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CANYON, Texas – West Texas A&M softball returns to Schaeffer Park on Friday, March 18 when the No. 6 Lady Buffs (14-7, 3-5 LSC) hosts Texas A&M International (8-19, 2-6 LSC).  First pitch of the doubleheader series is set for 4 p.m. CT in Canyon.
 
SCOUTING THE DUSTDEVILS
Texas A&M International enters the series 8-19 on the season and 2-6 in league play after splitting a pair with Cameron.  The Dustdevils were selected to finish eighth in the Lone Star Conference Preseason Poll with 393 points. 
 
Head coach Scott Libby is in his 14^th season at the helm of the Dustdevils program, compiling an overall record of 297-415 (.417).   
 
TAMIU is batting .243 against opponents led by junior Heather Ruiz.  The Eagle Pass product is hitting .421 on the season with a team-high 32 hits, 13 runs, .618 slugging-percentage and .477 on-base-percentage.  She's started in all 27 games for the Dustdevils at short. 
 
Briana Arredondo leads the offense in conference action hitting .333 with a team-high six RBI, making nine starts behind the plate.  
 
Six Dustdevils have made appearances on the mound this season with Darrian Smith (7-6).  The junior from Weimar has been awarded seven victories on the mound this season, making 14 appearances with 10 starts.  She has a 2.97 ERA and limits opponents to hit .210. 
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
WT leads the all-time series 14-4 while the Dustdevils and are 11-1 in games playing in Canyon.  TAMIU has won three of the last five games played in the series.  In their final meeting, the Lady Buffs won 7-0 led by former Lady Buff Shanna McBroom who went 4-for-5 at the plate with a pair of RBI.  
 
A LOOK AT THE LADY BUFFS
The No. 6 Lady Buffs are hitting .350 as a team which ranks third in the league as the Lady Buffs outscore opponents 148-66, averaging 7.1 runs a game on 10 hits with 6.5 RBI.  
Three Lady Buffs are hitting over .400 led by Brittni Rufus at .515 followed by juniors Diana Murtha (.420) and Ruby Salzman (.408).  Murtha leads with a team-high .841 slugging-percentage, ranking third in the conference with eight home runs. 
 
Six student-athletes have made appearances in the circle led by freshman Heidi Vortherms and junior Emilee Wilson, combining for 19 starts. Vortherms leads the team with seven victories to go along with a 2.16 ERA with 71 strikeouts which ranks sixth in the league. 
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Lady Buffs moved to 14-7 on the season after splitting the conference series with No. 18 Angelo State.  ASU took the series opener with a 10-2 run-rule victory before the Lady Buffs came back to take the finale, 10-8. 
 
AROUND THE LONE STAR
Four teams are 7-1 in Lone Star Conference play with UT Tyler standing in first with a 21-1 overall record.  Lubbock Christian is in second followed by St. Mary's and Texas A&M-Commerce while Texas A&M-Kingsville rounds out the top five at 6-2 in league axtion.  
 
BOMBS AWAY
Through 21 games, the Lady Buffs have hit 26 homers which is the sixth most in the LSC and are led by newcomer Diana Murtha.  The Summerlin, Nev., native has sent eight deep this year followed Ruby Salzman (6) and Madison Johnson (5).  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 stayed atop the rankings picking up 12-of-16 first-place votes with a 21-1 overall record after going 4-0 over the weekend.  Concordia Irvine (24-0) earned four first-place votes to remain second in the national standings followed by Valdosta State, Indianapolis, Rogers State rounding out the top five.  
 
Five additional members of the Lone Star Conference rank in the national standings with Texas A&M-Kingsville standing in ninth followed by Lubbock Christian (14^th), Angelo State (17^th), Texas A&M-Commerce (20^th), and St. Mary's (23^rd) 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 WT 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
WT will return to Schaeffer Park to host the No. 9 Javelinas of Texas A&M-Kingsville (22-3, 6-2 LSC) on Sunday, March 20.