STEPHENVILLE – The Tarleton TexAnn softball team will return to action on Tuesday, March 16 when it hosts Texas A&M-International for a doubleheader at 1 p.m. at the Tarleton Softball Complex.
The TexAnns are 9-11 overall after losing three Lone Star Conference South Division games at Angelo State in close fashion last weekend.
Julie Norris leads the team with a .379 batting average, 12 runs scored and 25 hits.
Victoria Kelly is second with a .349 batting average with 22 hits and 12 runs batted in.
Rebecca Wessels (.333),
April Gonzalez (.333) and
Arianna Rodriguez (.305) are all batting above the .300-mark. Wessels leads the squad with 21-of-23 stolen bases. The TexAnns are hitting .298 as a team and opponents have a combined earned run average of 3.47.
Norris leads the team in the circle with a 2.64 ERA. She is 5-7 this season and has pitched in 81.2 innings with 18 walks and 61 strikeouts. Opponents are hitting .215 off the senior.
Katie Smith is second on the team with a 4-4 record and a 4.14 ERA. She has thrown 50.0 innings of action and has 11 walks and 29 strikeouts. The TexAnns have a combined ERA of 3.21 and opponents are hitting .246 off the TexAnn pitching staff.
TAMIU has won six of its last eight games – three each over Newman and Panhandle State. The two losses were to Angelo State in San Angelo.
The Dustdevils are 10-15 overall and are led by Caitlin Barnes with a .333 batting average. Samantha Garcia (.329) leads the team with 24 hits and 19 RBI. Samantha Carrillo (.310) and Robyn Colin (.308) are also hitting above the .300-mark. TAMIU has a combined batting average of .274 while opponents have an ERA of 4.55.
Clarissa Salinas has a 3.13 ERA and a 3-4 record in 47.0 innings of work. She has 13 walks and 26 strikeouts. Victoria Beltran has a 4.67 ERA and is 4-5 in 57.0 innings of action. She has thrown 39 strikeouts with 25 walks. The staff has a combined ERA of 4.52 while opponents are hitting .305.
The two teams met earlier this season at the St. Mary’s Classic on Feb. 6. Tarleton won the game 6-1. Norris got the win, pitching four innings and allowing one earned run with one walk and four strikeouts. Smith finished the game for the last three innings. She allowed two walks and pitched one strikeout as the TexAnns recorded 14 hits in the victory. Wessels was three-of-three with a walk and both Gonzalez and Rodriguez went two-for-three at the plate.