LSC Title hopes to remain alive as No. 20 Lions sweep No. 15 Eagles

COMMERCE – The No. 20 ranked Texas A&M University-Commerce softball team remains alive for the Lone Star Conference Championship after sweeping the No. 15 ranked Oklahoma Christian Eagles on Tuesday afternoon via 7-4 and 7-2, respectively, at the John Cain Family Field. 

The Lions improve to 23-6 in conference play, sitting in a tie with Lubbock Christian for second place and two games back of UT Tyler. The Lions can clinch the LSC title and earn hosting rights for the LSC Tournament by winning both games at the Patriots on Saturday. The Lions are 39-11 and can reach the 40-win mark for the third time in school history with one more win this season. 

The Eagles were tied with the Lions and the Lady Chaps for second place coming into the week but have dropped their last four games and fall to 20-8 in LSC play.

POSTGAME INTERVIEW 

 GAME 1: No. 20 A&M-Commerce 7, No. 15 Oklahoma Christian 4

Madison Schaefer (Frisco – Independence) led off the bottom of the first with a home run to the left. It was her sixth home run in the last nine games. Chanlee Oakes (Emory – Rains) also drilled a home run to the dead center in the first. 

MADISON SCHAEFER HOME RUN HIGHLIGHT

 CHANLEE OAKES HOME RUN HIGHLIGHT

The Eagles loaded the bases with no outs in the second, but a strikeout by Emily Otto (Lamar Consolidated) and two flyouts left all three runners on base at the end of the inning. 

Destiny Whitburn (Dodd City – Ector) earned a walk in the third and scored on a wild pitch by the Eagles. Then Uxua Modrego (Burlada, Spain) reached on a bunt to the pitcher and scored on a sacrifice bunt by Leo Terry (Emory – Rains). 

Alyssa LeBlanc (Katy) led off the bottom of the third with a single. She scored on an RBI base hit by Sabrina Anguiano (Riverside, Calif.), who scored the Lions’ sixth run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Modrego. 

The Lions loaded the bases with one out in the sixth, leading 6-0. Alina Jasso (San Benito) just beat out the throw to score on a sacrifice fly by LeBlanc. However, the Lions could not get the eighth run across for the run-rule win. 

A walk and a base hit put two on with no outs for the Eagles in the seventh. Tristyn Hamilton drove in both runners to make it 7-2. After two straight hits by pitches thrown by Otto and replaced by LeBlanc. The Eagles added two more runs on a two-run single by Whitney Walde. 

The Eagles had the tying run on deck with an out in the seventh, but two straight strikeouts from LeBlanc ended the game and gave the Lions their fifth consecutive win. 

Otto tossed 6.1 innings and allowed four earned runs on six hits and two walks. She fanned four. LeBlanc struck out two of the three batters she faced to get her second save of the season. 

With the complete-game loss, Kali Crandall drops to 16-7. She allowed five earned runs on six hits and seven walks while striking out four. 

Schaefer went 2 for 2 in the game with a stolen base, while Anguiano went 2 for 3. Kylie Janzen and Rian Gamble went 2-for-2 for the Eagles. 

GAME 2: No. 20 A&M-Commerce 7, No. 15 Oklahoma Christian 2

Brooklin Bain started the game with a leadoff walk and scored an unearned run on a Lions’ throwing error, the only run for either team through the first three innings. 

Anguiano tied the game in the fourth with a solo home run to left field, her eighth this season.

SABRINA ANGUIANO HOME RUN HIGHLIGHT

Schaefer doubled down the right-field line to start the fifth. Oakes also reached base via a walk, and both scored on the team-leading 11th home run of the season by LeBlanc to right field.

ALYSSA LEBLANC HOME RUN HIGHLIGHT

Abi LaValley led off the top of the sixth with a solo home run to cut the deficit down to two. However, LeBlanc’s lead atop the home runs on the team did not last for long as Modrego joined her with 11 on a two-run home run to dead center in the sixth.

UXUA MODREGO HOME RUN HIGHLIGHT

The runs for the Lions continued in the sixth on a base hit by Schaefer that plated Jasso. Then, Schaefer reached home on a hit to the left. 

In Game 2, Schaefer, Jasso, and Modrego had two hits each while holding the Eagles to just three hits in Game 2. 

LeBlanc went the distance and improved to 14-6 on the season. She had seven strikeouts, and four walks with the three hits and one earned run. Grace Anderson took the loss for the Eagles, allowing four earned runs in 4.1 innings. 

UP NEXT

The regular season concludes at No. 1 UT-Tyler on Saturday, with the doubleheader beginning at 1:00 pm.

Shostak was named USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week.

NEW ORLEANS – Texas A&M University-Commerce women’s track & field student-athlete Mariana Shostak was named the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Association’s National Female Athlete of the Week in Division II on Tuesday afternoon. 

Shostak (Lviv, Ukraine) competed in three events last weekend at Arizona State, set the school record twice, and set the top mark in Division II. She timed 52.40 seconds in the 400-meter dash breaking her school record two weeks ago. She also won the 4×400 meter relay team with a school-record and Division II-leading time of 3:38.36. 

She is the first National Athlete of the Week for the Lions and earned the Lone Star Conference Athlete of the Week honor during the indoor season. 

On Thursday, the Lions host the East Texas Quad in the final meet before the LSC Championships.

National Athletes of the Week in NCAA and NJCAA Track & Field – April 26, 2022

NCAA Division I Men – Matthew Boling, Georgia
NCAA Division I Women – Abby Steiner, Kentucky
NCAA Division II Men – Christian Noble, Lee
NCAA Division II Women – Mariana Shostak, A&M-Commerce
NCAA Division III Men – JP Vaught, Centre
NCAA Division III Women – Evie Miller, Trine
NJCAA Men – Brandon Lloyd, Barton CC
NJCAA Women – Kelsie Murrell-Ross, Barton CC

Lions enter the final week of the regular season ranked No. 20

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Texas A&M University-Commerce softball team is ranked No. 20 in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association rankings entering the final weekend of the regular season on Tuesday afternoon. 

The Lions are 38-11 with four wins over currently ranked teams, and the remaining three games also come against nationally-ranked teams. A&M-Commerce is the No. 6 in the South Central Region on the latest regional rankings released by the NCAA. 

A&M-Commerce closes out the regular season with the second game of the doubleheader against Oklahoma Christian on Tuesday afternoon and a doubleheader at No. 1 UT-Tyler on Saturday at 1:00 pm.

2022 NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll – 4/25/22

Rank	School	Points	Record	Prev. Ranking
1	UT Tyler (16)	400	38-4	1
2	Indianapolis	371	41-5	3
3	Texas A&M-Kingsville	359	41-8	5
4	Central Oklahoma	354	41-7	4
5	Auburn Montgomery	349	34-8	2
6	Rogers State	306	39-7	8
7	Angelo State	296	37-8	10
8	Cal State San Marcos	282	36-8	6
9	Tampa	278	30-10	11
10	Valdosta State	259	29-9	7
11	Concordia Irvine	241	42-7	9
12	Augustana	232	36-7	12
13	Lubbock Christian	204	36-8	14
14	Anderson	191	37-7	13
15	Oklahoma Christian	167	36-10	15
16	Minnesota State	146	38-10	18
16	Southern Indiana	146	35-10	17
18	West Florida	118	28-12	20
19	North Georgia	112	35-15	16
20	A&M-Commerce	107	37-11	19
21	Grand Valley State	79	36-5	24
22	Kutztown	39	30-12	25
23	Lenoir-Rhyne	34	36-13	23
24	Chico State	33	34-11	RV
25	Adelphi	22	33-11	RV