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Tournament Central
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CANYON, Texas – The #22 West Texas A&M Lady Buffs will put their perfect 5-0 record on the line this weekend as they open their 2016 home schedule with the 14-team WT Invitational held inside of the Buffalo Sports Park and Schaefffer Park on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
ERWIN JERSEY RECOGNITIONFans are encouraged to show up to Friday's home opener before the 4 p.m. scheduled first pitch as the WT Athletic Department and Lady Buff Softball will honor the outstanding career of former WT standout
Renee Erwin as her jersey will be placed on the outfield wall next to Alyssa Lemos and
Kim LeComte.
Erwin, the 2015 Lone Star Conference Player of the Year and back-to-back Daktronics Ron Lenz National Player of the Year, finished off her WT career in style as the Anna native registered one of the best statistical seasons in Division II history in 2015. She hit .424 with nine doubles, three triples and 23 homeruns to drive in 71 RBI while tallying 145 total bases and scoring a LSC single season record 83 runs. Erwin registered an amazing slugging percentage of 1.077 as she started 55 of 56 games for the Lady Buffs, the LSC Golden Glove outfielder tallied 41 putouts and two assists with no errors in right field for a perfect fielding clip of 1.000. She set new career LSC and school marks in homeruns (62), runs batted-in (244) and runs scored (265). Erwin led the Lady Buffs to back-to-back Lone Star Conference Championships (2014, 2015) and the 2014 NCAA Division II National Championship as she was named a member of the College World Series All-Tournament Team.
The Anna native is tied for 4th in NCAA Division II history with 62 homeruns while ranking fourth all-time in runs scored (265), sixth in runs batted-in (244) and fourth in total bases (548). Erwin became just the second player in Division II history to win the Daktronics Ron Lenz National Player of the Year award twice in a career and she is the only player ever to win the award in back-to-back seasons. She was named an NFCA and Daktronics 1
st Team All-American for her efforts on the diamond, picking up Daktronics South Central Region Player of the Year accolades for the second straight season.
- SCOUTING THE FIELDFORT LEWISFort Lewis is led by first year head coach Elle Fracker who served as the head softball coach at Valley City State University since August 2013.
The Skyhawks are 1-4 following last weekend's Dixie State Invite as they topped fellow Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference member CSU-Pueblo while falling to #22 WT (twice), #2 Dixie State and #13 Humboldt State in St. George.
CHADRON STATEThe Eagles are led by ninth year head coach Dr. Robert Stack who was hired in the Fall of 2007.
Chadron State enters the weekend with an overall record of 2-2-1 following last weekend's Eckerd Spring Invite. The Eagles topped Lynn and Palm Beach Atlantic with a tie to Eckerd while falling to St. Leo and #14 Florida Tech.
#12 ST. MARY'SThe Rattlers are led by 19th year head coach Donna Fields who has led St. Mary's to four Regional Titles and the 2002 DII National Title. The Rattlers advanced to last year's DII College World Series.
St. Mary's enters the WT Invite with an overall record of 4-2 following wins over Colorado School of Mines, Lubbock Christian, A&M-Commerce and Our Lady of the Lakes with losses to East Central and #10 Tarleton State.
METRO STATEMetro State is led by third year head coach Annie Van Wetzinga who has led the Roadrunners to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances.
The Roadrunners enter the weekend with an overall record of 1-3 following a trip to La Jolla, California last weekend. Metro State topped Western Oregon in the tournament finale while falling to UC-San Diego (twice) and Western Oregon.
ADAMS STATEThe Grizzlies are led by ninth year head coach Dervin Taylor as he has led ASU to two straight RMAC Tournaments.
Adams State enters the WT Invite with an overall record of 4-2 followin the ASU Classic last weekend in San Angelo. ASU topped Northwestern Oklahoma State and Texas A&M-International while falling to Angelo State (twice) and A&M-International.
TRADITION NEVER GRADUATESThe Lady Buffs return nine letter-winners from last season's LSC Championship team that registered an overall record of 45-11, All-American selections
Lacey Taylor,
Stacey Ramirez and
Allie Smith highlight the talented returning group that have led WT to back-to-back LSC Titles. Taylor and Ramirez are joined by
Brittany Gehle,
Tori Bayer and
Andrea Sitter for a senior class that looks to become the winningest in program history as they have registered a 149-31 (82.8%) mark over the last three seasons in Canyon.
HOME SWEET HOMEThe Lady Buffs have turned Schaeffer Park in Canyon into one of the top home environments in all of NCAA Division II Softball. WT is 141-26 (.844) at Schaeffer Park since the facility opened prior to the 2011 season including 55-12 (.821) during regular season Lone Star Conference games in Canyon. 2015 marked the fourth time in the last five years ('11, '13, '14, '15) that the Lady Buffs hosted NCAA Postseason action in Canyon.
LIVE COVERAGEThe West Texas A&M Athletic Media RelationsDepartment will provide live stats and video for all WT games this weekend. Fans can also follow the WT Athletics (@WTAthletics) Twitter account for live updates during all games. For links and more information, visit the Lady Buff Softball schedule page at GoBuffsGo.com.
LSC PRESEASON OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEARWT senior catcher and returning 1st Team All-American
Lacey Taylor was named the LSC Preseason Player of the Year on Jan. 27th. Taylor was a 1st Team All-American while finishing in the Top-10 for the Schutt Sports NFCA DII National Player of the Year Award. She registered a .458 batting average with 11 doubles, two triples and 12 homeruns to drive in 63 RBI for a slugging percentage of .813 while tallying 40 walks for an on-base clip of .584. The Byers native registered 271 putouts with 22 assists and just two errors for a fielding percentage of .993.
2015 IN-REVIEWThe Lady Buffs continued their dominance in 2015 as
Kevin Blaskowski led the program to their second straight and third overall Lone Star Conference Championship as they finished the season 45-11 with a 22-6 mark in LSC play. WT made national news during the 2015 season, remaining the top team in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division II Top-25 Poll for a record 56-straight weeks (2/26/14 - 3/25/15). WT led the nation in four offensive statistical categories during the 2015 season while also hitting 102 homeruns to become the first team in Division II history to reach the century mark in back-to-back years.
