The No. 6 Lions pick up a twin-bill sweep of St. Mary’s

COMMERCE – The No. 6 Texas A&M University-Commerce softball team picked up a doubleheader sweep of St. Mary’s University on Sunday, avenging a pair of losses earlier this season. 

The Lions took an 8-0 win in six innings in the first game, followed by a 5-3 win in the second game. 

The Lions are now 25-10 overall and 18-4 in the Lone Star Conference with the sweep. St. Mary’s is 16-16 overall and 11-9 in the league. 

A&M-Commerce has four LSC doubleheaders remaining in the regular season, with the next two on the road. The Lions play at Cameron on Friday and Oklahoma Christian on Sunday.

HEAD COACH RICHIE BRUISTER AFTER THE GAMES 

GAME ONE

Alyssa LeBlanc (Katy) had a dominant performance both in the circle and at the plate, helping the Lions with the 8-0 win in the opening game. She moved her pitching record to 14-6 on the season with the complete-game shutout, striking out ten and walking one while allowing two singles. Only one Rattler made it to scoring position in the entire contest. 

The Lion offense made sure to take advantage of opportunities given after leaving runners on the corners in the first inning. Six straight Lions reached base in the third to score the opening runs of the day. LeBlanc plated the first two runs with a bases-loaded single. Avery Boley (Fort Worth – Nolan Catholic) scored a run with a single, pinch-runner Da’Jia Davis (Waco Midway) scored on a wild pitch, and Chealsea Slider (Texarkana – Texas High) brought home a run with a groundout to put the Lions ahead 5-0. 

Madison Schaefer (Frisco – Independence) drew a one-out walk in the fifth, moved to second on a groundout, then scored on Boley’s second RBI single of the day to make it 6-0. 

The early conclusion to the game came in the sixth, as Ta’Lyn Moody (Mansfield – Legacy) singled to start the inning, followed by Samantha Dutton (Tulsa, Okla.) and Mackenzie Dugi (St. Hedwig – East Central) walks. With two outs, LeBlanc closed out the game with a two-run double for the 8-0 win. 

LeBlanc went 2-for-4 with four RBIs, and Boley went 2-for-3 with two RBIs. 

GAME TWO

The Lions fought back from an early deficit and held off the Rattlers’ late strike attempt in a 5-3 win to close out the day. 

St. Mary’s opened the game with three straight singles, and a sacrifice fly and single put the Rattlers up 2-0 with only one out in the game.

Schaefer cut into the lead with a solo home run in the bottom of the first, and Dutton’s two-out single in the bottom of the second tied the game. 

The Lions took the lead with three runs in the third. Slider hit a two-run through the pitcher’s legs with one out to make it 4-2 and then scored on Kuea Angliau’s (Salt Lake City, Utah) RBI fielder’s choice to make it 5-2. 

The Rattlers made it interesting in every inning after that, but Lion pitching minimized damage. The bases were left full in the fourth and stranded three more runners in the next two innings. 

In the seventh, a walk, a double, and a single plated a St. Mary’s run and put the go-ahead run on base, but a deep flyout gave the Lions the win. 

Emily Otto (Richmond – Lamar Consolidated) moved to 11-4 on the year with the win in 4.0 innings, striking out four and walking none while conceding two runs on nine hits. LeBlanc earned her third save of the year, allowing one run on three hits in 3.0 innings with two walks and two strikeouts. 

 

Four Lion men earn All-LSC recognition, McCulloch is Newcomer of the Year.

RICHARDSON – The Texas A&M University-Commerce men’s golf team had four Lions recognized in the Lone Star Conference’s annual awards, which were released Friday. 

Nathan McCulloch was named LSC Newcomer of the Year and Second Team All-LSC, Zach Burch was named Second Team All-LSC, and Brody Blackmon and Tripp Wallace earned All-LSC Honorable Mention. 

McCulloch – a junior from Edinburgh, Scotland – is the second Lion to earn LSC Newcomer of the Year honors, joining Wilfredo Sanchez’s 2017 honor. He is ranked 74th in the Golfstat statistical rankings and has a 72.43 stroke average in 14 rounds. He has one top-five finish and four top 10 finish in five events this season with four rounds under par. He had a low game of 68 in two separate tournaments in March and had a top finish of fifth place at the Las Vegas Desert Classic. 

Burch – a senior from Lubbock-Cooper – earns his first All-LSC honor after averaging 73.52 strokes per round in 23 rounds this season with two top-five finishes and three top 10 finishes eight events. His 67 in the Midwestern State Invitational tied for the team’s lowest net round of the year and second-lowest in par. He finished fourth in that event and fifth in the Jack Brown Memorial, and seven games under par this season. 

Blackmon – a senior from Sulphur Springs – had a 73.76 stroke average in 21 rounds at seven events this season, and his 5-under par 67 in the season-ending DBU Classic to end the regular season was the team’s best round to par this year. He had five games under par, with a top 10 finish at the DBU event. 

Wallace – a junior from Wolfforth Frenship – played in seven events with a 73.65 stroke average and ten rounds under par, which led the team. He had a sixth-place finish at the Midwestern State Invitational, where two games of 69 were his best of the season. 

The Lions begin postseason competition this week, as they play in the 2021 Lone Star Conference Men’s Golf Championships on Monday-Wednesday in Arlington at Tierra Verde GC. 

2021 Men’s Golf All-Lone Star Conference

SPECIAL RECOGNITION

Player of the Year: Garrett Leek, Midwestern State

Newcomer of the Year: Nate McCulloch, A&M-Commerce

Freshman of the Year: Mateo Pulcini, Oklahoma Christian

Coach of the Year: David Lynn, Oklahoma Christian

FIRST TEAM

Jake Doggett	Midwestern State	Sr.	Hutto, Texas
Garrett Leek	Midwestern State	Jr.	Brock, Texas
Trevor Norby	Oklahoma Christian	Sr.	Carlsbad, Calif.
Andres Brictson	Oklahoma Christian	Jr.	Merida, Mexico
Mateo Pulcini	Oklahoma Christian	Fr.	Rio Cuarto, Argentina
Parker Holekamp	Texas A&M International	Sr.	Kingwood, Texas

SECOND TEAM

Kevin Graces	DBU	Sr.	Plano, Texas
Matthew Prieskorn	DBU	Jr.	Texarkana, Texas
Ryan Dixon	St. Mary’s	Sr.	England
Zach Burch	A&M-Commerce	Sr.	Lubbock, Texas
Nate McCulloch	A&M-Commerce	Jr.	Edinburgh, Scotland
Eemeli Jarvinen	West Texas A&M	Jr.	Helsinki, Finland

HONORABLE MENTION

Jeff Maciejewski	Lubbock Christian	Sr.	San Angelo, Texas
Brody Blackmon	A&M-Commerce	Sr.	Sulphur Springs, Texas
Tripp Wallace	A&M-Commerce	Jr.	Lubbock, Texas
Colton Hilburn	UT Permian Basin	So.	Merkel, Texas

2021 LSC MEN’S GOLF ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM

Devin Whipple	Cameron	Sr.	Behavioral Science	Brea, Calif.
Zach Burkholder	Lubbock Christian	Sr.	Business Marketing	Gilbert, Ariz.
Andres Brictson	Oklahoma Christian	Jr.	Finance	Merida, Mexico
Parker Holekamp	Texas A&M International	Grad	Business Administration	Kingwood, Texas
Ryan Staykov	Texas A&M International	So.	Business Administration	Sofia, Bulgaria

LSC Men’s Golf Academic Player of the Year: Zach Burkholder, Lubbock Christian