- Game Notes (PDF)
- Live Stats (GM1 | GM2 | GM3)
- Watch Live
Tweet #BuffNation
Tweet #TraditionInMotion

CANYON, Texas – The #13 Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M return to the friendly confines of Schaeffer Park this weekend as they host the Cameron Aggies in a three-game Lone Star Conference series for Military Appreciation Weekend presented by People's Federal Credit Union starting tonight at 6 p.m. followed by a Saturday afternoon doubleheader at 1 p.m. in Canyon.
 
- SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
CAMERON
The Aggies enter the weekend with an overall record of 26-12 with a 13-8 mark in Lone Star Conference play following a midweek doubleheader split at Central Oklahoma on Tuesday afternoon in Edmond. Cameron swept past Eastern New Mexico in league action last weekend in Lawton.
 
Cameron is guided by second year head coach Dennis Furr who led the Aggies to the South Central Regional Tournament during his first season in Lawton in 2017. Furr spent 13 seasons in the Oklahoma high school ranks with 10 State Tournament appearances while being named a OSSAA Coach of the Year four times.
 
The Aggies are led offensively by Brenna Busby who is hitting .351 on the season with eight doubles, one triple and 10 homeruns to drive in 21 RBI with 80 total bases for a slugging percentage of .702. In the circle, Rylee Willmon leads the way with a 2.13 ERA (13-6) as she has registered 13 complete games in 22 appearances with 82 strikeouts in 128.1 innings of work to allow an opposing batting average of .261.
 
CU is hitting .283 as a team with 54 doubles, five triples and 37 homeruns to drive in 180 RBI for a team slugging percentage of .459. Defensively they have committed 32 errors on 1,067 chances for a fielding clip of .970. In the circle, they have registered a 2.28 staff ERA with 25 complete games, eight shutouts and 193 strikeouts while allowing an opposing batting average of .255.
 
THE SERIES vs. CAMERON
The Lady Buffs lead the all-time series against the Aggies, 29-9 in a series dating back to the 2006 season. WT has claimed the last three meetings between the two teams including a 7-6 thriller in last year's LSC Semifinals in San Angelo. The Aggies are 4-14 all-time in Canyon and 2-11 inside of 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 (APR. 11)
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 all 16 possible first place votes for a total of 400 points followed by North Georgia (380), Chico State (369), Palm Beach Atlantic (342), Southern Arkansas (338), Dixie State (311), Texas A&M-Commerce (302), North Alabama (296), Angelo State (260) and Winona State (256) to round out the top ten.
 
The South Central Region was represented by Colorado Mesa (1st), Texas A&M-Commerce (7th), Angelo State (9th), West Texas A&M (13th), Tarleton State (16th) and Colorado Christian (RV).
 
WT SOFTBALL IN THE NFCA TOP-25 POLL
The Lady Buffs have been ranked inside of the NFCA Division II Top-25 for 64 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 251-178 overall this season.  In the NCAA South Central Region, the group is currently 47-15 combined versus Heartland Conference teams and 24-15 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.
 
LONE STAR CONFERENCE CAREER HOMERUN LEADER
West Texas A&M senior outfielder Ashley Hardin became the new Lone Star Conference career leader in homeruns back on Tuesday, March 13th in Lakewood, Colorado as the Flower Mound native tied a single game league record with three homeruns in a game to push her career total to 67 to surpass former Midwestern State All-American Katelyn Vinson (2013-2016). Hardin is also on-pace to become the league's new leader in RBI as she sits just four behind former teammate and two-time National Player of the Year Renee Erwin (2012-2015).
 
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 217-36 (.856) at Schaeffer Park since the facility opened prior to the 2011 season including 91-17 (.838) 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 Athletic Communications Department will provide live stats and a webstreak for this weekend's series. 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.