#3 West Texas A&M (55-6, 40-4 LSC) at #1 UT Tyler (55-4, 40-4 LSC)
Date & Time	Thursday, May 15 at 4 p.m. | Friday, May 16 at 3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. (if nec.)
Location	Tyler, Texas | Irwin Field
Other Links	Game Notes

 
CANYON, Texas – West Texas A&M softball returns to the NCAA South Central Super Regionals for the second time in three years where the Lady Buffs will face top-seeded and No. 1-nationally UT Tyler. The best-of-three series is slated for May 15-16 at Irwin Field in Tyler with game one scheduled for 4 p.m. on Thursday. Game two scheduled for 3 p.m. on Friday. If necessary, game three will be approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of game two.
 
GAME COVERAGE
The Athletic Communications Department from UT Tyler will provide live stats and a pay-per-view web stream. Fans will need to purchase a monthly ($19.99) or annual ($107.88) subscription with FloSports, the official streaming provider of the Lone Star Conference. The subscription allows fans access to any content available on FloSports.
 
A LOOK AT THE (2) #3 LADY BUFFS
West Texas A&M softball punched its ticket to the NCAA South Central Super Regional series on Saturday evening with a 3-0 victory over the No. 8-ranked Angelo State Rambelles. After falling to Angelo State in game one 8-0 in five innings, the Lady Buffs shutout the Rambelles to improve to 55-6.
 
The Lady Buffs feature another high-octane lineup that ranks inside the top 10 for Division II for almost every offensive category including batting average, doubles, home runs, on-base percentage, triples, and walks. WT leads the country in hits, RBIs, runs, scoring, and slugging percentage.
 
Junior Emilee Boyer's .469 batting average ranks seventh in the country and leads the team where 13 different players have a .300 batting average or higher. Boyer's 89 RBIs and 0.956 slugging percentage lead Division II while her 21 home runs tie for the national lead. Lauren Granger's 161 total bases rank second for the national lead while her seven triples rank 15^th and 83 hits rank 15^th nationally.
 
In the circle, WT has posted a 2.02 ERA with 411 strikeouts and 114 earned runs in 383.1 innings. All four WT pitchers have reached double-digit strikeouts including Boyer with 235, Heidi Vortherms with 126, Kendall Selitzky with 40, and Ashley Mandell with 10. The Lady Buffs' 7.51 strikeouts per seven innings ranks fifth in Division II.
 
Head Coach Michael Mook is in his sixth season at WT, registering a 241-59 (.803) record in that time. For his career, Mook holds 395-120 record in 10 seasons for an overall winning percentage of .767.
 
SCOUTING (1) #1 UT TYLER
UT Tyler enters the Super Regionals on a 17-game winning streak including a sweep of the Lone Star Conference Tournament and the South Central Region I bracket. The Patriots are 55-4 on the season and have outscored opponents 46-8 in the postseason.
 
JT Smith leads the UT Tyler offense as the senior holds a .497 batting average with a 1.545 OPS, .944 slugging average, and .601 on-base percentage. The Decatur, Texas native paces the Patriots with 88 hits, 97 runs, 12 triples, 24 walks, and 17 stolen bases. Ka'Lyn Watson follows with a .449 batting average, 1.280 OPS, .722 slugging percentage, and .558 on-base percentage. 
 
As a pitching staff, UT Tyler holds a 1.17 ERA in 371.2 innings of work. During that time, opponents are hitting .182 while hitting 35 doubles, five triple, and 13 home runs while striking out 358 times. Kaylee Davis leads the team with a 0.90 ERA on 36 appearances and 16 starts. Cera Blanchard follows with a 1.22 ERA on 29 appearances and 28 starts where she boasts an 21-3 record, eight complete games, five shutouts, a save, and 132 strikeouts. Primrose Aholelei is the Patriots' third start with a 16-1 record and 1.34 ERA on 30 appearances and 15 starts. Aholelei has pitched six complete games, three shutouts, four saves, and 135 strikeouts.
 
Mike Reed is in his 21st season as the head coach of the UT Tyler program and 24th overall. Reed holds a 974-186 (.840) record for his career with an 869-155 (.849) record at the helm of the Patriots. 
 
THE SERIES
WT trails the all-time series with UT Tyler 6-11 with an 0-8 record in Tyler. The Lady Buffs are 6-11 against the Patriots under Michael Mook. WT and UT Tyler split the regular season series in Canyon. Game one saw the Patriots hold off a late Lady Buffs' comeback for a 9-8 victory. Game two saw WT walk-off UT Tyler 3-2 thanks to Boyer's game-winning single. In the Lone Star Conference Tournament Championship in Canyon, the Patriots dominated the Lady Buffs, defeating WT 13-2 in five innings.
 
L, 2-13 (5) – Canyon (LSC), 2025
W, 3-2 – Canyon, 2025
L, 8-9 – Canyon, 2025
W, 8-0 (6) – Canyon (LSC), 2024
W, 4-3 – Canyon, 2024
 
LADY BUFFS IN THE NATIONAL TOURNAMENT
West Texas A&M softball is 43-27 all-time in the NCAA Tournament including a 16-7 mark under Michael Mook. 2025 marks the 13^th time the Lady Buffs have been selected for NCAA postseason play and third consecutive year to play in and host a regional bracket. WT has won three NCAA regional titles with national titles coming in 2014 and 2021.
 
A LOOK AT THE BRACKET
UT Tyler swept through its regional in Tyler, Texas. The Patriots defeated MSU Denver 4-1 to open the bracket before taking down Colorado Christian 7-1 in a winner's bracket game. In the regional championship, UT Tyler dominated Oklahoma Christian 8-0 in five innings to advance to the Super Regionals.
 
WT faced a tougher route to the Supers. After defeating Lubbock Christain 9-4, the Lady Buffs matched up with No. 3-seed and No. 8-nationally Angelo State. WT defeated the Rambelles 2-1 in a winner's bracket game before rematching with Angelo State in the regional championship. The Rambelles posted an 8-0 win in five innings to force a winner-take-all game seven of the regional. WT won the battle of top-10 teams with a 3-0 victory to advance to Supers.
 
NFCA RANKINGS 
UT Tyler remained in the top spot with all 16 first-place votes and 400 points followed by Francis Marion (383), West Texas A&M (367), Central Oklahoma (353), and Tampa (332) remained in their positions from the previous week. Augustana (311), Auburn Montgomery (309), Angelo State (287), Western Washington (271), East Stroudsburg (246) round out the top 10.
 
The South Central region is represented by four teams with UT Tyler leading the way at No. 1. West Texas A&M (3^rd), Angelo State (8^th), and Oklahoma Christian (21^st) earned spots in the rankings. Lubbock Christian and Colorado Christian received votes.
 
UP NEXT
The winner of the South Central Super Regionals will earn the region's bid to the NCAA Division II Women's College World Series on May 22-28 at Frost Warner Park in Chattanooga, Tenn.