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CANYON, Texas – The #2 Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M return to the friendly confines of Schaeffer Park this Tuesday as they welcome the Heartland Conference leading Lady Chaps of Lubbock Christian for a midweek non-conference doubleheader with first pitch set for 4 p.m. in Canyon. The Lady Buffs took over sole possession of first place in the Lone Star Conference this past weekend with a series win at #25 Cameron as they enter the week with an overall record of 27-6 (13-3 LSC).
 
WEST TEXAS A&M
The #2 Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M used the power of nine homeruns including four by senior outfielder Renee Erwin in two games and a strong finale performance in the circle by freshman Kilee Halbert as they swept doubleheader action and took the Lone Star Conference weekend series from the #25 Aggies of Cameron. The Lady Buffs move to 27-6 overall with a 13-3 mark in Lone Star Conference play to take over sole possession of first place.
 
THE OPPONENT
The Lady Chaps of Lubbock Christian enter the week with an overall record of 24-7 with a 13-1 mark in Heartland Conference play following a three game sweep of Rogers State on the road to run their win streak to three games. LCU is currently in their final season of postseason exemption as they complete the full transition to Division II. The Lady Chaps are led by fifth year head coach Daren Hays who led LCU to a 214-40 record during his time in Lubbock, winning the regular season Heartland Conference title in 2014 with an overall record of 45-10 with a 19-4 mark in league play.
 
Lubbock Christian is led at the plate by Sammie Murrietta who is hitting .424 with six doubles and two homeruns to drive in 24 RBI while teammate Sydney Beuthian is hitting .405 with nine doubles and a team leading 11 homeruns to drive in 41 RBI this season. In the circle, LCU is led by Courtney McGee who is 13-3 on the season with a 3.81 ERA, tossing nine complete games to go along with a save as she has struck out 65 batters and allowed an opponent batting average of .265.
 
THE SERIES
The series between the Lady Buffs and Lubbock Christian is tied at 7-7 with the two teams splitting doubleheader action last Tuesday in Lubbock as the Lady Chaps took the opener 4-3 before WT responded in the nightcap, 4-3. The Lady Chaps are 3-3 all-time in Canyon including 1-3 at Schaeffer Park including a pair of losses in Canyon on April 8th of last year by a combined score of 13-5.
 
CHASING 700
West Texas A&M head coach Kevin Blaskowski sits just one win away from career victory number 700 as the 10th year skipper of the Lady Buffs holds an overall career record of 699-495 (.585) in his 23 years of collegiate coaching along with a 347-225 (.606) mark during his time in Canyon. Coach B's 600th career came less than two years ago as the then #2 Lady Buffs took the opening game of a doubleheader (4-14-13) from St. Edward's, 6-2 in Austin, Texas. Blaskowski is a two-time LSC Coach of the Year and the NFCA DII National Coach of the Year in 2014.
 
THE LONE STAR CONFERENCE
Lone Star Conference softball teams are 170-110-2 overall this season. In the NCAA South Central Region, the group is currently 43-23 combined versus Heartland Conference teams and 36-11 against the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. The overall LSC Champion will be the team(s) with the best winning percentage in regular-season conference games, while the winner of the postseason championship will be recognized as LSC Tournament Champion and receive the league's automatic qualification into NCAA postseason. The single-elimination championship will be played May 1-2, at the No. 1 seed.
 
HOME SWEET HOME
The Lady Buffs have gone 16-2 inside of the friendly confines of Schaeffer Park this season to continue their home dominance. WT is 124-21 (.859) 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 TOP-25 POLL (MAR. 25)
A pair of WT losses along with a Valdosta State 19 game winning streak dropped the Lady Buffs from the top spot for the first time in a record 56 straight weeks dating back to February 26, 2014. VSU picked up 11 of the possible 16 first place votes for a total of 395 points with West Texas A&M grabbing the other five first place votes for a total of 388 followed by Missouri-St. Louis (367), Cal State Monterey Bay (367), Dixie State (324), Angelo State (320), Alabama-Huntsville (312), Georgia College (277), North Georgia (270) and St. Mary's (257) to round out the top ten. The South Central Region was represented by second ranked WT, Angelo State (6th), St. Mary's (10th) and Cameron (25th).
 
#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. 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 webstrean for both games in Canyon. 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, St. Mary's and Dixie State along with non-conference action against Lubbock Christian and Oklahoma Christian. LSC play will see matchups with four teams that made an NCAA Regional Tournament last year with Angelo State, Texas Woman's, Midwestern State and Cameron while the Lady Buffs topped fellow NCAA Postseason entrant Metro State, 2-0 on Feb. 14th.