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CANYON, Texas – The newly crowned top team in the Division II softball will put their 16-0 record on the line this weekend as the West Texas A&M Lady Buffs begin the defense of their back-to-back Lone Star Conference Championships with a four-game LSC series against the #20 Tarleton State TexAnns at Schaeffer Park in Canyon beginning Friday at 5 p.m.
WT Softball has joined forces with TeamTatum for Strike Out Cancer Weekend presented by Chicken Express of Canyon and The Batter's Box. The Lady Buffs will be holding a silent auction of selected items throughout the weekend while also selling TeamTatum t-shirts and wristbands with all proceeds going to the Tatum family. Any donations will be accepted at the silent auction table and there will be special in-game recognitions throughout the weekend.
TARLETON STATETarleton State enters the weekend with an overall record of 12-5 following a 3-2 showing at the St. Mary's Rattler Invitational with wins over Oklahoma Christian (twice) and Central Oklahoma while falling to Texas A&M-International and the host #12 Rattlers.
The TexAnns are led by 20th year head coach Julie Mata who has posted a 540-408-3 record while leading the TexAnns to five Lone Star Conference South Division titles, 14 LSC Conference Tournament appearances, four NCAA regional appearances, and the school's first NCAA Super Regional appearance in 2015.
TSU is led offensively by sophomore catcher Nyka Wood who is hitting .423 with seven doubles and two homeruns to drive in 20 RBI with a slugging percentage of .673 while senior outfielder Melody Mayse leads the LSC in triples with three. Tarleton is led in the circle by Haley Freyman who is 10-3 on the season with 10 complete games and a shutout in her 82.1 innings of work, striking out 45 opposing batters and allowing a batting average of .269.
The TexAnns are hitting .316 as a team to rank sixth in the LSC to go along with 21 doubles, seven triples, eight homeruns and 75 RBI for a team slugging percentage of .392 with 28 combined errors for a fielding clip of .951. In the circle, TSU has a 1.91 combined ERA with 12 complete games and a shutout with 66 strikeouts in 117 innings with an opposing batting average of .269.
LSC PITCHER OF THE WEEKWest Texas A&M freshman pitcher
Chelsea Skipper was named the Lone Star Conference Softball Offensive Player of the Week announced on Tuesday morning by the league's offices in Richardson, Texas.
Skipper had a huge weekend in her first two career starts as the freshman went 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA with eight strikeouts in her 10.0 innings of work for a pair of three hit shutouts for the undefeated Lady Buffs. The Campbell, California native allowed an opponent batting average of .194 with no walks and eight strikeouts on the weekend, Skipper took a no-hitter into the fourth inning of both of her games this weekend.
#TEAMTATUMWT head coach
Kevin Blaskowski announced on Tuesday morning that the Lady Buffs will be joining #TeamTatum for Strike Out Cancer Weekend on Friday and Saturday sponsored by Chicken Express of Canyon and The Batter's Box.
Tatum Schulte is the eight year old daughter of Canyon High School head men's basketball coach Travis Schulte and his wife Shawna. In November 2015, Tatum was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, the most common type of bone cancer, in her leg and on a portion of her spine. Treatment is already underway, which consists of 10 weeks of chemotherapy followed by a number of extensive surgeries in Houston at the Texas Children's Hospital, then a final round of 19 weeks of chemotherapy treatment.
NFCA DIVISION II TOP-25 POLL (FEB. 24)The Lady Buffs made one of the biggest jumps in recent history (21 spots) as the newest NFCA DII Top-25 Poll was released on Wednesday. WT was ranked 22nd in the preseason poll announced on Jan. 27th and a perfect 16-0 start to the season has put the Lady Buffs atop of the poll for the first time since March 25, 2015.
WT received 12 of the possible 16 first place votes for a total of 386 points followed by Alabama Huntsville (365), Indianapolis (four first place, 364), Humboldt State (338), Missouri-St. Louis (319), Arkansas Tech (310), Catawba (304), North Alabama (278), California, Pa. (275) and Georgia College (261) to round out the top ten. The South Central Region was represented by WT, St. Mary's (12th), Tarleton State (20th) and Texas A&M-Commerce (RV).
A LOOK BACK (LADY BUFF INVITE)The then #22 Lady Buffs continued to roll as they went 6-0 during last weekend's Lady Buff Invite to improve to 16-0 on the season with doubleheader sweeps over Lincoln, Western Oregon and Newman at Schaeffer Park. WT hit .476 as a team with 18 doubles, four triples and nine homeruns to drive in 67 RBI with 123 total bases as they outscored their opponents 75-9 in five games. In the circle, the Lady Buffs combined for a 1.06 ERA with four complete games and three shutouts while only allowing five earned runs with six walks and 30 strikeouts with an opponent batting average of .233.
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 151-26 (.853) 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 Relations Department will provide live stats and video for all 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.
