Magen Lynch went 6-for-10 with a double and five RBI and Cyanne Fernandez turned in complete game in the circle as Texas A&M University-Commerce rebounded with a Lone Star Conference doubleheader sweep, 15-13 and 11-6, of Tarleton State Saturday at the Tarleton State Softball Complex.
The Lions pounded out 29 hits in the two games including 16 in game two to seek revenge on a pair of losses in Friday's doubleheader.
December Rivers got things started for the Lions with a two-run homer belted over the fence in left in the first inning of game one. Luci Ponce followed with a double to restart the Lion rally. After a groundout, Cherie Jackson looped a single to left plating Ponce to give the Lions a 3-0 lead. Kylene Hatton followed with single to left, but the TexAnns avoided further damage getting a fly ball to center for the final.
4/4/2015 Softball at Tarleton State DH 2 2015 Softball at Tarleton State DH 2 2015
For the third consecutive game in the series, the TexAnns put a crooked on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first. After a leadoff double by Melody Mayse, Savannah Stech followed with a two-run shot over the fence in right cutting into the Lion lead. Katelyn Conlee followed with a double to right, and Nyka Wood and Erika Menchaca each drew walks to load the bases with no outs. After an infield fly for the first out, Taylor Fitzgerald hit a grounder to short that went through the Lion defender's legs and into the left bringing around Conlee and Wood giving the TexAnns a 4-3 lead.
Tarleton State added to its lead with two-run homer off the bat of Menchace in the bottom of the second and three-run bottom of the third inning on three hits highlighted by an RBI double to left by pinch hitter Jessie Thompson.
The Lions cut the deficit down to 9-5 in the fourth inning after Hatton reach on a single to right. After two fly ball outs, Lynch beat out a bunt single. The TexAnns attempted to get Hatton out at second after she rounded the bag, but the throw went all the way to fence in center allowing both Hatton and Lynch to cross the plate.
A&M-Commerce continued to climb back into the game after a two-run dinger from Aundria Zunigia-Romero trimming the lead down to 9-7 in the top of the fifth, but Tarleton State answered with Conlee solo homer in the home half.
Trailing 10-7, the Lions went to work in the top of the sixth inning with two runs to cut the lead down to just one, 10-9. Lynch drove in a run with a double to right field, and Oppenheim delivered a sac fly to score Lynch.
After retiring the side in order in the bottom of the sixth, the Lions plated six runs in the seventh inning to take a 15-10 lead. The Lions scored a pair of runs on bases loaded walks, and Lynch drove in her second and third runs of the game with a two-RBI single up the middle. Oppenheim notched a bloop single to left plating a run and the final run of the frame came on a Rivers ground out to second.
Tarleton State mounted a comeback scoring three runs on four hits, but Courtney Moore, who started the game for the Lions, reentered and got the save stranding the tying run at first with strikeout.
Zunigia-Romero earned the win for the Lions after working one and two thirds of an inning.
Lynch went 4-for-5 with a double, three runs scored and three RBI. It was her 12th multi-hit game of the season and first four-hit game. She is only the third Lion to record a four-hit game joining Ponce and Rviers. She tallied three RBI for the first time on the season while recording her first multi-RBI game.
In game two, the two teams trade runs in the first inning. The Lions scored their run on a Ponce RBI single to left, while the TexAnns tallied their run on a Wood RBI single to right.
Neither team scored in the second and third innings, but the Lions seemingly broke the game open with a five-run fourth inning. Lynch plated a pair with a single to right, followed by an Oppenheim perfectly placed single to center scoring Lynch. Rivers capped off the scoring with her second two-run homer of the day to give the Lions a 6-1 lead.
Tarleton State responded with a three-run bottom half of the frame highlighted by a two-run homer from Menchaca. However, the TexAnn bats went quiet in the fifth and sixth innings while the Lions piled on five more runs.
Hatton doubled in a run in the fifth, and the Lions added four more runs on four hits in the sixth inning. Ponce had the key hit in the sixth with a two run single up the middle.
The TexAnns pushed two runs across in the bottom of the seventh on a two-run homer off the bat of Wood, but Fernandez turned in her first complete game to earn the 11-6 win for the Lions. Fernandez was stellar in the circle after scattering eight hits and recording seven strikeouts. She came into the game with only six strikeouts on the season.
Oppenheim paced the Lions at the plate with a 3-for-5 performance. Ponce and Lynch each went 2-for-5, but Ponce drove home three runs.
A&M-Commerce will return to the John Cain Family Softball Field with a four-game series against Midwestern State Friday, April 10 at 4 p.m. The series will conclude Saturday, April 11 with two games beginning at 1 p.m.