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STEPHENVILLE – Conference action returns to Stephenville in full swing this weekend as Tarleton (21-8, 6-0) hosts No. 19 Abilene Christian (17-4, 3-2) beginning with a 5 p.m. doubleheader Friday night.
 
This marks the second straight homestand where the TexAnns have hosted a ranked conference foe. They defeated then-No. 2 West Texas A&M March 2-3 in Stephenville to start LSC action.
 
After sweeping Texas A&M-Kingsville last weekend, Tarleton took a two-game hiatus from LSC action when they traveled to San Antonio Tuesday for a doubleheader against St. Mary's, which they split by taking the first game in nine innings.
 
ACU is also coming off a doubleheader against St. Mary's which the Wildcats swept Wednesday afternoon with a pair of walk-off hits.
 
The Wildcats come into the contest with three pitchers boasting ERAs under 3.00 with Shelby Hall leading the team at 1.72 in 36 innings while primary starter, Caitlyn Crain is 8-1 with a 2.13 ERA in 65 innings.
 
Tarleton will counter with Samantha Swanda who has been named the LSC pitcher of the week for the past two weeks and leads the team with 11 wins, a 2.05 ERA and 99 strikeouts. Swanda leads the LSC in strikeouts and has 44 more K's than all three ACU pitchers combined.
 
Offensively, ACU will field a lineup of six .300-plus hitters, including Kimberley Briggs who leads the team in average (.383), home runs (3) and RBIs (20).
 
The TexAnns have four .300-plus hitters including the conference leader in total bases (79) Arianna Rodriguez. Rodriguez and Katie Welborn are each hitting .398 this season and have combined for 14 home runs and 48 RBIs out of the two and three holes in the lineup.
 
“I expect this to be a hard fought series,” said Tarleton head coach Julie Mata. “They are a very tough team. They can hit, they can pitch and they are very well coached, but our girls have shown they are willing to fight and they hate to lose. I've never seen a team hate to lose like this team. It should be a hard fought series.”
 
The first game is set for 5 p.m. Friday night and will be followed by game two. The final game is set for 12 p.m. Saturday. All games can be heard on 107.9 FM in Stephenville.