Game Notes
 
CANYON, Texas – After sweeping Lone Star Conference rival Midwestern State on Wednesday, the West Texas A&M softball team faces a quick turnaround as the Lady Buffs travel to Denton, Texas for three games against Texas Woman's. The series starts with a 3 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday, March 11 with a single game being played at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
 
GAME COVERAGE
A live stream and stats will be provided by the TWU Communications department.  The game will be streamed on the Lone Star Conference Digital Network.  Fans will be able to purchase a $10 daily pass that will give them access to all contests on the network that day as well as access to previously aired games from the current season for 24 hours. Fans can also purchase a $75 softball season pass that will give them access to all Lone Star Conference softball games.  In addition to live and archived streaming options, viewers will have the option to purchase and download games from the 2022-23 season for $10 each.
 
A LOOK AT THE LADY BUFFS
WT returned to the win column with a three-game sweep of Midwestern State earlier this week. The Lady Buffs slugged their way to a 9-0 run-rule victory in the first game of the series. Game two saw WT record another run-rule win, defeating the Mustangs 11-2 in five innings. The Lady Buffs completed the conference sweep with a 7-0 victory.
 
Senior Ruby Salzman leads the way for a WT offense that averages 7.67 runs per game. Salzman has posted a .451 batting average with a 1.459 OPS and a .972 slugging percentage in 21 games for the Lady Buffs, hitting seven doubles and 10 home runs along the way. On the basepaths, Gabie McConnell leads WT with eight stolen bases, two ahead of Salzman.
 
In the circle, WT has posted a 1.71 ERA with 156 strikeouts and 33 earned runs in 135 innings. Kyra Lair leads the team with 47 strikeouts and 38.2 innings pitched while Emilee Wilson leads the team with a 0.94 ERA.
 
Head Coach Michael Mook is in his fourth season at WT, registering a 104-40 record in that time. For his career, Mook holds 258-101 record in eight seasons for an overall winning percentage of .722.
 
SCOUTING TEXAS WOMAN'S
Texas Woman's comes into this weekend's series after being swept by Angelo State in San Angelo. The Pioneers fell to the Rambelles 3-2 in game one before the ASU pitching staff shut out the TWU bats and took the final two games 6-0 and 10-0.
 
Alyssa LeBlanc, the Pioneers' most powerful bat, leads the offense as the junior holds a .348 batting average with a 1.202 OPS, .768 slugging average, and .434 on-base percentage. The Katy, Texas native has eight doubles and seven home runs with 21 RBIs on the season. LeBlanc has also been the ace in the circle for TWU. In 13 appearances, the junior holds a 1.80 ERA in 80 innings pitched, striking out 129 batters and walking 30.
 
As a pitching staff, Midwestern holds a 2.43 ERA in 164.1 innings of work. During that time, opponents are hitting .245 while hitting 25 doubles, nine triples, and 10 home runs while striking out 184 times.
 
Gay McNutt is in her 24^th season as a head coach and first at Texas Woman's. In her career, McNutt has a 641-677 overall record with stops at Northwestern State, Southern Mississippi, Stephen F. Austin, Texas A&M-Commerce, and Texas Woman's
 
THE SERIES
WT leads the all-time series between the two programs, 34-23. The Lady Buffs are 14-10 in Denton, and 4-0 against the Pioneers under Michael Mook. WT has won the previous seven meetings with Texas Woman's and 16 of the past 17.
 
W, 10-4 – Canyon, 2022
W, 4-0 – Canyon, 2022
W, 9-2 – Denton, 2021
W, 11-1 – Denton, 2021
W, 8-4 – Canyon, 2019
 
NFCA RANKINGS
The Lady Buffs fell one spot to No. 23 in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) poll after being swept by No. 4 UT Tyler. Rogers State continued its unanimous hold on the No. 1 spot and the top five remained the same in this week's 2023 NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll. North Georgia, Tampa, UT Tyler, and Cal State San Marcos stayed in their No. 2 through No. 5 spots. Central Oklahoma moved into the sixth spot with Grand Valley State at No. 7. Indianapolis, Alabama-Huntsville, and Lubbock Christian round out the top 10. Five programs from the South Central Region are inside the top 25 with UT Tyler(4^th), Lubbock Christian (10^th), Colorado Christian (17^th), West Texas A&M (23^rd), and Oklahoma Christian (25^th) receiving spots in the poll with St. Mary's receiving votes.
 
LSC PRESEASON POLL
UT Tyler picked up 35 of 37 possible first-place votes and 550 total points as the Patriots were selected to defend their LSC title. Angelo State followed the Patriots in the standings with 474 points while Texas A&M-Kingsville (466, 1 first place) took the third spot. Lubbock Christian (454) and Oklahoma Christian (405, 1 first place) sit ahead of WT's 368 points.
 
St. Mary's received the seventh spot with 346 points followed by Cameron (242) and St. Edward's (240). Texas Woman's (228) and Texas A&M International (199) occupy the 10^th and 11^th spots, respectively. Eastern New Mexico (181), Midwestern State (124), UT Permian Basin (123), and Western New Mexico (40) round out the poll.
 
EXTRA ELITE 100 LIST
Diana Murtha, Brittni Rufus, Ruby Salzman, and Heidi Vortherms were named to Extra Innings Softball's inaugural Extra Elite 100 List. Criteria utilized to form these rankings includes a combination of career achievements, most recent on-field history, and overall impact on their team and the sport as a whole.
 
Salzman led WT on the list ranked No. 21 followed by Murtha at No. 62, Vortherms at No. 75, and Rufus at No. 92.
 
2022 REVIEW
The Lady Buffs ended the 2022 season 29-16 with the program's 13 straight appearance in the LSC Tournament, excluding the cancelled 2020 season. After the season, Ruby Salzman earned Division 2 Conference Commissioners Association honorable mention All-American status. In addition to the D2CCA award, Salzman was also named a CoSIDA Academic All-American along with NFCA First Team All-Region, D2CCA First Team All-Region, CoSIDA Academic All-Region, and First Team All-Lone Star Conference. Brittni Rufus also earned D2CCA First Team All-Region and NFCA Second Team All-Region along with First Team All-LSC and an LSC Golden Glove. Other honorees included Heidi Vortherms on the LSC All-Freshman Team and Second Team All-LSC and Gabriella Valforte on the Third Team All-LSC.
 
UP NEXT
WT returns to Schaeffer Park with a top-25 matchup on the horizon against No. 25 Oklahoma Christian. The Lady Buffs and Eagles play a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m. on Friday, March 17 with the rubber match scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday.