Saturday's series finale, the annual Easter Egg Hunt will take place on the field. All kids 12 and under will receive free admission to Saturday's game.
STAYING CLOSE TO HOME
The Lions close out a stretch of playing nine of 12 games at home, which are all against Southland Conference opponents. All five conference wins for the Lions have come at home this season.
BIG CATS, BIG BATS
In the mid-week series at SFA earlier this week, the Lions added one more home run to increase their season total to 30 on the season, which leads the Southland Conference. During conference play, East Texas A&M has hit 18 home runs during 18 conference games played so far.
Tatum Wright (Frisco - Centennial) is the team leader in home runs with nine, while
Stephanie Tapia (Yuma, Ariz.) has eight.
LIONS RALLY TO TAKE THE SERIES OVER LADY DEMONS
In all three games, the Lions trailed by multiple runs in each game to Northwestern State, but rallied to win two of three to take the series, it marked the second series win for the Lions, who have won both series over the Lady Demons in Commerce over the last three years.
DARBY IS A DOUBLES MACHINE
Darby Hickey (Plano Senior) had five plate appearances in the series at Lamar, her first appearance since February 16. She went 4 for 5 in the series, hitting three doubles and drove in five runs. She came in as a pinch hitter with a runner on each time in Beaumont and found a way to bring the runner home each time. She had a hit in the series against Northwestern State as well.
LIONS ROLL OVER ISLANDERS FOR FIRST SLC SWEEP
East Texas A&M took all three games at home 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
Wright 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 in the 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 during the week. Five of her six hits in the series went extra bases. including two doubles, a triple, and two home runs. She leads the team in home runs (9), RBIs (26), and doubles (10).
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 last 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.
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 has eight home runs on the season, which is second 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 34 strikeouts on the season. She went 2-0 in the series against Northwestern State.
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 46 for 57 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 last season.
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 CARDINALS
Having reached the SLC Tournament Championship game a year ago, UIW comes into this weekend with a record of 22-15, having won 5 of its last six. The Cardinals are 12-6 in SLC play and 7-2 in conference games away from home. This weekend's series are the final three road games for the Cardinals in the regular season. UIW's marquee non-conference wins include Akron, Michigan State, and Pittsburgh. The Lions won the series over the Cardinals at home in 2023, while UIW took all three games in San Antonio last season, though the series finale was decided in 12 innings.
Victoria Altamirano is batting .418 with 14 home runs and 33 RBIs, being the SLC leader in home runs. Jillian Gutierrez is averaging .310 with 18 RBIs. In the circle, Larissa Jacquez is pitching to an ERA of 1.54 with a record of 5-6 and 82 strikeouts, while Samantha Portillo is pitching to an ERA of 2.67 with 38 strikeouts.
-ETAMU-
