- Tournament Central
- Game Notes (PDF)
CANYON, Texas – West Texas A&M softball open its 2019 season this weekend, Feb. 1-3, at the Arkansas Tech Winter Invitational in Houston, Texas where they will face Washburn, #25 Augustana (S.D.), Minnesota Duluth, Central Oklahoma, St. Mary's and #20 Arkansas Tech.
A LOOK AT THE 2019 LADY BUFFS
Preseason All-American Kylee Moore returns for her senior season after tying the Lone Star Conference single season home run record in 2018. The Van, Texas native hit 25 home runs in second season as a full-time starter while hitting .389 with seven doubles and two triples to drive in 66 runs. Her 47 career home runs are the fifth-most in program history while she should join the Top-10 in RBIs and total bases early in the season.
Fellow seniors Kourtney Coveney and Shayne Starkey will also be relied on heavily to produce runs for WT. Coveney has played in 162 games during her career with a batting average of .341 and 23 home runs with 115 RBIs. Starkey does it all for the Lady Buffs as she earned All-American honors as a utility player as a junior. She will see time all over the field in 2019 including a bigger role in the circle. Newcomers Miranda Grotenhuis, Ruby Salzman, Brittney Gonzalez and Erica Vessels along with Brittany Cruz and Alyx Cordell will look to power an offense that hit a LSC-high 98 home runs last season.
In the circle, the Lady Buffs will rely on Starkey along with freshman Kyra Lair. Starkey made 22 appearances last season going 14-3 tallying a 2.58 ERA with a pair of shutouts and a save in 95.0 innings of work, allowing 40 runs on 100 hits. Lair didn't have to travel far to begin her collegiate career as the Canyon High School product registered one of the top softball careers in Texas Panhandle history. She was a key member of the Lady Eagles team that reached a Regional Final in 2018 following a run to the State Tournament during her junior season.
WASHBURN
The Ichabods are led by third-year head coach Brenda Holaday who led the program to their first MIAA title sine 2002 while earning an NCAA postseason berth for the first time since 2008.
Megan Dieter, the reigning MIAA Pitcher of the Year, returns to the circle for the Ichabods after going 17-4 with a 2.27 ERA as a junior. They also return Freshman of the Year, Bri Francis, who hit .383 with three home runs to drive in 16 RBl last season.
#25 AUGUSTANA
The Vikings were picked to finish second in the Northern Sun Conference Preseason Poll after making their eight trip to the NCAA tournament appearance in the last nine years in 2018.
Led by 13th-yead head coach Gretta Melsted, Augustana returns a number of key players including all-region performers Maggie Kadrlick and Ashley Mickshcl. Kadrlick returns to the diamond after a season-ending injury in 2018 after earning All-American honors in 2017 while Mickshl went 20-8 in the circle last season.
MINNESOTA DULUTH
The Bulldogs were picked to finish fourth in the Northern Sun Conference Preseason Poll after making their first NCAA Super Regional appearance in program history in 2018.
UMD returns six starters that took part in 35 school records that were tied or shattered last season. Junior infielder Lauren Oberle was one of four Bulldogs to earn a NSIC Gold Glove last season while hitting .267 with a .418 on-base percentage and .473 slugging percentage. She also set a program record for walks in a season with 36.
CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
Sixth-year head coach Cody White has a 204-90 career record having led the Bronchos to four 40-win seasons and four national tournament appearances.
JoBi Heath is one of the top returners for UCO as the three-year starter hit .372 with 19 doubles, six homeruns and 46 RBI in 2018. The Bronchos do have to replace All-American pitcher Jayden Chestnut but returner Lauren Gibson will be joined by Sydney McLeod in the circle.
ST. MARY'S
The Rattlers led by head coach Donna Fields were picked to win the Heartland Conference regular season title for a fifth-straight season.
Staci Johns and Taylor Germain were both named to the 2019 preseason All-Heartland team. Johns, the reigning Pitcher of the Year, went 17-7 with a 1.77 ERA as a sophomore. Germain was a massive part of StMU's defense recording 87 putouts and 103 assists for a .977 fielding percentage.
#20 ARKANSAS TECH
The Golden Suns were picked to finish second in the Great American Conference Preseason Poll after claiming their first conference title last season.
All-American Megan Goodnight returns for her seniors season after hitting .341 with 10 home runs and 42 RBI while winning 17 games and recording a nation's best nine saves in 2018. Ashton Sangster is also back after earning all-conference honors after hitting .343 and went a perfect 33-for-33 on stolen base attempts.
LONE STAR CONFERENCE PRESEASON POLL
Angelo State picked up 12 first-place votes to sit atop of the LSC preseason poll followed by WT (5 first-place, 256), Tarleton (4 first place, 255), Texas A&M-Commerce (5 first-place, 253), Cameron (1 first-place, 202), Texas A&M-Kingsville (1 first place, 176), MSU Texas (120), Texas Woman's (120), Eastern New Mexico (87), UT Permian Basin (65) and Western New Mexico (32).
NFCA DIVISION II TOP-25 POLL (PRESEASON)
Reigning National Champion Southern Indiana picked up all 16 first-place votes to rank first with 400 points followed by Southern Arkansas (363), North Georgia (354), Saint Anslem (353), Saint Leo (341), Angelo State (330), Chico State (320), West Chester (274), Texas A&M-Commerce (266) and Concordia Irvine (239) to round out the top ten.
The South Central Region was represented by Angelo State (6th), Texas A&M-Commerce (9th), Tarleton (14th), Dixie State (17th) and Colorado Mesa (21st).
UP NEXT
The Lady Buffs will take part in the LCU Invitational on Feb. 9-10, in Lubbock, Texas where they will face off against Lubbock Christian, UC-Colorado Springs and UT Permian Basin.
