Lion softball wins first game, has ‘no contest’ in second

DJ Spencer, Sports Editor

On March 24, the Texas A&M University-Commerce Lion softball team hosted the Southern Arkansas University Muleriders for a doubleheader. 

During the first inning, the Muleriders stepped up the plate but were hitless. The Lions were hitless as well, but Madison Schaefer managed to score a run for the Lions, giving them a 1-0 lead. 

The Muleriders managed to get the first hit of the game in the second inning but were unable to score. When the Lions came to the plate, Chelsea Slider recorded the first hit for the Lions with a single. Kinsie Hebler and Mackenzie Dugi both walked but the Lions were unable to score, leaving the game 1-0 after two innings. 

The Muleriders would go down in three batters to start the third inning. The Lions were also held without a hit, with only Schaefer getting on base after being walked again.

The Muleriders recorded another hit in the fourth inning but failed to score. The Lions added another hit, as Hebler recorded a single and Alyssa LeBlanc would also get on base after being walked but the score remained 1-0.

In the fifth inning, the Muleriders went down in order, thanks to Emily Otto’s pitching. When the Lions took the plate, Schaefer and Dugi recorded hits and Schaefer would score her second run of the game, extending the lead to 2-0 as the fifth inning concluded.

In the sixth inning, the Muleriders managed to score a two-run home run and tied the game at 2-2. When the Lions came back to the plate, they would reclaim the lead after Ta’Lyn Moody scored a run thanks to an RBI double by Samantha Dutton. The Lions’ lead was extended after Schaefer hit a two-run home run, giving the Lions a 5-2 lead after six innings.

LeBlanc relieved Otto in the circle for the seventh inning and closed out the game. Otto earned her seventh victory, while LeBlanc earned her first save.

The Lions batted 6 for 21 (.286) for the game. Madison Schaefer led the Lions with two hits, while Dugi, Dutton, Hebler and Slider had one hit each. Schaefer accounted for three of the Lions’ runs, while Dutton and Mody each scored once.

For the second game, LeBlanc took the circle for the Lions. The Muleriders matched their previous points total in the first inning, scoring two runs and establishing an early 2-0 lead. The Muleriders then held the Lions to one hit, which went to Dugi, to retain their lead. 

The Muleriders would continue to play hard in the second inning, adding three more runs to their lead. LeBlanc was pulled after 1 ⅔ inning and replaced in the circle by Hebler. The Lions were again limited to only one hit in the second inning, which went to Slider. This made the score 5-0 in SAU’s favor.

In the third inning, Hebler and the Lion defense were able to hold the Muleriders scoreless, but SAU would hold the Lions scoreless again, despite Dutton reaching base after being hit by a pitch with Dugi and Uxua Modrego each hitting singles. 

In the fourth inning, the Muleriders went down in three batters, but the Lions were still held scoreless despite Slider recording a single and Moody being walked, leaving the score 5-0. 

The Muleriders would go down again in three batters, but then the game was canceled by the officials for safety due to inclement weather before the bottom of the fifth, resulting in a “no contest” for the game.

When the game ended, the Lions had batted 6 for 17 (.353) from the plate, with Dugi and Slider recording two hits each and Modrego and Schaefer recording one each. 

Two Muleriders coaches, a player and a fan would be ejected from the game due to unsportsmanlike conduct.