CANYON, Texas – West Texas A&M Softball hits the road for the second straight weekend to continue tournament play at the LCU Invitational on Feb. 22-23 at PlainsCapital Park in Lubbock, Texas where they will face UT Permian Basin, No. 24 Tarleton State, Eastern New Mexico and Lubbock Christian.  
 
GAME COVERAGE
Live stats and stream will be available for this weekend's tournament provided by Lubbock Christian.  For more information, visit the Lady Buffs' softball schedule at GoBuffsGo.com.
 
A LOOK BACK AT THE CACTUS CLASSIC
The Lady Buffs moved to a 7-6 overall record after going 4-4 in their second tournament of the season where they hit .262 with 12 doubles and three home runs to outscore opponents 42-31.
 
Sydney Greeson, Alyx Cordell and Shanna McBroom each recorded seven hits to lead WT and combined for 11 runs.  Ruby Salzman led the Lady Buffs with 12 RBI on five hits over the four-day tournament.
 
Kyra Lair (7-2) put on a show in the circle throwing 46 2/3 innings of the team's 52 defensive innings.  She appeared and started in all eight games.  
 
UT PERMIAN BASIN (Saturday – 1 p.m. CT)
UTPB moved to 8-7 after they went 3-2 last week at the Cactus Classic in Tucson, Ariz., with victories over Cal-Pennsylvania, Fort Lewis and Hawai'i-Hilo.
 
Tiala Tagaloa enters her fifth season at the helm of the program as the Falcons are batting .293 with 16 doubles, four triples and seven homeruns.  Aracely Araiza leads UTPB with a .424 batting average with six runs and eight RBI on 14 hits.  The freshman infielder posts a .472 on-base percentage in 14 games for the Falcons. 
 
Three pitchers have made starts in the circle for UTPB for a team led by Abby Cousins (2-2) with a 3.56 ERA.  Cousins has allowed 12 runs (10 earned) in 19.2 innings on 18 hits with six walks and four strikeouts.  Marissa Salinas (3-4) and Abrie Castillo (3-0) have also made contributions on the mound with a combined 49 strikeouts.
 
#24 TARLETON STATE (Saturday – 7 p.m. CT)
The Texans have started off the new season with an impressive 11-3 overall record to land themselves on the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Top-25 Coaches' Poll at 24^th. TSU held an eight-game win streak before falling to Angelo State, 3-2, at the George McCorkle Challenge in San Angelo, Texas.
 
This year's squad, led by fourth year head coach Mark Cumpian, is ranked second in the LSC with a .349 batting average.  Three Texan starters are batting above .400 led by Kristen Zuehl with .439. The sophomore infielder has driven in 17 runs for TSU and is slugging .756.  Morgan Ling is hitting .432 batting average and has drawn seven walks.  Georgia Capell is third on the team with a .404 batting average as the LSC Preseason Player of the Year has eight extra-base hits, including four homeruns.    
 
Cumpian has used four pitchers this season.  Jordan Withrow (6-2) has pitched a team-high 46 1/3 innings for the Texans for a 1.81 ERA.  The senior has totaled 60 strikeouts to lead the conference, including 16 looking.  Julia Wernet (2-0) and Tristan Bridges (3-1) have also earned starts for TSU with Wernet recording a 2.76 ERA and Bridges with 3.42.
 
EASTERN NEW MEXICO (Sunday – 4 p.m. CT)
Under second year head coach Kira Zeiter, the Greyhounds have opened the season with a 5-4 record after a 3-3 performance at the Cactus Classic defeating Simon Fraser, Colorado Mesa and Cal-Pennsylvania. 
 
In 2019, ENMU went 12-30 and was picked 15^th in the LSC preseason poll.
 
ENMU has starter four pitchers on the mound this season for a 3.61 team ERA.  Brook Leger (3-1) has thrown a team-high 22 innings allowing 16 runs (11 earned) on 23 hits with 11 walks and 31 strikeouts. 
 
Through nine games, the Greyhounds are hitting .271 while opponents hit .303 led by Elysa Rodriguez.  The senior is hitting .387 with a team-high 12 hits with a .486 on-base percentage.  Andrea Cline is hitting .379 and has driven in eight runs for the Greyhounds. 
 
LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (Sunday – 6 p.m. CT)
Now members of the Lone Star Conference, Lubbock Christian ranks second in the latest LSC standings with an impressive 12-2 overall record.  The Lady Chaps started off the season with a 9-0 record before falling to Rogers State, 7-3, at the Edmond Regional Festival II in Edmond, Okla.
 
Offensively, the LCU is hitting .290 and have outscored their opponents 89-34 to rank third in conference.  Athen Muniz is hitting .414 to lead the Lady Chaps with a .690 slugging percentage in 29 at bats.  Savannah Wysocki Is third in the conference with three triples as the sophomore is hitting .370 while and Skylar Herrera is third on the team hitting .318 with three home runs.  Wysocki and Herrera have each recorded 17 runs.  
 
The Lady Chaps have used four pitchers this season and are third in the conference with a 1.88 ERA.  Taylor Franco (6-2) has recorded 40 strikeouts for LCU in 46.2 innings for a 1.50 ERA.  Jordan Wehr and Maxine Valdez are undefeated this season as Wehr holds four wins on the mound while Valdez has two.   
 
Daren Hays enters his 10^th season in charge of LCU softball accumulating an overall record of 398-122 (.765).
 
WELCOME BACK SALZMAN
Ruby Salzman returned to the diamond for the first time at the Cactus Classic after having forearm surgery in January.  In just her second at bat of the season, the sophomore landed a ball into deep left field for her second career grand slam against Hawai'i-Hilo (Feb. 13) before recording another two home runs to lead the Lady Buffs.  Salzman now totals 19 career home runs and 52 RBI.
 
RECORD WATCH
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Kyra Lair continues to dominate in the circle for the Lady Buffs as the Canyon native has made her way into nearly every top-10 pitching career record at WT.
 
After recording her 100^th career strikeout on Feb. 2, in an 8-0 shutout over Regis, Lair is now ninth on the all-time career strikeouts record board with 127 just 13 behind Andrea Renteria (2007-2008).
 
Lair currently leads the conference with 72 complete innings pitched, 14 2/3 innings more than Cameron's Bethany Hines.
 
NFCA DIVISION II TOP-25 POLL
A new leader stands atop the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division II Top-25 Coaches' Poll as Young Harris (9-0) moved up four spots with four first-place votes.

Four teams from the LSC landed in the newest NFCA rankings with UTT Tyler (10-0) leading the way at fourth, followed by Texas A&M-Kingsville (11-4) at 15^th, Texas A&M-Commerce (6-3) at 21^st and Tarleton (11-3) at 24^th with Lubbock Christian (12-2) receiving votes. 
 
UP NEXT
The Lady Buffs will return to the diamond with their home opener on March 6 to open conference play for a doubleheader against Western New Mexico before facing UT Permian Basin on March 8.