Game Notes
Live Stats ( Game 1 | Game 2 )
Watch Live
Tickets
 
CANYON, Texas – The No. 22 Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M (23-12, 12-10 LSC) play at Schaeffer Park for the final time of the regular-season as they welcome the Texas Woman's Pioneers (9-24, 4-18 LSC) for Sunday doubleheader action.  First pitch is set for 1 p.m. CT in Canyon.
 
WT will honor Sydney Greeson as the lone senior of the 2022 season between games. 
 
SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
Texas Woman's comes to Canyon 9-24 and 4-18 in Lone Star Conference with conference victories against Cameron, St. Edward's, and Western New Mexico.  The Pioneers last victory comes off a 3-1 decision against Cameron on March 25.
 
The Pioneers are led by fourth season head coach Amber Barker since joining the program in the fall of 2018.  Prior to her time in Denton, she made a two-year stint at Albany State where she compiled an overall 54-47 record including the programs first SIAC Championship. 
 
MSU is batting .324 as a team lead by Lily Wilson.  The Rockwall, Texas native is hitting .308 on the season with 20 hits while Rubi Diax leads in conference action hitting .375 against LSC opponents. 
 
Freshman Nya Brown has a team-high 28 hits with 12 RBI while Paige Tamayo has sent three deep and out this season, including one against Oklahoma Christian. 
 
Three pitchers have made appearances on the mound this season with a 5.07 team ERA led by Jules Malis (4-11).  She's been awarded four victories on the mound this season, making 19 appearances with 14 starts and five complete games.  She has a 5.54 ERA and limits opponents to hit .330.
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
WT leads the all-time series 32-22 with 14 victories coming in Canyon since the series start in 2006.  The Lady Buffs swept past the Pioneers last season, outscoring MSU 20-3 to extend a five-game wining-streak against TWU.  In their last meeting, WT won 11-1 and 9-2. 
 
A LOOK AT THE LADY BUFFS
As a team, WT is hitting .339 which ranks fourth in the league with the Lady Buffs outscoring opponents 239-133.  Two Lady Buffs are hitting over .400 led by Brittni Rufus at .466 which ranks third in the conference followed by Ruby Salzman hitting .422. Diana Murtha leads with a team-high .777 slugging-percentage, tying second in the LSC with 12 home runs. 
 
Six pitchers have made appearances in the circle led by freshman Heidi Vortherms and junior Emilee Wilson, combining for 31 starts. Vortherms leads the team with 10 victories to go along with a 1.92 ERA with 120 strikeouts, ranking fourth in the conference.  Freshman Emma Parrish has received three saves for the Lady Buffs, making a team-high 23 appearances.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Lady Buffs moved to 22-12 on the season after sweeping Midwestern State on Friday night.  WT defeated the Mustangs 15-7 before coming back to win 7-6 in the seventh inning, avoiding the upset. 
 
WT outhit the Mustangs 22-19 with a .393 batting average led by Brittni Rufus.  The sophomore from Mansfield, Texas went 6-for-9 at the plate to hit .667 while Sydney Greeson grabbed a team-high five RBI. 
 
On the mound, Emma Parrish and Heidi Vortherms each received a victory for the Lady Buffs that had a 4.85 team ERA allowing 13 runs (nine earned) on 19 hits, five walks and 16 strikeouts.  
 
AROUND THE LONE STAR
UT Tyler and Oklahoma Christian rank atop of the conference standings each posting a 18-4 LSC record while OC has the longest active win streak at 16.  Lubbock Christian and Texas A&M-Commerce rank third in the conference at 17-5 followed by Texas A&M-Kingsville and Angelo State tied for fifth at 16-6.  WT stands eighth in the conference standings behind St. Mary's (15-7 LSC). 
 
RECORD WATCH
Junior centerfielder Ruby Salzman registered her 46^th career home run to lead off a seventh inning rally to defeat Midwestern State on Friday night. The Northridge, Calif. became the sixth player in program history to reach the 40-plus home run mark, ranking sixth all-time. 
 
Kyra Lair continues to make her way up the all-time leaderboard as the right-handed pitcher ties third in wins (49), and ranks fourth games started (70), innings pitched (games started (70), while standing fifth in appearances (86), strikeouts (333) and shutouts (7).  Junior Emilee Wilson is working her way onto the leaderboard, tying 10^th with former Lady Buff Andrea Renteria (2007-08) with 140 career strikeouts followed by freshman Heidi Vortherms with 120.
 
BOMBS AWAY
Through 35 games, the Lady Buffs have hit 40 homers which is the seventh most in the LSC and are led by newcomer Diana Murtha.  The Summerlin, Nev., native has sent 12 deep this year which ranks second in the league.  She is followed Ruby Salzman with nine while Madison Johnson and Brittni Rufus each have five.  
 
NFCA RANKINGS
UT Tyler returned to the top of the national standings with a 30-4 overall record followed by Concordia Irvine, Rogers State, Valdosta State, and Indianapolis rounding out the top five. 
 
Five other fellow members of the Lone Star Conference rank in the top 25 with Texas A&M-Kingsville coming in at seventh with Angelo State just outside of the Top 10 in 11^th.  Texas A&M-Commerce ranks 13^th in DII followed by Lubbock Christian (15^th) and Oklahoma Christian (19^th) while St. Mary's 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
The Lady Buffs will take a break from conference play before returning to action on Friday, April 22, to face UT Permian Basin in Odessa to begin a six-game road trip.