Game Notes
 
CANYON, Texas – West Texas A&M softball welcomes Cameron for its final home and regular season series for the 2023 season. The No. 12 Lady Buffs (43-5, 34-5 LSC) host the Aggies (30-19, 24-14 LSC) start the series on Friday at 6 p.m. Saturday will see the two teams play a 1 and 3 p.m. doubleheader with Senior Day festivities occurring after the second game.
 
GAME COVERAGE
A live stream and stats will be provided by the WT 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 pulled off an important Lone Star Conference sweep of rival Lubbock Christian on Saturday. The Lady Buffs held off a Lady Chaps comeback to take game one, 6-5. Game two saw WT jump out to an early lead and never look back. The Lady Buffs run-ruled the Chaps in a decisive manner, winning the contest 12-2. The series finale went back and forth until LCU hit a grand slam to take a 5-1 lead. WT chipped away at the lead until Ruby Salzman tied the game with a two-run home run in the seventh inning. After three scoreless extra innings, the Lady Buffs broke the game open with three runs, going on to win 8-5 in 11 innings.
 
Brittni Rufus and Ruby Salzman spearhead a potent WT lineup that averages 7.27 runs per game. Rufus leads qualified players with a .400 batting average and four triples to go along with six home runs and six doubles. Salzman has posted a .389 batting average with a 1.232 OPS and a .796 slugging percentage, hitting 13 doubles, a triple and 17 home runs along the way. As a team, WT features seven players with a .300 or better batting average and eight players with a 1.000 or better OPS. The Lady Buffs have been a force on the bases this season stealing 102 bases in 111 attempts with Gabie McConnell swiping 21 bags. 13 different WT players have stolen bases on the season including five with double-digit steals.
 
In the circle, WT has posted a 1.73 ERA with 310 strikeouts and 78 earned runs in 315 innings. Kyra Lair leads the team with 118 strikeouts and 110 innings pitched while Emma Parrish leads the team with a 1.05 ERA.
 
Head Coach Michael Mook is in his fourth season at WT, registering a 129-42 (.754) record in that time. For his career, Mook holds 283-103 record in eight seasons for an overall winning percentage of .733.
 
SCOUTING CAMERON
Cameron comes off a midweek series with Southeastern Oklahoma State where the Aggies split with the Savage Storm. SOSU won game one of the doubleheader 7-2 before Cameron forced a split with an 8-6 win. In their previous LSC series, the Aggies swept Angelo State in Lawton with scores of 4-1, 5-2, and 6-1.
 
Kaiden Boren leads the Aggies offense as the sophomore holds a .340 batting average with a 1.065 OPS, .660 slugging percentage, and .405 on-base percentage. The Harrah, Okla. native has 49 hits including 12 doubles, two triples, and 10 home runs with 38 RBIs on the season. Leads the team with a .350 batting average, hitting nine doubles, one triple, and two home runs.
 
Cameron holds a 3.03 earned run average as a pitching staff with Jocelyn Bright posting a 2.64 ERA. Josie Swafford leads the Aggies in a multitude of categories including innings, appearances, shutouts, and strikeouts. Opponents are hitting .227 against the Cameron pitching staff, scoring 162 runs with 280 strikeouts.
 
Emma Johansen is in her first season at Cameron and first as an NCAA head coach. In just her first season, she has helped the Aggies to a 30-19 record.
 
THE SERIES
WT leads the all-time series between the two programs, 38-13. The Lady Buffs are 19-4 at Schaeffer Park and 4-1 against the Aggies under Michael Mook. WT took all three games from Cameron last season, sweeping the season series and defeating the Aggies 4-0 at the Lone Star Conference Tournament
 
W, 4-0 – Tyler (LSC), 2022
W, 12-2 (5) – Canyon, 2022
W, 4-1 – Canyon 2022
L, 4-1 – Lawton 2021
W, 8-5 – Lawton, 2021
 
LSC HITTER OF THE WEEK
West Texas A&M junior Madison Johnson earned the Lone Star Conference Softball Hitter of the Week award as announced by the conference office on Tuesday. Johnson played a key role in WT's Sweep of Lubbock Christian, a series that put two top-25 programs against each other. Johnson turned in one of her best performances of the season in the Lady Buffs' 12-2 run-rule victory in game two. In that game, the junior went 2-3 at the plate with two home runs and four RBIs. In game three, Johnson recorded four at-bats, reaching in two of those, while converting on all seven of her chances in the field.
 
NFCA RANKINGS
West Texas A&M softball remained as the 12^th-ranked team in the nation after a 3-0 weekend. The Lady Buffs hold a 43-5 overall record and 34-5 mark in the Lone Star Conference. There was hardly any change in the top 15 apart from Concordia and Adelphi moving into the No. 13 and No. 14 spots, respectively. Tampa continues to reign at No. 1 with North Georgia, UT Tyler, Alabama-Huntsville, and Central Oklahoma following at two through five. Indianapolis, Grand Valley State, Rogers State, Colorado Christian, and Sonoma State round out the top 10. Saint Leo sits at No. 11, one spot ahead of WT. Five South Central Region programs received rankings in this week's poll with UT Tyler leading the way at No. 3. Colorado Christian (9^th), West Texas A&M (12^th), and Lubbock Christian (T23rd), and Oklahoma Christian (25^th) each earned spots in the poll.
 
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
The Lady Buffs prepare for the Lone Star Conference tournament where they will compete as the No. 2 seed. The LSC tournament will be held on May 4-6.