COMMERCE – The Texas A&M University-Commerce softball team fell in a pair of games to the Lamar Cardinals on Friday evening at the John Cain Family Field via scores of 8-2 and 10-0, respectively.
 
GAME 1: LAMAR 8, A&M-COMMERCE 2
The Lions kept the Cardinals scoreless for the first two innings. In the bottom of the second, Darby Hickey (Plano Senior) and Diamond Sefe (Carson, Calif.) put two on with no outs with back-to-back singles. KK Cosek (Helendale, Calif.) came in as a pinch runner for Hickey, advancing to third on a flyout.
 
After Sefe was called for leaving first base early on a stolen base attempt, Emmie Miehe (Cameron Park, Calif.) doubled off the left field wall, missing a home run by mere inches, as Cosek scored. It was the first time the Lions had a lead in conference play.
 
The Cardinals answered with two runs in the third on three hits and left two on base as well. Shenita Tucker singled to third with one out and stole second. On a grounder by Jayne Sepulveda, the Lions tagged out Tucker at third, as Sepulveda reached on a fielder's choice.
 
Lamar challenged the play at third, but the call on the field stood. Trinity Brandon followed with a double to left center, plating Sepulveda and Brandon scored on an RBI single up the middle by Cameron Niedenthal. The Cardinals had runners at second and third with two outs, but a pop out ended the inning.
 
With an out in the bottom of the third, Tehya Pitts (Denton – Guyer) singled to short, stole second, and advanced to third on a groundout. Charli Anger (Lubbock – Cooper) drove in Pitts with an infield single.
 
Makenzie Wright doubled down the left field line with no outs in the top of the fourth. She was pinch run for by Makayla Valle, who advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt. Kalyn Xayaseng singled to short and both her and Valle came around to score on a two-run triple down the left field line by Tucker.
 
The Lions challenged the play at third to see if she was tagged out, but the call on the field stood. After a pop out, Brandon singled to the pitcher, allowing Tucker to score. In the fifth, Wright doubled once again, this time to right field and came around to score an unearned run on a single by Kalie Amos.
 
A Lion fielding error in left allowed Wright to score. Niedenthal walked to lead off the seventh and was pinch run for by Karyana Mitchell, who scored on an RBI double to left center by Veronica Harrison, who was pinch run for by Aubrey Brown. Roxy Thompson doubled to center, bringing home Brown.
 
The Lions left five runners on base in the game, while Lamar left eight. Hickey went 2 for 2 in the game, while Anger went 2 for 3. For the Cardinals, Tucker, Brandon, Harrison, and Wright had multi-hit games.
 
Julia Sanchez (The Kinkaid School) pitched six innings for the Lions and was charged with the loss. She allowed seven earned runs, while Emma Wardlaw took the win, surrendering two earned runs in the complete game.
 
GAME 2: LAMAR 10, A&M-COMMERCE 0 (Five Innings)
Mitchell threw a five-inning no hitter for the Cardinals. Miehe drew a walk in the third, being the only base runner for the Lions in the game, which was scoreless entering the fourth.
 
Brandon doubled to left center to lead off the fourth and she advanced to third on a groundout. After a strikeout and a walk drawn by Brooke Davis, Raigan Brannon doubled to right center, plating two runs.
 
Brown singled to third and Xayaseng loaded the bases with a four-pitch walk. Tucker drove in two on a single to second. Brown was originally called out at home, but the play was challenged by the Cardinals and was overturned.
 
The top of the fifth began with Brandon drawing a walk. After a fly out, Harrison doubled to right center as Brandon scored. Davis singled to the left side with Harrison going to third and scoring on a RBI groundout by Brannon, while Davis advanced to third.
 
After a walk and two outs in the inning, Xayaseng hit a grounder to short, the Lions attempted to tag out Davis at home, but she was safe as was Xayaseng with a base hit at first.
 
Tucker doubled up the middle, plating Brown and Xayaseng scored on a throwing error, which allowed Tucker to advance to third. After another Lion pitching change in the inning, Sepulveda singled through the left side with Tucker scoring.
 
Mitchell had four strikeouts, while Maddie Muller (Frisco – Memorial) got the loss for the Lions. She allowed five earned runs in 4.0 innings. Tucker went 3 for 4 with three RBIs in the leadoff spot for Lamar. All but one batter in the lineup that recorded an at-bat, picked up at least one hit in the game.
 
The Lions have lost 20 in a row, falling to 5-28 on the season and 0-8 in Southland Conference play, while the Cardinals are 20-10 overall and 7-1 in conference play.
 
UP NEXT
The series finale is set for noon on Saturday, which is the Cancer Awareness Game for the Lions, in collaboration with Hunt Regional Healthcare. Following the game, there is an Easter Egg Hunt. Tickets can be purchased at LionAthletics.com/Tickets.