Photo – Avi Mehta

Sefe homers, but Southeastern takes the win in six

HAMMOND, La. – Diamond Sefe hit a towering two-run home run for the Texas A&M University-Commerce softball team. However, it was not enough, as Southeastern picked up a 10-2 win in six innings on Saturday afternoon at North Oak Park. 

“We went up against the best two teams in our conference on the road the last two weeks, which was a great learning opportunity for our young team,” said coach Brittany Miller. “We are looking forward to being back at home next weekend.” 

With one out, Maddie Watson homered to the left to begin the scoring for Southeastern in the second. Audrey Greely drew a walk and moved to third on the double to left center by Maddie Leal. Greely scored on a sacrifice fly by Colleen Kulivan. Then, Cam Goodman drew a walk and stole second, which allowed Leal to steal home. 

Maria Detillier followed with a triple to right center, allowing Goodman to score. Detillier was brought home by a ground-rule double to right center by Madison Rayner. Southeastern scored five runs on four hits and left one on base. 

A&M-Commerce had a runner reach third in both the second and the third inning but could not bring her home. Avery Zeigler (Southlake Carroll) drew a lead-off walk in the fourth and was brought home by Diamond Sefe (Carson, Calif.), who hit a towering two-run home run to left, her fourth of the season. It was the first two runs scored by the Lions since March 18. 

DIAMOND SEFE HOME RUN HIGHLIGHT

Southeastern responded with four runs in the bottom of the fifth. Detillier led off the inning with a single up the middle, and after two outs, Bailey Krolczyk homered to right center for a two-run shot. Watson continued the inning with a single through the left side, Greely drew a walk, and Leal brought home both runners with a double to left center. Next, Watson hit an infield single, but Leal was tagged out at home, trying to score from second. 

In the fifth, the Lady Lions recorded four runs on five hits and left one on base. 

Southeastern had a runner at third in the fifth, representing the run-rule clinching run, but it was stranded. A&M-Commerce left the bases loaded in the top of the sixth and stranded six runners in the game. In the series, the Lions left 17. 

The Lady Lions walked it off in the bottom of the sixth. Watson reached on a fielding error, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and scored on a single through the right side by Greely. 

For A&M-Commerce, Kaydee Bennett (Caddo Mills) went 1 for 2 with a walk drawn in the game. On the weekend, she went five-for-eight and reached base seven times. Sefe scored two-for-three in the game, while America Rubio (El Paso – Montwood) and Elizabeth Guerrero (International School of Americas) had a hit each. 

In the circle, Anissa Arredondo (San Antonio – Warren) got the loss for the Lions. She went 1.2 innings and came up with five earned runs. 

Detillier, Watson, and Leal had two hits each, with Krolczyk and Leal collecting two RBIs each. KK Ladner moved to 9-1 in the circle with nine strikeouts and three walks. The only damage she allowed was the two-run home run by Sefe. 

Southeastern is 30-8 on the season and 7-2 in Southland play, while A&M-Commerce has lost eight in a row and is 5-27 overall and 1-8 in conference play. 

UP NEXT

The Lions are back home next weekend to face A&M-Corpus Christi for a three-game series starting with a doubleheader on Friday at 5:00 pm.

Photo – Maia Maury

Franklin was victorious at Bobcat Invitational.

AUSTIN and SAN MARCOS – Trayveon Franklin won the triple jump at the Bobcat Invitational for the Texas A&M University-Commerce track and field at the Texas State Track and Field Complex. On Saturday, the Lions also participated in the Texas Relays at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin. 

You can find the Texas Results HERE. In addition, full results for the Bobcat Invitational are HERE. 

COACH GEORGE PINCOCK’S THOUGHTS

“There were a lot of good things at both meets this weekend and opportunities for student-athletes to compete in great environments. Naomi Ndukwe, Maia Maury, and Tamara Susa set the tone on Thursday with personal bests or near personal bests.” 

“Yesterday, the big highlight was our men’s 4×100 meter relay getting the big ‘Q’ and winning their heat. The goal at Texas Relays always is to get to Saturday, and they did that. The race did not go as planned today, but we just need to clean up some things. I know we have the right members on the relay.” 

“For our student-athletes at Texas State, a really competitive meet for them. Saw great things out of Veronika in the high jump and Trayveon in the triple jump today. Going back to Thursday, Elizabeth Ortiz had a personal best in the heptathlon.” 

“Our team is starting off the outdoor season the right way. Having good qualification marks to qualify for later rounds puts them in a position where they can improve as we go along. I am really looking forward to getting things rolling towards the conference championships.” 

MEN

Franklin (Montgomery) jumped a season-best 49 feet 2.5 inches (15.0m) to win the triple jump. He recorded the best mark on his third attempt. 

Casey Novelo (Bedford – Trinity) finished second in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:00.95, and Jan Lenfert (Buckenhof, Germany) clocked in at 4:03.20 for sixth place. Tyke Owens (Lebanon Trail) timed 10.74 seconds for 19th place. 

In the 800-meter run, Joshua Schutter (Rowlett – Sachse) finished sixth, timing 1:55.53. Nicholas Deutsch (Frisco) finished 12th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:03.11. 

The men’s 4×400 meter relay team of Adrian Taylor (Cape Town, South Africa), Jack Jones (Arlington Lamar), Chandler King (Hughes Springs), and Axel Paolucci (Lyon) clocked in at 3:23.40 for ninth place. 

Over at the Texas Relays, Delan Edwin (Castries, Saint Lucia) timed 21.13 seconds for 12th place in the 200-meter dash invitational. The 4×100 meter relay team had qualified for the finals but still needed to finish the race on Saturday. 

WOMEN

Veronika Kramarenko (Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine) cleared 5 feet 7.25 inches (1.71m), tying for third, but placed seventh based on attempts in the high jump. Nour Almasri (Mansfield Summit) timed 5:09.59 for 12th place in the 1,500-meter run. 

Alondra Campa (Kaufman) timed 12:38.00 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase close out the day. 

UP NEXT

The Lions host the East Texas Invitational at Memorial Stadium on April 14-15.