Game Notes
 
CANYON, Texas – The No. 22 Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M (25-14, 14-12 LSC) head to Silver City, N.M. tomorrow, April 24, to take on Western New Mexico (5-35, 2-34 LSC) with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. CT. 
 
SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS
Western New Mexico enters the weekend 5-35 and 2-24 in Lone Star Conference with conference victories against St. Mary's and Midwestern State.  The Falcons last victory comes off a 4-3 win against St. Mary's in Silver City on April 3. 
 
The Falcons are led by first-year head coach Ashley Hickman after she spent two seasons as the helm of the softball program at Upper Iowa.  Prior to her time at UIU, she spent four seasons as the head coach of McPherson College.  
 
WNMU is batting .270 as a team lead by Jane Ruiz.  The senior native is hitting .378 with a team-high .418 on-base-percentage.  Breeanna Simmons is a long ball threat as the sophomore from Chula Vista, Calif. has sent nine balls out this season with seven doubles for a .613 slugging-percentage. 
 
Four pitchers have made appearances on the mound this season with a 11.95 team ERA led by Aryana Munoz.  She's been awarded three victories on the mound this season, making 22 appearances with 16 starts and seven complete games.  Vanessa Hunt leads with a team-low 10.65 ERA with opponents hitting .363. 
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
The Lady Buffs are 20-0 all-time against the Mustangs in a series that dates back to 2006 with four of those coming in Silver City. They have scored a total of 214 (10.7) runs in the 20 previous meetings. 
 
A LOOK AT THE LADY BUFFS
As a team, WT is hitting .330 which ranks fifth in the league with the Lady Buffs outscoring opponents 257-145.  Brittni Rufus leads the Lady Buffs at the plate with the sixth-best batting average in the conference at .435.  The sophomore also ranks seventh in the conference with 25 stolen bases. 
 
Six pitchers have made appearances in the circle led by freshman Heidi Vortherms and junior Emilee Wilson, combining for 35 starts. Vortherms leads the team with 11 victories to go along with a 1.76 ERA with 128 strikeouts, ranking fifth in the conference.  Freshman Emma Parrish has received three saves for the Lady Buffs, making a team-high 25 appearances. 
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Lady Buffs moved to 25-14 on the season after suffering upsets against UT Permian Basin on Friday.  The Falcons defeated WT 4-1 before coming back in the seventh inning to win 4-3 to complete the series. 
 
UTPB outhit WT 12-9 limiting the Lady Buffs to hit just .184 with Diana Murtha and Brittini Rufus each registering two hits at the plate.  
 
Heidi Vortherms and Emilee Wilson each earned a start in the circle while Vortherms and Kyra Lair were credited the losses.    
 
AROUND THE LONE STAR
UT Tyler took the reins of the Lone Star Conference standings after sweeping Oklahoma Christian who now stands in second.  The Patriots snapped the Eagles 22 game-win streak with a 6-2 victory.  Lubbock Christian and Texas A&M-Commerce standing in second along Oklahoma Christian with all three programs posting a 20-6 LSC record. Texas A&M-Kingsville ranks fifth at 20-7 followed by Angelo State, St. Mary's, WT, Cameron, and St. Edward's rounding out the Top 10. 
 
RECORD WATCH
Junior centerfielder Ruby Salzman registered her 47^th career home run to lead off game two against UT Permian Basin. The Northridge, Calif. became the sixth player in program history to reach the 40-plus home run mark against UCCS, 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 (390.0) while standing fifth in appearances (88), strikeouts (336) and shutouts (7).  Junior Emilee Wilson is working her way onto the leaderboard, ranking ninth with 144 career strikeouts followed by freshman Heidi Vortherms with 128.
 
BOMBS AWAY
Through 39 games, the Lady Buffs have hit 42 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 10 while Madison Johnson and Brittni Rufus each have five.  
 
NFCA RANKINGS
UT Tyler remained the unanimous No. 1, receiving all 16 possible first-place votes in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division II Top 25 poll while Auburn Montgomery elevated four spots to stand second.  Indianapolis ranks third in the national standings followed by Central Oklahoma and Texas A&M-Kingsville in fourth and fifth respectively. 
 
Four other fellow members of the Lone Star Conference are ranked in the national standings with Angelo State standing 10^th followed by Lubbock Christian (14^th), Oklahoma Christian (15^th), and Texas A&M-Commerce (19^th). 
 
IN THE REGION
The NCAA Division II softball committee released its first regional rankings on Wednesday afternoon for the 2022 NCAA Tournament.  Eight members of the Lone Star Conference were represented in the South Central standings with the Lady Buffs in seventh.
 
The NCAA South Central Regionals will begin on March 12-14 followed by the Super Regionals will kick off on May 19.  The DII Women's College World Series returning to Denver, Colo. on May 26-30 at the Regency Athletic Complex.
 
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 WNMU 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 conclude the regular-season on April 30 when they head to Portales, N.M. for crossover conference action against Eastern New Mexico.