CANYON, Texas – West Texas A&M softball travels to Lawton, Okla. for its final regular-season road series as the Lady Buffs take on the Cameron Aggies. WT (41-4, 33-3 LSC) faces Cameron (25-19,18-17 LSC) at 4 and 6:30 p.m. on Friday before returning to McMahon Field for a single game on Saturday starting at 1 p.m.
GAME COVERAGE
A live stream will be available for the game provided by the Cameron athletic communications department through the Lone Star Conference Digital Network. Fans can buy a yearly pass for $140 that grants access to all broadcasts for the LSC including previous years or a $30 monthly subscription. Live stats will also be provided for fans to stay up to date.
A LOOK AT THE #1 LADY BUFFS
WT comes off a series sweep at Texas A&M International where strong defense and stellar pitching held off the Dustdevils. The Lady Buffs used a two-run home run and complete game from
Emilee Boyer to defeat TAMIU 2-1 before a
Brittni Rufus solo home run in the sixth of game two propelled WT to a 1-0 win. In the series finale, the Lady Buffs scored two in the first and two in the fifth for a 4-0 win. WT enters its series with Cameron with an overall record of 41-4 and a 33-3 mark in Lone Star Conference play.
The Lady Buffs feature a potent lineup that ranks inside the top 30 for Division II in almost every offensive category including top 15 standings in batting average, doubles, hits, home runs, on-base percentage, runs, scoring, slugging percentage, and walks. WT's.980 fielding percentage ranks third in Division II.
Senior
Diana Murtha ranks inside the top 15 of Division II hitters in batting average (.523), doubles (18), RBIs (56), and total bases (123). Murtha's .673 on base percentage, and 1.230 slugging percentage lead the nation.
Brittni Rufus follows Murtha with a .447 batting average and 1.210 OPS and a .713 slugging percentage.
Lauren Granger's 17 doubles rank 14th in the nation while Rufus' 67 hits and six triples rank 16
th and 13th, respectively.
In addition to a high-octane offense, the Lady Buff pitching staff has been dominant so far this season. As a team, WT holds a 1.88 ERA in 280 innings with 257 strikeouts. The Lady Buffs' ERA ranks 12
th in Division II while the strikeout total also ranks 37
th.
Head Coach
Michael Mook is in his fifth season at WT, registering a 177-49 (.783) record in that time. For his career, Mook holds 331-110 record in nine seasons for an overall winning percentage of .751.
SCOUTING CAMERON
Cameron comes off a non-conference doubleheader sweep of Southeastern Oklahoma State on Tuesday. The Aggies defeated the Savage Storm 3-0 in game one before slugging their way to a 15-7 victory in game two. In Cameron's last Lone Star Conference series, the Aggies fell two games to one against Lubbock Christian. LCU took game one 3-0 before Cameron won game two 9-6. In the series decider, the Lady Chaps put up runs late to hold on, 5-1.
Taylor Rowley leads the Aggies offense as the redshirt senior holds a .358 batting average with a 1.088 OPS, .649 slugging average, and .439 on-base percentage. The Valley City, Kan. native paces Cameron with 53 hits and 12 doubles to go along with two triples and nine home runs. Alyssa Deanda follows with a .340 average, .769 OPS, and a .418 on-base percentage.
As a pitching staff, the Aggies hold a 3.52 ERA in 308.0 innings of work. During that time, opponents are hitting .261 while hitting 69 doubles, seven triples, and 34 home runs while striking out 180 times. Stormee Reed leads the staff with a 3.44 ERA on 28 appearances with 19 starts, holding a 10-7 record with 75 strikeouts and 43 walks. Jocelyn Bright has appeared in 24 of Cameron's 46 games with 21 starts. Bright is 11-6 in the circle with a 3.54 ERA to go along with 85 strikeouts and 41 walks.
Emma Johansen is in her second season as the head coach of the Cameron program and second overall. Johansen holds an 58-44 (.569) record for her career with a matching record at the helm of the Aggies.
THE SERIES
WT leads the all-time series with Cameron 42-13 including 10-5 in Lawton. The Lady Buffs are 8-1 against the Aggies under
Michael Mook. Cameron and WT met four times in the 2023 season with three games in the regular season and one in the NCAA South Central Regional. In the regular season, the Lady Buffs defeated the Aggies 4-0 in game one before sweeping the series with 5-3 and 5-1 wins. In the NCAA South Central Region II hosted by WT, the Lady Buffs took an early lead before putting the game away in the later innings, 11-5.
W, 11-5 – Canyon, 2023 (NCAA)
W, 5-1 – Canyon, 2023
W, 5-3 – Canyon, 2023
W, 4-0 – Canyon, 2023
W,4-0 – Tyler, 2022 (LSC)
NFCA RANKINGS
The top 10 saw some shifting outside of the Lady Buffs garnering all 16 first-place votes for a total of 400 points. Tampa moved up to No. 2 with 375 points while Indianapolis moved to No. 3 with 368 points. North Georgia (351) and UT Tyler (335) finish out the top five with Central Oklahoma (329), Colorado Christian (295), Rogers State (287), Pittsburg State (267), and Wingate (257) following to finish the top 10.
The South Central region boasts four teams in the top 25 with WT leading the way at No. 1. UT Tyler (5
th), Colorado Christian (7
th), and Angelo State (22
nd) also received spots in the poll. Colorado Mesa received votes in the poll.
LSC PRESEASON POLL
Defending Lone Star Conference and South Central Region champion UT Tyler topped the poll, totaling 591 points with 25 first-place votes. WT followed with 11 first-place votes and a total of 576 points. Oklahoma Christian (519, 3 fpv), Lubbock Christian (500), and Cameron (412) finished out the top five. Texas A&M-Kingsville (386, 2 fpv), Angelo State (383), St. Mary's (353), St. Edward's (288), and Texas Woman's (254) occupied the sixth through 10th spots. Eastern New Mexico (216), Texas A&M International (175), Midwestern State (127), Western New Mexico (72), and UT Permian Basin (68) finished out the poll.
UP NEXT
The Lady Buffs end the regular season at home with a three-game set against No. 22 Angelo State. WT hosts the Rambelles at 6 p.m. on Friday, April 26. Saturday sees the two teams battle at 1 and 3 p.m. with Senior Day festivities to follow.
