COMMERCE, Texas – The bats came alive for Lamar University softball in their Friday doubleheader at Texas A&M-Commerce as they moved into sole possession of first place in the Southland Conference. The Cardinals used 12 hits on their way to an 8-2 Game 1 win while a run-rule no-hitter from Karyana Mitchell in Game 2 highlighted a 10-0 LU victory.
 
Eight Cardinals reeled off 12 hits in Game 1 with Shenita Tucker (2 RBI, 3B), Trinity Brandon (2 RBI, 2B), Veronica Harrison (RBI, 2B) and Makenzie Wright (2 2B) all recording a pair of hits. Cameron Niedenthal and Roxy Thompson (2B) each batted in a run as well. Emma Wardlaw got the complete game victory on the mound allowing two runs on eight hits with two strikeouts.
 
A no-hitter on the mound from Karyana Mitchell was the headline in Game 2 as she allowed just one walk with four strikeouts on the night. Tucker (3 RBI, 2B) led the team with three hits while seven other starters also got in the hit column. Raigan Brannon (3 RBI, 2B), Brandon and Harrison (RBI, 2B) all logged extra-base hits while Jayne Sepulveda and Kalyn Xayaseng both batted in runs.
 
Game 1: LU 8, Texas A&M-Commerce 2
 
It was a back-and-forth affair early on as TAMUC started out the scoring with an RBI double in the bottom of the second. The Cardinals responded, however, by doing damage with two outs in the top of the third on an RBI double from Brandon and an RBI single from Niedenthal to put LU back up 2-1. The Lions would get an RBI single in the bottom of the third though to tie things up at two runs apiece.
 
Big Red then decided to show off their team speed in the top of the fourth as Tucker legged out a triple which plated two runs to push LU back on top. Brandon then followed that up by beating the throw on an infield single to make it a three-run lead for the Cardinals.
 
Kalie Amos singled in the top of the fifth and allowed for Wright to score on a fielding error to keep building the lead. The Cardinals would tack on two more runs in top of the seventh on back-to-back RBI doubles from Harrison and Thompson which nearly mirrored each other to lock in the final score.
 
Game 2: LU 10, Texas A&M-Commerce 0
 
Neither team had much going in the first three innings as Mitchell allowed just one baserunner in that time. The Cardinals bust the game open in the top of the fourth though with a pair of two-RBI hits with two outs including a double from Brannon and a single from Tucker.
 
Harrison doubled in the top of the fifth to plate a run while Brannon added her third RBI of the day on an RBI groundout. Big Red then reeled off four more two-out runs starting with an RBI infield single from Xayaseng. A two-run double from Tucker and another RBI infield single from Sepulveda pushed the lead to ten. Mitchell then struck out two batters in the bottom of the fifth en route to a run-rule no-hitter.
 
LU finishes their series with Texas A&M-Commerce on Saturday at 12 p.m. The game can be streamed on ESPN+.