South Dakota road trips to the state of Texas this week to take part in the three-day Lion Invitational hosted on the artificial turf surface of John Cain Family Softball Complex in Commerce, Texas on the campus of Texas A&M University-Commerce. 

The Schedule
Friday
1:30 p.m. vs. Tarleton State | First Meeting
6:30 p.m. vs. Texas A&M-Commerce | First Meeting
Saturday
11:30 a.m. vs. Abilene Christian | First Meeting
4:30 p.m. vs. Texas A&M-Commerce | 
Sunday
11:30 a.m. vs. Tarleton State | 
 

The Opponents 

Tarleton State (2023 Final RPI 161, 31-29, WAC)
The Texan are 6-4 on the season and like South Dakota are coming in off a 4-1 weekend at their home tourney. 
They sport a .294 team batting average and are led by Kelci Hill (.467) and Brady Rowland (.458) while Kayla Wallace has three home runs and eight RBI through 10 games. 
Four of the five pitchers on the staff have made at least one start as the team owns a 3.61 ERA. Hannah Blincoe has thrown 21 innings in four appearances with a 3.67 ERA while Kendall Daniel has a 2.63 ERA and Alexa Rehmeier a 2.93 ERA.

Texas A&M-Commerce (2023 Final RPI 229, 9-39, Southland)
The Lions are 4-7 and have lost six in a row heading into their second home tourney in the season's first three weekends. 
Tehya Pitts leads the offensive attack with a .444 average.
Isabella Arzola has a .324 average and Diamond Sefe .304 for a Lions team that sports a .254 average.
All five pitchers have made at least one start and three of them hold ERA's under 3.00 for a team with a staff ERA of 3.45.
Maddie Muller (2-2) has logged a team-high 31 innings with a 2.48 ERA while Julia Sanchez (2-2) has 22 innings pitched and a 2.55 ERA.

Abilene Christian (2023 Final RPI 241, 15-36 WAC)
The Wildcats are 4-6 on the season and have won four of their last five games all at their home tourney last weekend. 
Kaydee Bennett is hitting an even .500 through 10 games with 14 hits, including six for extra bases. 
The pitching staff sports a 4.63 team ERA led by Talia Nielsen who has thrown 14 innings allowing three earned runs for a 1.50 ERA.