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CANYON, Texas – No. 6 West Texas A&M softball will head down Interstate 27 for a Top 25 matchup with No. 15 Lubbock Christian on March 11.  First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT on Saturday in Lubbock at PlainsCapital Park. 
 
SCOUTING THE LADY CHAPS
Lubbock Christian opened the 2022 Lone Star Conference season 4-0 with victories against  No. 18 Oklahoma Christian and Cameron to improve to 18-2.  The Lady Chaps are led by 12^th-year head coach Daren Hays who has led the program to a 465-147 overall record. 
 
LCU is batting .349 against opponents as three starting Lions are hitting above .400 led by Tyla Lee at .516 which ranks fourth in the conference.  Lee is joined by Angelo Donaldson hitting .480 and Skyler Herrera at .400.  
 
Four Lady Chaps have made starts on the mound led by Taylor Franco with 10.  The senior has earned 10 victories to lead the league to go along with a 1.76 ERA followed by Maxine Valdez at 2.01 with a team-high 59 strikeouts.  
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
WT leads the all-time series 16-9 including 7-6 at PlainsCaptial Park.  The Lady Buffs have won eight of the last 10 matchups including three victories under head coach Michael Mook with two resulting in one-run decisions.  Last season, the Lady Buffs swept LCU in the conference doubleheader with a 1-0 and 7-3 victory. 
 
A LOOK AT THE LADY BUFFS
The No. 46Lady Buffs have the third-best average in the league at .357 and have outscored their opponents 120-39 this season, averaging 7.1 runs a game on 10.2 hits with 6.6 RBI.  Three Lady Buffs are hitting over .400 led by Brittni Rufus at .519 which ranks third in the league.  Ruby Salzman has the second-highest team average at .431 followed by Diana Murtha at .421. 
 
Five players have made appearances in the circle led by freshman Heidi Vortherms and junior Emilee Wilson with 10 visits to the mound. Vortherms leads the team with seven victories to go along with a 1.56 ERA, ranking fourth in the conference with 66 strikeouts.  
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Lady Buffs moved to 12-5 on the season after dropping a pair of LSC games to No. 23 Texas A&M-Commerce.  The Lady Buffs fell short 3-2 in the series opener before TAMUC claimed the series with a 5-2 game two victory.
 
The Lions limited WT to hit just .163 with four runs on five hits, including a homer by Madison Johnson. Three pitchers made appearances on the mound with Heidi Vortherms, Emilee Wilson and Emma Parrish.  Vortherms posted her third double-digit strikeout game in game one with 10.   
 
AROUND THE LONE STAR
Lubbock Christian stands atop the rankings after the Lady Chaps opened LSC play with a 4-0 record after sweeping past Oklahoma Christian and Cameron.  UT Tyler ranks second followed by Texas A&M-Kingsville, St. Mary's, Texas A&M-Commerce, and UT Permian Basin with a 3-1 record in conference play.  
 
BOMBS AWAY
Through 17 games, the Lady Buffs have hit 19 homers which is the seventh most in the LSC and are led by newcomer Diana Murtha.  The Summerlin, Nev., native has sent six deep this year followed by Ruby Salzman (4) and Madison Johnson (3).  Johnson registered the program's 80^th grand slam against Adams State. 
 
LUCKY NUMBER 40
Junior centerfielder Ruby Salzman registered her 40^th career home run in the Lady Buffs shutout against UCCS on at the Visit Lubbock Collegiate Classic. The Northridge, Calif. became the sixth player in program history to reach the milestone. 
 
NFCA RANKINGS
UT Tyler ranks first in the coaches' poll following a 3-1 performance to open Lone Star Conference play, improving to 17-1 on the season.  Concordia Irvine stands second followed by Valdosta State, Indianapolis, Rogers State, WT, Grand Valley State, Augustana, Texas A&M-Kingsville, and Central Oklahoma rounding out the Top 10. 
 
The LSC is represented by four other members in the standings with Lubbock Christian entering at 15^th followed by Angelo State (18^th), Texas A&M-Commerce (21^st) and St Mary's (25^th) while Oklahoma Christian is receiving votes. 
 
LSC PRESEASON POLL
The UT Tyler Patriots were chosen to defend the regular-season title after picking up 22 of the possible 43 first place votes for a total of 654 points to sit atop the poll followed by the Lady Buffs (16-fpv), Angelo State (1-fpv), Oklahoma Christian (3-fpv), and Texas A&M-Commerce to close out the top five selections. 
 
Texas A&M-Kingsville (1-fpv) ranked sixth followed by Lubbock Christian, Texas A&M International, Cameron, St. Mary's, St. Edward's, Midwestern State, Texas Woman's, UT Permian Basin, Eastern New Mexico and Western New Mexico rounding out the poll.
 
GAME COVERAGE
Live stats and stream will be available for fans to stay up to date on all Lady Buff action provided by the Lubbock Christian athletic communications department and the Lone Star Conference Digital Network.  The LSC Digital Network will offer season passes giving fans access to all regular-season contests. 
 
In addition, viewers have the option to purchase a $10 day pass that provides access to all broadcasts aired that day and access to all archived content for 24 hours. For more information, visit WT's softball schedule at GoBuffsGo.com. 
 
UP NEXT
The Lady Buffs will return continue on the road as they travel down to San Angelo to take on No. 18 Angelo State on Monday, March 14.  First pitch is set for 1 p.m. at the Mayer Field.