COMMERCE, Texas – Consecutive losses on the second day of the 2021 South Central Regional Tournament brought the season to an end for the Texas A&M-Kingsville softball team, as they dropped decisions to the No. 12 West Texas A&M Lady Buffs, 9-1, and the No. 10 Texas A&M-Commerce Lions, 6-5, on Thursday evening at the John Cain Family Softball Complex in Commerce, Texas.

"Obviously in the first game today, we struggled a little bit offensively," said coach Craig Nicholson. "Tonight's game was back-and-forth. We had an opportunity late and had a 5-3 lead in the sixth inning and gave up a few big hits and Commerce did what they needed to do with runners in scoring position."

TAMUK vs. West Texas

WT's Erica Vessels put the first run on the board with a first-inning solo shot, but the Javelinas found a way to even the score in the third. With two outs, junior Loren Kelly (Rockport, Texas) beat out an infield hit and she scored all the way from first when sophomore Jory Cervantes (Pflugerville, Texas) laced a double into the left field corner.

Unfortunately for the Javs, that tie didn't last long. The Lady Buffs used three straight singles in their half of their to move ahead 2-1, then pushed across two more in the fifth thanks to hits from Alyx Cordell and Madison Johnson.

TAMUK's best chance to get back in the game came when they put two runners on with two outs in the sixth, but WT's Kyra Lair induced a grounder back to the mound that killed the Javs' chance at a rally. The Lady Buffs then went off for five runs in the bottom of the sixth to end the game.

TAMUK vs. A&M-Commerce

The Lions' offense started the scoring with two outs in the third when Kinsie Hebler sliced an RBI double into right-center. The next batter, Kimber Neal, blasted a two-run homer to center for a 3-0 edge.

TAMUK struck back in the second thanks to sophomore Jackie De Los Santos' (Kingsville, Texas) first career home run, a two-run round-tripper left. The Javs had a chance to even the score later in the frame when runners reached second and third with one out, but a popup and a strikeout left both players stranded.

That tying run did arrive in the fourth, however, when, with two outs, Cervantes singled and scored all the way from first on a Kayla Gonzales (San Antonio, Texas) single.

In the fifth, the Javs took their first lead of day. With one out, freshman Natalie Rodriguez (Edinburg, Texas) singled and De Los Santos sent her to the plate by plugging the gap in right-center with a double. Two batters later, junior Claire Chernosky (Sugar Land, Texas) lifted a sacrifice fly into left to make the score 5-3.

Trailing for the first time, the Lions had an answer. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases with one out for Alyssa LeBlanc, who tied the game with a two-run single through the middle. When Hebler followed with a sacrifice fly, A&M-C had jumped back in front. The Javelinas put the tying run in the bottom of the sixth, but that was as close as they would come to mounting a comeback.

"I'm proud of the way they competed," said Nicholson. "I've never seen anything like this year and I hope I never see it again. I felt like we did all we could do here this weekend."

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