COMMERCE – The East Texas A&M University softball team has entered the final stretch of the regular season, playing at Southland Conference-leading McNeese this weekend.
LIONS' SCHEDULE AT THE COWGIRLS
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.
RIGHT IN THE THICK OF THINGS
There are just six games left in Southland play for the Lions and they all come on the road. East Texas A&M is currently in eighth place in the standings and holds a two-game lead over A&M-Corpus Christi and three-game lead over Northwestern State. The Lions also hold the tiebreaker over both teams and can bolster their chances of making the eight-team SLC Tournament with at least one win this weekend in Lake Charles.
STAYING CLOSE TO HOME
The Lions closed out a stretch of playing nine of 12 games at home last week, which are all against Southland Conference opponents. All five conference wins for the Lions have come at home this season.
BIG CATS, BIG BATS
The Lions have hit two home runs in their last two conference series to increase their season total to 31 on the season, which leads the Southland Conference and four ahead of McNeese. During conference play, East Texas A&M has hit 19 home runs.
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 (11).
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 47 for 58 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 COWGIRLS
Winners of the last three conference championships, the Cowgirls can inch closer to an impressive four-peat this weekend as McNeese enters the weekend in a tie for first place with Southeastern. McNeese is 31-17 on the season and 17-4 in conference play, having won the series at Southeastern earlier this season and also picked up marquee non-conference wins over Houston, Rutgers, South Alabama, Minnesota, and Louisiana. The Cowgirls have played in the NCAA Tournament in two of the last three seasons as well and are 6-0 against the Lions all-time.
McNeese is second in the SLC in home runs, tops in slugging percentage, and also third in on-base percentage. On the pitching side, McNeese's team earned run average of 3.71 is third. Kassidy Chance is batting .390 to lead the team and has 17 RBIs on the season as well. Jada Munoz has team-best 11 home runs and 37 RBIs. In the circle, Kadence Williams is 9-7 with an ERA of 3.38 and 18 strikeouts, while Maddie Taylor is 14-6 and has 47 strikeouts, while Ryann Schexnayder is 4-1 in 30 appearances.
-ETAMU-
