Lion men shoot day’s lowest round to advance to Division II Championships quarterfinals as the fifth seed.

A&M-Commerce takes on Georgia Southwestern at 6:30 am CST.

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – The Texas A&M University-Commerce men’s golf team carded the lowest round of the final day of stroke play at the NCAA Division II Championships. They advanced to the medal match play bracket as the fifth seed. 

The Lions completed the 54-hole stroke-play portion of the tournament at 920 (+56, 300-315-305) and had the best round of Wednesday’s action by two strokes. 

A&M-Commerce is the fifth seed in the quarterfinals and will take on fourth seed Georgia Southwestern starting at 7:30 am EDT off the 10th tee. The bracket action is medal match play, where players’ cumulative scores are compared head-to-head, with each match worth one point. Cumulative strokes have the potential to come into play in the event of tied games.

A&M-Commerce	Time EDT	Georgia Southwestern
Brody Blackmon	7:30	Chase McLain
Tripp Wallace	7:40	Jack Tharrington
Simon Haas	7:50	Saksit Jairak
Zach Burch	8:00	Simon Estrada
Nathan McCulloch	8:10	Jordan Daskalos

The quarterfinal winner will advance to the semifinal against the winner of Indianapolis and Lee, with the semifinal played starting at 12:40 pm. The championship match is at 8:00 am Friday CST.

Fifth-seed Lions take heart-stopping 4-3 win over fourth-seed Colorado Mesa in the opening round.

COMMERCE – The fifth-seeded Texas A&M University-Commerce softball team kept fans on the edge of their seat before a bases-loaded strikeout by Emily Otto gave the Lions a 4-3 win. It was against fourth-seeded Colorado Mesa in the NCAA Division II South Central Regional Tournament opening round. 

With the win, the Lions move their record to 29-16 on the season and advance to the winner’s bracket quarterfinals against top-seeded Oklahoma Christian at noon Thursday. The Mavericks fall to 38-4 on the season and play in an elimination game this evening. 

Based on new guidance from the NCAA, starting with Thursday’s games, the South Central Regional will be 100% capacity with no masking requirements. Tickets are available at www.WeAreLionsTix.com. 

The Lions capitalized on their minimized opportunities, and pitching came in clutch down the stretch. 

A&M-Commerce opened the scoring in the top of the first, as Kimber Qualls (Humble – Atascocita) and Alyssa LeBlanc (Katy) hit solo homers to give the Lions an early 2-0 lead. 

LeBlanc was perfect through the first two innings in the circle before Mesa scraped together two runs in the third to tie the game at 2-all. 

In the top of the fifth, Chealsea Slider (Texarkana – Texas High) led off with a double, then pinch-runner Da’Jia Davis (Waco Midway) advanced to third on a groundout and made it Lions a 3-2 when she scampered home on a passed ball. 

Slider instigated an inning-ending double play on defense in the bottom of the fifth to fire the Lions up, and the offense responded in the sixth. Qualls walked, went to second on a sacrifice bunt, third on a groundout, and scored when Kinsie Hebler (Cy-Fair) beat out an infield single, making it 4-2. 

The Mavericks battled back in the bottom of the seventh, showing why they entered the tournament with only three losses. LeBlanc issued a pair of walks and was relieved by Emily Otto (Lamar Consolidated). A couple of singles scored one run and loaded the bases, putting the game-winning run in scoring position. 

Otto then induced a flyout and closed the game with two straight strikeouts, with a punchout looking, sending the Lion dugout into celebration mode. 

LeBlanc moved her record to 16-10, allowing three runs – one earned – on four hits with four walks and nine strikeouts in six-plus innings. Otto made her first save of the season with the scoreless seventh inning. 

Neal, LeBlanc, Hebler, and Slider collected the Lions’ four hits, with three going for extra bases. 

LeBlanc, Schaefer earn second-team all-region honors from D2CCA.

COMMERCE – Texas A&M University-Commerce’s Madison Schaefer and Alyssa LeBlanc have been named Second Team All-South Central Region by the Division II Conference Commissioner’s Association (D2CCA), as announced Wednesday. 

The duo led the Lions to their fourth-ever NCAA Division II Tournament, starting at noon Wednesday with the Lions as the fifth seed in the South Central Region. They were also second-team all-region honorees from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association. 

It is the fourth career all-region honor for Schaefer (Frisco – Independence). The third baseman led the Lone Star Conference on-base percentage, home runs, and walks in the regular season, starting every game. She has a .408 batting average with 51 hits, 11 home runs, nine doubles, 32 RBIs, and 33 walks against 14 strikeouts. She was 28-of-31 on stolen base attempts and had a .945 fielding percentage at third base. 

LeBlanc (Katy) earns her second career all-region honor at utility-pitcher. In the regular season, she had a .277 average at the plate with 33 hits, seven home runs, and 33 RBIs. In the pitching circle, she has a 15-10 record with a 2.08 ERA, nine shutouts, three saves, and 171 strikeouts in 141.2 innings pitched. She leads the LSC in strikeouts and ranks in the top five in ERA. 

D2CCA ALL-SOUTH CENTRAL REGION

FIRST TEAM

C: Shanna McBroom, Sr., West Texas A&M (Sachse, Texas)

1B: Madison Fernandez, Fr., Angelo State (San Antonio, Texas)

2B: Ashlyn Lerma, So., Angelo State (Highland Village, Texas)

3B: Sydney Reamer, Sr., Colorado Christian (West Wendover, Nev.)

SS: Jessi Case, Jr., Regis (Loveland, Colo.)

OF: Ruby Salzman, So., West Texas A&M (Northridge, Calif.) %

OF: Shelby Robb, Fr., MSU Denver (Arvada, Colo.)

OF: Lauren Wedman, So., Colorado Mesa (Tucson, Ariz.)

DP: Piper Lujan, Jr., Colorado Christian (Gilbert, Ariz.)

P: Payton Foster, So., UT Tyler (Lufkin, Texas)

P: Kali Crandall, So., Oklahoma Christian (Artesia, N.M.)

P: Erin Hill, Sr., UT Tyler (Maryville, Tenn.)

UT: Brianna Santos, So., UCCS (San Mateo, Calif.)

UT-P: Ellie Smith, So., Colorado Mesa (Riverside, Calif.)

South Central Region Player of Year: Shanna McBroom, C, Sr., West Texas A&M (Sachse, Texas)

South Central Region Pitcher of Year: Kali Crandall, So., Oklahoma Christian (Artesia, N.M.)

SECOND TEAM

C: Ashley Perez, Jr., UT Tyler (Pflugerville, Texas)

1B: Sarah Staudie, Sr., Colorado Mesa (Redondo Beach, Calif.)

2B: Khmari Edwards, So., Cameron (Del City, Okla.) %

3B: Madison Schaefer, So., Texas A&M-Commerce (Frisco, Texas) %

SS: Kayla Gonzales, Fr., Texas A&M-Kingsville (San Antonio, Texas)

OF: Courtney Barnhill, Sr., Angelo State (Lubbock, Texas) %

OF: Brooke Doumer, Sr., Colorado Mesa (Parker, Colo.) %

OF: Kylie Janzen, Fr., Oklahoma Christian (Moore, Okla.)

DP: Brianna Robinson, Jr., Oklahoma Christian (Henderson, Texas)

P: Erika Cortez, So., Texas A&M International (Rio Hondo, Texas)

P: Paige Adair, Jr., Colorado Mesa (Aztec, N.M.)

P: Taylor Franco, Sr., Lubbock Christian (Monahans, Texas)

UT: Brooklin Bain, Fr., Oklahoma Christian (Comanche, Okla.)

UT-P: Alyssa LeBlanc, Fr., Texas A&M-Commerce (Katy, Texas)

Wongsinth, Hempel claim program’s first WGCA All-American honors

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. – Texas A&M University-Commerce women’s golfers Sarah Wongsinth and Sophie-Charlott Hempel have earned All-American distinction from the Women’s Golf Coaches Association, becoming the first All-Americans in program history. 

Wongsinth earned Second Team All-American distinction, while Hempel earned Honorable Mention. 

The duo led the Lions to the most successful season in team history, placing ninth at the NCAA Division II Championships, finishing eighth in the Golfstat rankings, placing third at the West Regional, and claiming Lone Star Conference runner-up honors. 

Wongsinth (Udon Thani, Thailand) was named all-West Region last week and finished the season ranked 21st nationally in the Golfstat rankings. She played 20 rounds in eight events for the season with four top-five finishes, five top 10 finishes, and a 74.75 stroke average, with six rounds under par. She had career lows of 208 for 54 holes, 143 for 36 holes, and 68 for 18 holes during the season. She was the champion of the West Texas A&M Desert Invitational and runner-up at the Palm Valley Classic. 

Wongsinth is the Lions’ career leader in scoring average at 74.67 strokes over three seasons and holds the top three entries in the record book for single-season stroke average. 

Hempel (Pirmasens, Germany) finished the year ranked 30th nationally in the Golfstat rankings, playing in 26 rounds over 11 events with a 75.50 stroke average, a career-low, and school record 207 for 54 holes at the LSC Championships, and a school-record eight games under par for the season. She had two top-five finishes and eight top 10 finishes. 

Hempel’s career scoring average of 77.23 ranks second in school history, only behind Wongsinth.

PING WGCA Division II Player of the Year

Kiira Riihijarvi

Tampa

WGCA Division II Freshman of the Year Presented by StrackaLine

Olivia Mitchell

DBU

WGCA Division II All-American Teams
First Team

Katie Chipman	Grand Valley State
Faith DeLaGarza	DBU
Pilar Echeverria	Indianapolis
Alice Gotbring	Barry
Hanna Harrison	DBU
Ebba Hellman	Limestone
Helen Kreuzer	Lynn
Camila Madariaga	Lynn
Olivia Mitchell	DBU
Kiira Riihijarvi	Tampa
Megan Sabol	North Georgia
Anahi Servin	Academy of Art
Loukyee Songprasert	West Texas A&M
Emma Thorngren	Missouri-St. Louis

Second Team

Maddie Ananthasane	North Georgia
Ainsley Cowart	West Georgia
Monica Dibildox	St. Mary’s
Alice Gatti	Lynn
Jacqueline Klemm	Arkansas Tech
Anna Kramer	Indianapolis
Hailey McLaughlin	Wingate
Pilar Martinez	Limestone
Jessica Rathbone	Anderson
Francesca Santoni	St. Leo
Jill Schmitmeyer	Findlay
Jaycie Stewart	DBU
Stina Wickstrom	Limestone
Meredith Wipper	Findlay
Sarah Wongsinth	A&M-COMMERCE

Honorable Mention Team

Estelle Beck	St. Mary’s
Julia Garcia	DBU
Jessica Green	Rogers State
Solange Gomez	West Florida
Sophie-Charlott Hempel	A&M-COMMERCE
Camilla Jarvela	Oklahoma Christian
Faith Kilgore	Colorado Christian
Taylor Oberparleiter	Limestone
Sofia Ruescas	St. Mary’s
Lena Schilowsky	Limestone
Supuschaya Srichantamit	Lee