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CANYON, Texas – #15 West Texas A&M and #4 Angelo State renew one of the best rivalries in Division II Softball this weekend in a three-game Lone Star Conference series for Youth Weekend presented by Happy State Bank starting on Friday night at 6 p.m. followed by a Saturday afternoon doubleheader at Schaeffer Park in Canyon.
 
- SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
ANGELO STATE
The Belles enter the weekend with an overall record of 25-2 with a perfect 9-0 mark in Lone Star Confernce play following a regional doubleheader split at St. Mary's on Monday afternoon in San Antonio to snap ASU's 23-game win streak in the opener.
 
Travis Scott enters his 14th season at the helm of the Belles. Under his guidance, Angelo State has averaged 48 wins per season, hoisted five NCAA Division II South Central Region trophies and made five trips to the NCAA D-II National Championships, bringing home the national title in 2004 and finishing as national runner-ups in 2017. Scott has guided ASU to six LSC Conference Championships and six LSC South Division titles in the last 13 years.
 
The Belles are led offensively by Karina Rocha who is hitting .353 on the season with six doubles and 13 homerun to drive in 38 RBI with 69 total bases for a slugging percentage of 1.015. In the circle, Morgan Hill leads the way with a 0.78 ERA (12-2) as she has tossed four complete games in 17 appearances with 75 strikeouts in 81.0 innings of work to allow an opposing batting average of .171.
 
ASU is hitting .362 as a team with 44 doubles, five triples and 32 homeruns to drive in 189 RBI for a team slugging percentage of .586. Defensively they have committed 20 errors on 659 chances for a fielding clip of .970. In the circle, they have registered a 1.32 staff ERA with 10 complete games, 12 shutouts and 160 strikeouts while allowing an opposing batting average of .194.
 
THE SERIES vs. ASU
The Belles lead the all-time series against the Lady Buffs, 28-26 in a series dating back to the 2006 season. WT has won eight of the last 10 meetings between the two teams including the last six in Canyon. The Belles are 10-16 all-time in Canyon and 3-15 at Schaeffer Park since the facility opened prior to the 2011 season.
 
LONE STAR CONFERENCE PRESEASON POLL
National Runner-Up Angelo State picked up 29 of the possible 33 first place votes for a total of 359 points to sit atop of the poll followed by WT (three first place, 306 points), Texas Woman's (one first place, 267 points), Tarleton State (257), Cameron (250), Texas A&M-Commerce (223), Texas A&M-Kingsville (170), Midwestern State (135), Eastern New Mexico (108), UT Permian Basin (64) and Western New Mexico (39).
 
Angelo State's Brandy Marlett was named the league's Preseason Pitcher of the Year while Mariah Jameyson from Texas A&M-Commerce was tabbed the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. The poll is voted on by head coaches, sports information directors and media representatives throughout the league.
 
NFCA DIVISION II TOP-25 POLL (MAR. 14)
Colorado Mesa remained in the top spot in this week's National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division II Top-25 Poll announced on Wednesday morning by the association's offices in Louisville, Kentucky. The Mavericks picked up 12 of the possible 18 first place votes for a total of 394 points followed by North Georgia (two first place, 385), Dixie State (two first place, 373), Angelo State (350), Chico State (329), North Alabama (325), Winona State (303), Southern Arkansas (280), Saint Leo (235) and Minnesota State (231) to round out the top ten.
 
The South Central Region was represented by Colorado Mesa (1st), Angelo State (4th), Texas A&M-Commerce (11th), West Texas A&M (15th), Tarleton State (RV) and Cameron (RV).
 
WT SOFTBALL IN THE NFCA TOP-25 POLL
The Lady Buffs have been ranked inside of the NFCA Division II Top-25 for 60 consecutive polls. The Lady Buffs have been ranked in the Top-5 in 41 polls since the start of the 2014 season while sitting atop of the poll an incredible 29 times.
 
NFCA DII NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR WATCHLIST
West Texas A&M's Kilee Halbert, Allie Smith and Ashley Hardin were named to the NFCA Division II Schutt Sports National Player of the Year Preseason Top-50 Watch List announced on February 8th by the association's offices in Louisville, Kentucky. The three Lady Buffs are part of 10 selections from the South Central Region including three of the six student-athletes selected from the Lone Star Conference.
 
THE LONE STAR CONFERENCE
Entering the week, LSC softball teams were 153-103 overall this season. In the NCAA South Central Region, the group is 29-7 combined versus Heartland Conference teams and 21-15 against the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. LSC teams are playing a single round-robin schedule with a three-game series against each league opponent. 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.
 
YOUTH WEEKEND
This weekend's series between the Lady Buffs and Belles is Youth Weekend at Schaeffer Park presented by Happy State Bank. All youth under the age of 18 years old will be admitted for $1 and fans can expect in-game contests and giveaways throughout the weekend in Canyon.
 
HOME SWEET HOME
The Lady Buffs have turned Schaeffer Park into one of the top home environments in all of NCAA Division II Softball. WT is 213-34 (.864) at Schaeffer Park since the facility opened prior to the 2011 season including 87-15 (.859) during regular season Lone Star Conference games in Canyon. 2017 marked the sixth time in the last seven years ('11, '13, '14, '15, '16, '17) that the Lady Buffs hosted NCAA Postseason action in Canyon.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
The West Texas A&M Communications Department will provide live stats and a free webstreak for this weekend's series in Canyon. Fans can also follow the WT Athletics (@WTAthletics) Twitter account for live updates. For links and more information, visit the Lady Buff Softball schedule page at GoBuffsGo.com.
 
LADY BUFFS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
The Lady Buffs made their fifth straight and seventh overall appearance in the NCAA Division II Softball postseason during the 2017 campaign.
 
The Lady Buffs are 26-16 all-time in the NCAA Postseason including 18-10 in games played at Schaeffer Park. WT is 5-2 in the College World Seris as they claimed the 2014 NCAA Division II National Championship.
 
RELOAD NOT REBUILD
The Lady Buffs boast a roster of four All-Americans and eight returners along with talented newcomers. WT will be guided by Kilee Halbert in the circle while Kylee Moore, Allie Smith, Ashley Hardin, Shanna McBroom, Alyx Cordell, Kourtney Coveney and Shayne Starkey all return to the starting lineup for the always powerful Lady Buff lineup.
 
2017 IN-REVIEW
The Lady Buffs continued to prove themselves as one of the top programs in all of Division II Softball during the 2017 campaign as they claimed the program's fourth Lone Star Conference Tournament Championship and hosted the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament for the fifth straight season. The Lady Buffs hit .371 as a team with 120 doubles, 10 triples and 98 homeruns to drive in 401 RBI for an incredible slugging percentage of .667. In the circle, the Lady Buffs registered a 2.47 ERA as a staff with 26 complete games, and 11 shutouts (three combined) to go along with 231 strikeout in 339.2 innings of work to allow an opponent batting average of .268 on the season.