by COMMERCE, TEXAS — Senior catcher Aurelia Sandoval (Navajo Nation) cracked a two-run homer to give the Eastern New Mexico University softball team (14-10; LSC 2-6) a lead it would not relinquish, en-route to an 8-3 win in the opening game of Sunday’s Lone Star Conference doubleheader at Texas A&M-Commerce (15-11; LSC 4-2). The Lions bounced back to take a 4-0 decision in the nightcap.
The doubleheader closed the first series between the teams, with Texas A&M-Commerce winning three of the four games.
The Eastern New Mexico University softball team will return to action on Tuesday, against Southwestern Oklahoma State. The first pitch of the doubleheader is scheduled for 2 p.m. MT.
Game 1
Sophomore second baseman Audrey Velasquez (Las Cruces, N.M./Las Cruces HS) led off the day with a single, before Selma Rima retired Eastern’s next two batters, to nearly escape the jam. Sandoval followed with a homerun, which provided two of her three runs batted in for the game.
Luci Ponce had a solo homer for the Lions in the first inning and a two-run blast in the third, but Texas A&M-Commerce was unable to take the lead, due to Sandoval and Susannah Chandler (So., SS, Farmington, N.M./Piedra Vista HS) driving in runs in the top of the frame, which allowed ENMU to hold a 4-3 advantage after three full innings. The Zias had their leadoff batter reach base in each of the final three innings and capitalized all three times, to tack on four more runs for the win.
ENMU held a 13-8 edge in total hits and is 6-0 when scoring at least six runs.Aja Secheslingloff (Fr., P, Acampo, Calif./Lodi HS) went the distance, scattered six hits with a pair of strikeouts and became Eastern’s first 10-game winner since Kimberly Crouse and Kristen Cruickshank in the 2009 season. Chandler and Jaqueline Candelaria (Sr., 3B, Los Lunas, N.M./Los Lunas HS) each had three hits. Rima suffered the loss for the Lions in 2.1 innings of work.
Game 2
The nightcap was a pitcher’s duel, in which starter Katie Ripple (So., P, Rio Rancho, N.M. / V. Sue Cleveland HS) allowed just one baserunner into scoring position through five innings. Courtney Moore was also up to the task and limited ENMU to four hits. The Lions finally broke through in the bottom of the sixth, sending nine batters to the plate and scoring all four of the game’s runs. Prior to that inning, A&M-Commerce was limited to three hits.
Vanessa Ramirez (Sr., P, Lubbock, Texas/Lubbock HS) tossed one inning of one-hit relief for the Zias.
