Texas A&M-Commerce leads the Lone Star Conference standings with a 14-2 league record after four weeks of play.
LSC teams are playing a single round-robin schedule with a doubleheader (two games) against each league opponent. The LSC Champion will be the team(s) with the best winning percentage in regular-season conference games. The top 10 teams will qualify for the single-elimination conference championship to determine the league’s tournament champion.
In the NCAA Division II South Central Region, LSC teams are 37-18 combined versus Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference competition.
LSC schedule and results available here:
http://www.lonestarconference.org/calendar.aspx?path=softball&&
SOFTBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
HITTER
Ashlyn Lerma, Angelo State, JR, Finance, 2B, Highland Village, Texas, Marcus HS
Lerma set the tone for the Rambelles as they claimed wins over No. 1 UT Tyler and No. 21 Texas A&M-Commerce. Against the Patriots, she drew a pair of walks, singled, stole a base, and scored the winning run in the Rambelles' 3-2 walk-off victory in eight innings of game one. Lerma drove in a run in the game two 7-2 loss against UTT. In game one against the Lions, the Rambelles' leadoff hitter was 4-4 from the plate, scoring four runs and hitting her second inside-the-park home run of the season in the 13-2 win. Lerma had an RBI single in game two versus TAMUC, which was the Rambelles' only run in that 2-1 contest. For the week, she hit .500 with a .600 on-base percentage.
PITCHER
Taylor Franco, Lubbock Christian, SR, Exercise Sports Science, Pitcher, Monahans, Texas, Monahans HS
Franco no-hit No. 1 UT Tyler, who entered the series leading NCAA Division II in hitting, Sunday with a 7-inning complete game showing. She struck out four and walked three in the no-hit effort which marked her LCU program record fifth no hitter and the fourth no-hitter of the season. Franco's first start on the week was a 6-inning performance against No. 21 Texas A&M-Commerce in which she notched a season-high 10 strikeouts and allowed two earned runs off four hits. LCU had a 6-3 lead over the Lions before exiting the game. For the week, she posted 17 strikeouts while opponents hit just .118.
WEEKLY AWARDS
Hitter
F-8 Paxton Scheurer, Angelo State
F-15 Loren Kelly, Texas A&M-Kingsville
F-22 Tyla Lee, Lubbock Christian
M-1 Kasey Flores, Lubbock Christian
M-8 Tyla Lee, Lubbock Christian (2)
M-15 Sabrina Anguiano, Texas A&M-Commerce
M-21 Gabriella Valforte, West Texas A&M
M-28 Ashlyn Lerma, Angelo State
Pitcher
F-8 Emily Otto, Texas A&M-Commerce
F-15 Taylor Franco, Lubbock Christian
F-22 Alyssa LeBlanc, Texas A&M-Commerce
M-1 Catalina Cavazos, St. Mary's
M-8 Beth Montes, Texas A&M-Kingsville
M-15 Genesis Armendariz, Angelo State
M-21 Alyssa LeBlanc, Texas A&M-Commerce (2)
M-28 Taylor Franco, Lubbock Christian (2)
SELECTED NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Brooklin Bain, Oklahoma Christian, has been on an offensive tear since moving over to softball after the end of the basketball season. The sophomore led the Eagles to a 5-0 week, hitting .563 with a double, two triples, a home run, seven RBIs, five stolen bases, a .579 on-base percentage and a glossy 1.063 slugging percentage. She went 3 for 4 with two stolen bases and four RBIs in a 9-7 win over Southwest Baptist, delivering a pair of two-run singles, one during a five-run sixth inning for OC. She went 3 for 3 with three RBIs in a 9-1 win over Midwestern State, hitting a solo homer in the fourth inning. She tripled to lead off the second game against the Mustangs, which OC won 5-0. She stole two bases and scored twice in a 6-1 win over Texas Woman's on Sunday and tripled and scored in a 5-1 win over the Pioneers in the second game. She's hitting .437 over 20 games this season.
Kayla Gonzales, Texas A&M-Kingsville, swung a red-hot while helping the Javelinas pick up four victories last week. In the first game of the weekend, Gonzales tallied two hits, including a two-run double, and scored three runs and she added two more RBIs in game two as the Javelinas swept a doubleheader with UT Permian Basin. She finished Sunday with five more hits, five more RBIs, scored another four runs and stole a base. Three of her hits went for extra bases, including a three-run homer in game one against Western New Mexico and a pair of RBIs in game two. For the week Gonzales hit .538 with a 1.000 slugging percentage and drove in nine runs.
Briana Arredondo, Texas A&M International, had a breakout weekend for the Dustdevils, helping lead them to a 5-0 home stand over Western New Mexico and UT Permian Basin to move up the LSC standings. Over the weekend, Arredondo hit .500 going 8-for-16 with a double, four home runs and 10 RBI, driving in a run in all five games. Arredondo hit a home run of nearly every variety, with a solo home run, two two-run homers and a grand slam. Her slugging percentage was 1.313, as five of her eight hits went for extra bases.
Mak Dominguez, UT Tyler, hit .455 for the weekend as No. 1 UT Tyler split both doubleheaders against No. 13 Angelo State and No. 10 Lubbock Christian. Dominguez had five hits and three RBI for the weekend and posted multi-hit efforts in two games over the course of the weekend. The Austin, Texas was especially impressive in the Patriot's 7-2 victory in game two over Lubbock Christian as she hit a pair of RBI singles and scored a run in the effort. Dominguez went 2-for-3 in both that effort and in the game two Patriot victory over Angelo State on Friday afternoon.
Jamison Holder, St. Mary's, entered the week with one career home run and tripled that total, blasting two no-doubters to help lead the Rattlers to a 4-0 record, including a sweep over No. 6 West Texas A&M. The true freshman added three sacrifices, two via the fly ball and one a bunt to her five hits. She led the Rattlers with 11 total bases and seven RBIs on the weekend. Holder has taken over most of the catching duties for the Rattlers, recording 20 chances with no errors and limiting the Greyhounds and Buffs to just a .186 average. The native of Magnolia, Texas raised her own batting average 45 points from .273-to-.318 with her .455 average for the week.
Mikey Dominguez, Midwestern State, was 3-for-3 with a triple while driving three runs including the go-ahead score on a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning of a 5-4 win in Game 2 Sunday at Cameron. The freshman also slugged her fifth home run of the season Friday afternoon at Oklahoma Christian.
Sabrina Anguiano, Texas A&M-Commerce, going up against two nationally ranked teams, had the game-winning two-run double in Sunday's 2-1 win at No. 13 Angelo State and helped the Lions remain in first place. She also added a much-needed insurance home run at No. 10 Lubbock Christian in a three-run win on Friday. She also had a .900 fielding percentage at the shortstop position. Anguiano is fifth in the LSC with .452 batting average and her OPS of 1.258 is eighth.
Breley Webb, Cameron, was dominant in her three appearances over the weekend, throwing a pair of complete game shutouts to earn a pair of wins. The fourth-year player started the week with 7-inning shutout of Texas Woman’s, holding the Pioneers to just four hits while striking out nine batters. Webb followed that up with a 5-inning shutout against Midwestern State, limiting CU’s rivals to three hits with 6 K’s; she also recorded a strikeout in a perfect two-thirds of an inning in game two against MSU. She also tallied four hits and scored a pair of runs at the plate over the 4-game span.
Beth Montes, Texas A&M-Kingsville, played her part in a pair of Javelina shutouts last week. Against Western New Mexico on Friday, she tossed four innings of two-hit ball and struck out eight as the Javs cruised to a 12-0 win. Two days later, she twirled a three-hit shutout against UT Permian Basin and permitted only three hits while racking up six more punchouts. Over nine innings, Montes finished with spotless 0.00 ERA, held opponents to a .156 batting average and earned her fifth shutout of the season, the second most in the LSC.
Lindsey Stoeckel, Oklahoma Christian, had her finest career pitching performance on Friday in a 5-0 win over Midwestern State, hurling a four-hit shutout while recording a career-high 10 strikeouts. It was the senior right-hander's first seven-inning complete game in her four softball seasons with the Eagles. She also picked up the win in relief in a 9-7 win over Southwest Baptist on Thursday.
Catalina Cavazos, St. Mary's, threw a pair of complete game victories, allowing only two earned runs in helping the Rattlers sweep both Eastern New Mexico and No. 6 West Texas A&M. She walked one batter and struck out 11 over the weekend and the opposition hit just .196 against her. She needed just 69 pitches in the game against the Buffs in her seventh complete game of the season and she was one off her career high with eight strikeouts against the Greyhounds. Cavazos is now 14-1 on the season and has held opponents to two earned runs or less in 13 of her 15 starts. Cavazos retired the first 10 of the game in each game this week, not allowing a hit until the fourth inning both against ENMU and WT.
Emily Otto, Texas A&M-Commerce, faced two of the top offenses in the country, who are both ranked top 15 nationally. She tamed the No. 13 Angelo State batters to just one run in Sunday's 2-1 win for the Lions in San Angelo and helped A&M-Commerce remain in first place. She recorded two strikeouts in three innings on Friday at No. 10 Lubbock Christian. Otto is 13th in the conference with a 2.10 ERA, her 13 wins are second most, leads the way 12 complete games, second with 116 strikeouts.
Genesis Armendariz, Angelo State, was the standout in the circle for the Rambelles as she picked up a pair of wins over No. 1 UT Tyler and No. 21 Texas A&M-Commerce. Against the Patriots, she only allowed six hits and two runs to the nation's top offense in eight innings of work, striking out seven in the Rambelles' 3-2 extra-inning win. Against the Lions, she threw four innings, allowing five hits and two runs while striking out eight in their 13-2 run-rule victory; she pitched the final two innings in relief in game two, only allowing one hit.
Payton Foster, UT Tyler, made three appearances over the weekend against No. 13 Angelo State and No. 10 Lubbock Christian and posted a 1-0 record along the way. Foster tossed 10.0 innings between the three appearances and allowed just three earned runs. Opponents hit just .167 against the Lufkin, Texas product, and struck out six times over the course of the weekend. Foster is now 12-1 on the year with a 3.03 ERA.