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CANYON, Texas – The #10 Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M are back in the NCAA Postseason for the eighth time as they open up their run to Salem, Virginia with an opening round matchup against the Aggies of Cameron with first pitch set for 3:30 p.m. at Mayer Field in San Angelo, Texas.
 
- SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
CAMERON
The Aggies enter the weekend with an overall record of 30-18 as they finished fifth in the Lone Star Conference with a mark of 17-13. Cameron's last contest came on May 5th as they fell to Tarleton State in the LSC Quarterfinals, 3-0 at Mayer Field in San Angelo. CU is making their fourth overall and second straight appearance in the NCAA Postseason.
 
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 .357 on the season with 10 doubles, two triple and 13 homeruns to drive in 32 RBI with 103 total bases for a slugging percentage of .736. In the circle, Rylee Willmon leads the way with a 2.49 ERA (16-9) as she has registered 16 complete games in 29 appearances with 100 strikeouts in 160.1 innings of work to allow an opposing batting average of .269.
 
CU is hitting .284 as a team with 62 doubles, six triples and 45 homeruns to drive in 220 RBI for a team slugging percentage of .453. Defensively they have committed 41 errors on 1,308 chances for a fielding clip of .969. In the circle, they have registered a 2.81 staff ERA with 29 complete games, 12 shutouts and 228 strikeouts while allowing an opposing batting average of .266.
 
THE SERIES vs. CAMERON
The Lady Buffs lead the all-time series against the Aggies, 32-9 in a series dating back to the 2006 season. WT has claimed the last six meetings between the two teams including a three-game series sweep by the Lady Buffs during Military Appreciation Weekend in Canyon on April 13-14.
 
Friday afternoon will mark the fifth meeting between the two teams in postseason action and just the second in the NCAA Division II Tournament as the Aggies ended WT's 2015 season at Schaeffer Park in Canyon on May 9th with a 3-2 win.
 
LADY BUFFS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
The Lady Buffs will make their sixth straight and eighth overall appearance in the NCAA Division II Softball postseason during the 2018 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 Series as they claimed the 2014 NCAA DII National Championship.
 
SCHUTT SPORTS/NFCA PLAYER OF THE YEAR TOP-25
West Texas A&M's Kylee Moore and Suka Van Gurp have been named Top-25 finalists for the Schutt Sports/National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division II National Player of the Year.
 
This group of student-athletes is represented by 20 different programs and 13 conferences. Ten student-athletes from the original Top-50 "Watchlist" made the cut with the final group consisting of nine seniors, eight juniors, seven sophomores and one freshman.
 
The process began prior to the 2018 season as a Top-50 Watchlist was released followed by the release of the 25 finalists, the NFCA offices will collect updated statistics for the 25 finalists following the completion of the regular season on Monday, April 30th followed by the announcement of the 10 finalists on Tuesday, May 15th. The winner will be announced on Monday, June 4th.
 
USING THE LONG BALL
The Lady Buffs have hit 97 homeruns during the 2018 season to lead all of NCAA Divison II in total homeruns and homeruns per game (1.94). The Lady Buffs have eclipsed the century mark twice in program history with 105 in 2014 on their way to the Division II National Championship followed by 102 in 2015.
 
The Lady Buffs are also the only team in NCAA Division II history to have multiple players with atleast 25 homeruns in a single season as Ashley Hardin and Kylee Moore are both tied for the Lone Star Conference single-season record.
 
LSC POSTSEASON AWARDS
Ashley Hardin, Kylee Moore, Shayne Starkey and Kilee Halbert were named to the All-Lone Star Conference First Team while Suka Van Gurp, Alyx Cordell and Kourtney Coveney picked up Second Team honors. Allie Smith was named to the All-LSC Third Team while Hardin picked up Golden Glove acclaim in centerfield. On the academic side, Halbert and Smith were honored for their efforts in the classroom as members of the Lone Star Conference All-Academic Team.
 
NFCA ALL-SOUTH CENTRAL REGION
West Texas A&M placed four different student-athletes on the National Faspitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division II South Central All-Region squads announced on Wednesday afternoon by the association's offices in Louisville, Kentucky.
 
Ashley Hardin, Kylee Moore and Shayne Starkey were named to the All-South Central Region First Team while junior Suka Van Gurp picked up Second Team accolades as a utility player. The three first team selections will now move onto the national ballot voted on by head coaches across the country for a chance to be named All-Americans.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
The Angelo State Athletic Communications Department will provide live stats and a free webstream for this weekend's South Central Regional Tournament in San Angelo. 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.
 
LSC CAREER HOMERUN & RBI LEADER
Ashley Hardin became the new LSC career leader in homeruns back on Tuesday, March 13th in Lakewood, Colorado as she tied a single game league record with three homeruns in a game to push her career total to 67 to surpass former MSU All-American Katelyn Vinson (2013-2016). Hardin became the league's new all-time leader in RBI on Sunday, April 15th with a two-run homerun to left center at Schaeffer Park for her 245th career RBI to pass former teammate and two-time National Player of the Year Renee Erwin (2012-2015).
 
NFCA DIVISION II TOP-25 POLL (MAY 9)
North Georgia remained atop of the poll 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 NightHawks picked up 15 of the possible 16 first place votes for a total of 399 points followed by Chico State (1 first place, 384), Colorado Mesa (369), North Alabama (348), Winona State (331), Angelo State (327), Palm Beach Atlantic (294), Southern Arkansas (280), Grand Valley State (266) and West Texas A&M (244) to round out the top ten.
 
The South Central Region was represented by Colorado Mesa (3rd), Angelo State (6th), West Texas A&M (10th), Texas A&M-Commerce (13th) Tarleton State (17th) 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 68 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.