COMMERCE – The East Texas A&M University softball team dropped a pair of games to St. Thomas and Southern by scores of 11-0 and 8-4, respectively, on Sunday afternoon at the John Cain Family Softball Complex to close out the Lion Classic.
 
The Lions fall to 5-12 on the season, while the Tommies are 11-4 and the Lady Jaguars are 7-7. East Texas A&M has lost eight in a row.
 
GAME 1: ST. THOMAS 11, EAST TEXAS A&M 0 (Five Innings)
Three runs came around to score in the top of the first on a single up the middle by Ella Cook as a fielding error allowed Cassidy Carby, Avery Wukawitz, as well as Cook to score.
 
In the second, Laken Lienhard hit a two-run home run to deep right field in the second and in the fourth, Carby reached on a fielder's choice as Wukawitz scored. Cook hit a three-run home run in the fourth, while Kylie Weingart plated two on a two-run single in the fourth.
 
The Lions were limited to just two hits in the game, and they both came from Charli Anger (Lubbock – Cooper), who went 2 for 2 in the game.
 
Madison Kloepper (Llano) threw 3.1 innings in the loss, allowing eight earned runs and three strikeouts. Cook tossed a two-hit complete game in the circle for the Tommies, striking out four.
 
GAME 2: SOUTHERN 8, EAST TEXAS A&M 4
The Lady Jaguars opened the scoring in the second as Asia George hit a two-run single up the middle.
 
Gracie Alejo (Waco – Connally) hit a lead-off double in the bottom of the inning and scored on a double down the left field line by Layni Kimura (Westminster, Calif.), who scored on a sacrifice fly by Aaliyah Wilcox (Covington, Ga.).
 
Emma Rodrigues reached on a fielding error and scored on an RBI single by Isabella Arzola (Chino, Calif.), who scored on a throwing error as KK Cosek (Helendale, Calif.) hit a single to second.
 
In the third, Laila Clark doubled to deep center for Southern, plating one run. Keira Miracle-Tilford reached on a fielder's choice as one run scored in the fourth and Ava Wallace also reached on a fielder's choice, bringing home another run.
 
An RBI triple from Miracle-Tilford and a one-run single by Wallace added two more runs in the sixth. Izabell Astran plated Prestaisha White in the seventh with a sacrifice fly.
 
For the Lions, Cosek and Kay Olguin (Fontana, Calif.) had two hits each, combining for four of the team's eight hits in the game. Victoria Masters (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) started the game in the circle and allowed three earned runs in 2.1 innings, while Maddie Muller (Frisco – Centennial) allowed five earned runs in 4.2 innings to get the loss.
 
Southern's Aaliyah Zabala went the distance for the win, allowing two earned runs and striking out four.
 
UP NEXT
The Lions make their first ever trip to California next week for the prestigious Judi Garman Classic in Fullerton, California. The weekend begins against Florida on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Pacific, 9:30 p.m. central. The Gators are currently ranked No. 4 in the country.