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CANYON, Texas – The top ranked Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M and the rival #22 Belles of Angelo State will renew one of the best rivalries in all of Division II Softball this weekend as ASU comes to Canyon for a four-game Lone Star Conference series during Youth Weekend presented by High Plains Fastpitch. The series starts with a doubleheader on Friday at 5 p.m. followed by the final two contests on Saturday with first pitch set for 3 p.m., all youth under the age of 18 will be admitted for $1 during the weekend.
ANGELO STATEAngelo State enters the weekend with an overall record of 18-5 with 7-1 mark in LSC play following a series win over Eastern New Mexico in San Angelo last weekend. ASU took the first two games by a combined score of 28-5 before falling in game three (9-12) but took the series finale 6-4 for the series win.
The Belles are led by 12th year head coach Travis Scott. Under his guidance, the Belles have averaged 46 wins per season, won four NCAA Division II South Central Region trophies and made four trips to the NCAA D-II National Championships, bringing home the national title in 2004. Scott guided ASU to five LSC Conference Championships and six LSC South Division titles in the last 11 years.
ASU is led offensively by junior Kenedy Urbany who is hitting .438 with nine doubles, a triple and four homeruns to drive in 24 RBI while Bailey Wallace is hitting .425 with 10 doubles and 23 RBI on the season. In the circle, Urbany leads the way with a 9-3 mark and 3.23 ERA with five complete games in 69.1 innings of work with 43 strikeouts while LSC Preseason Pitcher of the Year Brandy Marlett is 6-2 on the year with a 2.69 ERA in her 52 innings of work.
The Belles are hitting .344 as a team to go along with 45 doubles, six triples, 10 homeruns and 158 RBI for a team slugging percentage of .478 with 14 combined errors for a fielding clip of .978. In the circle, ASU has a 2.99 combined ERA with 10 complete games and two shutouts with 119 strikeouts in 154.2 innings with an opposing batting average of .256.
NFCA DIVISION II TOP-25 POLL (MAR. 9)The West Texas A&M Lady Buffs remain atop of the newest National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division II Top-25 Poll announced on Wednesday morning by the association's offices in Louisville, Kentucky.
The Lady Buffs picked up 15 of the 16 possible first place votes for a total of 399 points followed by Indianapolis (1 first place, 381), Alabama-Huntsville (372), Humboldt State (347), Arkansas Tech (336), North Alabama (317), Missouri-St. Louis (308), Georgia College (292), St. Mary's (251) and Cal Baptist (251) to round out the top ten. The South Central Region was represented by WT, St. Mary's (T-9th), Angelo State (22nd) and Cameron (RV).
NATIONALLY SPEAKINGThe Lady Buffs have the nation's top offense with a .412 team batting average, 10.75 runs per game, a .722 slugging percentage and .520 on base percentage while being one of four undefeated teams in DII Softball.
– WT ranks third with 1.63 homeruns per game while coming in sixth with 2.38 doubles per contest.
– Senior shortstop
Stacey Ramirez 24th in the country with a batting average of .514 while ranking 10th in runs per game (1.46). Fellow senior
Tori Bayer is fourth in the nation in saves this season with three.
– Sophomore outfielder
Ashley Hardin leads the Lady Buffs with nine home runs which ranks fourth in the nation. WT has three players in the Top-20 in RBI this season with
Lacey Taylor (6th, 32),
Brittany Cruz (9th, 31) and Hardin in 15th with 28.
A LOOK BACK (MIDWESTERN STATE SERIES)The top ranked and undefeated Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M continued to roll thru Lone Star Conference play this past weekend as they registered a Highway 287 Challenge Cup sweep of Midwestern State in Wichita Falls.
Lacey Taylor hit .500 on the weekend with a double and two homeruns to drive in seven RBI as the senior led WT to the series sweep. Sophomore
Kilee Halbert went 2-0 in the circle with a 2.10 ERA to move to 10-0 with a one-hit shutout on the weekend. WT hit .236 as a team in the sweep with four doubles and five homeruns to drive in 22 RBI as they outscored the rival Mustangs, 26-8.
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 156-26 (.857) at Schaeffer Park since the facility opened prior to the 2011 season including 60-12 (.833) 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 a webstream 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.
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.
