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CANYON, Texas – The #1 Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M (4-1) will return to the friendly confines of Schaeffer Park this weekend as they host the 2015 WT Woodward Invitational inside of the Buffalo Sports Complex in Canyon. The event will feature six teams each from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and the Lone Star Conference in an early-season crossover.
 
WEST TEXAS A&M
The top ranked Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M finished the 2015 NFCA DII Leadoff Classic with a 4-1 overall record this past weekend in Tucson. WT registered wins over East Central, Western Oregon, Colorado Mesa and #3 Dixie State while following to eventual champion #16 St. Mary's. Sunday's leadoff finale saw the Lady Buffs pick-up a 5-4 extra inning win over #3 Dixie State in a matchup of last year's National Semifinal as freshman designated player Allie Smith drove a ball to the right center field gap to score All-Tournament selection Lacey Taylor from second base for the walkoff win.
 
THE OPPONENTS
The Orediggers of Colorado School of Mines enter the weekend with an overall record of 1-5 following their trip to the ASU McCorkle Classic in San Angelo this past weekend with a win over St. Edward's while falling to #11 Angelo State (twice), Texas A&M-International (twice) and St. Ed's. CSM is led by second year head coach Leah Glasgow. The Lady Buffs are 4-0 all-time against the Orediggers with three of those wins coming at Schaeffer Park.
 
The Adams State Grizzlies will open up their 2015 season this weekend in Canyon following a 28-25 overall record in 2014 with a 24-15 finish in the RMCA to be picked third in the league's preseason poll. The Grizzlies are led by fourth year head coach Dervin Taylor. WT leads the all-time series against Adams State, 10-3 with the Lady Buffs taking the last five meetings between the two teams with all of those coming in Canyon.
 
Chadron State enters the weekend with an overall record of 0-6 following a trip to the Eckerd College Invite last weekend in Florida, the Eagles fell to Eckerd, Barry, St. Leo, Tampa, Palm Beach Atlantic and Lynn last weekend. The Eagles are led by eighth year head coach Rob Stack. This weekend will mark the first ever meeting between WT and Chadron State.
 
The Roadrunners of Metro State enter the weekend with an overall record of 4-2 following a strong showing at the NFCA DII Leadoff Classic last weekend with wins over Molloy, Texas Woman's, Regis and Fort Lewis with losses to #3 Dixie State and Central Oklahoma. Metro State is led by second year head coach Annie Van Wetzinga. WT leads the series with Metro, 3-0 including a win in last year's SC Regional Tournament in Canyon.
 
The Colorado Mesa Mavericks enter the Woodward Invitational this weekend with an overall record of 3-3 following last weekend's NFCA DII Leadoff Classic in Tucson that saw CMU pick-up wins over #4 Southeastern Oklahoma (twice) and Fort Lewis while falling to Texas Woman's, #1 West Texas A&M and #13 Missouri-St. Louis. The Mavericks are led by first year head coach Ben Garcia. The Lady Buffs lead the all-time series against the Mavericks, 3-0 including an 8-0 run-rule victory in six innings last Saturday night in bracket play at the NFCA DII Leadoff Classic.
 
The Thunderwolves of CSU-Pueblo enter the weekend following a 3-3 showing at the NFCA DII Leadoff Classic with wins over East Central (twice) and Central Oklahoma before falling to #3 Dixie State, Midwestern State and Fort Lewis. CSU-Pueblo is led by third year head coach Christie Zinanti. WT leads the all-time series against Pueblo, 3-1 with the Lady Buffs taking the last three meetings with two of those coming in Canyon.
 
HOME SWEET HOME
The Lady Buffs finished the 2014 season with an incredible 35-3 record at Schaeffer Park in Canyon as they claimed the program's first ever South Central Super Regional Title. WT is 108-19 (.855) at Schaeffer Park since the facility opened prior to the 2011 season. 2014 marked the third time in the last four years ('11, '13, '14) that the Lady Buffs hosted NCAA Postseason action in Canyon.
 
NFCA DIVISION II PRESEASON TOP-25 POLL
West Texas A&M picked-up all 16 first place votes for a perfect total of 400 points followed by National Runner-Up Valdosta State (381), Dixie State (367), Southeastern Oklahoma (351), Wayne State (311), West Chester (293), LIU-Post (278), Armstrong Atlantic (273), North Georgia (240) and Cal State Monterey Bay (238) to round out the top ten. LSC Tournament Champion Angelo State was tabbed 11th while fellow South Central Region foe St. Mary's started the season at 16th with a total of 169 points.
 
#CLAUSSTRONG
The Lady Buffs have chosen to play for a something bigger than themselves this season as they join the #ClausStrong campaign for former Lady Buff Amanda Claus and her family. Amanda's father Rick was in a single car accident in Dallas in late December and the father of two has been in a coma ever since. The Lady Buffs will be selling #ClausStrong bracelets at this weekend's Woodward Invitational and any other donations to the family are gladly accepted. For more info, visit the family's journal at CaringBridge.org. We Are Buff Nation, We Are WT Softball, and We Are #ClausStrong.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
The West Texas A&M Athletic Media Relations Department will provide live stats and a free webstram for all Lady Buff games this weekend. Fans can also follow the WT Softball Facebook page for updates. For links and more information, visit the Lady Buff Softball schedule page at GoBuffsGo.com.
 
A LOOK AT THE SCHEDULE
The Lady Buffs will once again face a tough schedule in 2015 as they look to defend their 2014 NCAA National Championship. The schedule is highlighted by a return trip to the NFCA Leadoff Classic with matchups against East Central, Western Oregon, Colorado Mesa, #16 St. Mary's and #3 Dixie State. LSC play will see matchups with four teams that made an NCAA Regional Tournament last year with #11 Angelo State, Texas Woman's (RV), Midwestern State and Cameron while fellow NCAA Postseason entrant Metro State comes to Canyon on Feb. 14th.