THE GAMES
Tarleton will take its five-game win streak back on the road for eight non-conference games over the next four days as the No. 14 TexAnns take part in the St. Mary's College Classic Friday through Sunday before heading across the Red River for a brief Monday night doubleheader in the Central Oklahoma/Oklahoma Christian Festival. Tarleton will play a 2:30/4:45 pm doubleheader on Friday, 10 a.m./2:30 p.m. doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday, and then a 4/6 p.m. doubleheader in Edmond, Oklahoma on Monday.
TARLETON IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Tarleton Softball will open the 2019 season ranked the No. 14 team in the nation by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association. This is the third time in program history Tarleton will open a season among the national top 25 and the first time since they opened the 2016 season ranked No. 10 in the nation. Tarleton is one of three Lone Star Conference teams to begin the season nationally ranked – joining Angelo State (6) and Texas A&M-Commerce (9). The three Lone Star Conference schools are the most by any conference in the national poll. Nine other leagues were represented by two teams.
GAME COVERAGE
There will be live stats and video available for the games, courtesy of the home team. Direct links can be found on the Game Day preview story and Game Day graphics on Tarleton's Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages, as well as on the team schedule page at TarletonSports.com. Follow @TarletonSports or @tarletonsball on Twitter for links to coverage. There will not be live stats or video for any games played on the secondary field at St. Mary's, which is currently scheduled to be Friday vs. Mines, Saturday vs. Highlands, or Sunday vs. Drury.
SCHUTT SPORTS/NFCA DII PLAYER OF THE YEAR TOP-50 WATCH LIST
The National Fastpitch Coaches Association released its annual Top-50 Watch List for the Schutt Sports/NFCA Division II National Player of the Year Thursday afternoon and Tarleton State University has two players to keep an eye on –
Georgia Capell and
Tanna Huie. The top 50 list is comprised of returning NFCA All-Americans from last season and a slew of players submitted by head coaches and selected by the NFCA Division II All-America committee. They are the second and third players in Tarleton history to be named to the Top-50 Watch List, joining
Katelyn Conlee in 2016.
PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS
Jordan Withrow and
Georgia Capell have been named 2019 Preseason All-Americans by Fastpitch News (FPN). Withrow was named an All-America Second Team pitcher while Capell earned honorable mention honors. Withrow is coming off the best year of her brief Tarleton career as a sophomore in 2018. As a sophomore, Withrow was an honorable mention All-American by FPN and the Lone Star Conference Co-Pitcher of the Year. She also earned all-conference and all-region recognition and was named the LSC Academic Player of the Year. Last spring, she became the first Tarleton pitcher in program history with over 200 strikeouts in a single season (252). Capell made quite the impression as she became the first freshman in program history to be named an All-American. She earned third-team honors from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA). In her debut season, Capell was named the South Central Region and Lone Star Conference Freshman of the Year as well as all-conference and all-region.
LSC PRESEASON POLL
Coming off a school record 50-win season, Tarleton softball is picked to finish third in the annual Lone Star Conference preseason poll. The LSC preseason poll is voted on by conference coaches, Sports Information Directors and media members. Tarleton collected 255 votes, including four first-place votes. Angelo State, last year's LSC champion, is picked to finish atop the league with 282 votes and 12 first-place votes. West Texas A&M finished one vote ahead of the TexAnns for second with 256 votes. Texas A&M-Commerce is picked fourth with 253 votes.
WITHROW TABBED PRESEASON PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Jordan Withrow was named the LSC Preseason Pitcher of the Year after a sophomore campaign where she was the LSC Pitcher of the Year, an NFCA All-Region Second Team selection and FastpitchNews.com Honorable Mention All-American. Withrow went 26-6 in the circle with 221.1 innings of work and 252 strikeouts, becoming the first player in program history to strikeout 200 in a single season.
INSIDE THE SERIES: TOURNAMENT FIELD
Tarleton will face off with eight different teams over the next four days. The series history against each opponent is as follows:
Tarleton leads St. Edward's 28-26 all-time in a series that dates all the way back to Tarleton's inaugural 1996 season. The TexAnns are 2-6 against the Hilltoppers in neutral site games but have won nine straight against St. Edward's since 2016.
Tarleton leads Colorado Mines 4-0 since 2012, including a 3-1 win over the Orediggers last weekend.
Tarleton is 2-1 all-time against New Mexico Highlands. Tarleton started the series 2-0 against them with wins in 2004 and 2006, but Highlands won the last meeting 13-12 in 2012.
Tarleton leads the all-time series with Regis 4-2. The series began in 2000 with a Tarleton win. The TexAnns won three straight against the Rangers from 2006 to 2012.
Tarleton lost its only other previous game against Drury – 5-6 on a neutral site in 2009.
After a loss in this year's season opener, the all-time series against St. Mary's is tied 35-35 since 1998.
Tarleton won its only meeting against Colorado Christian – 8-3 on a neutral field in 2017.
Tarleton owns the all-time series against Oklahoma Christian 6-3 since the series began in 1998. Tarleton has won four straight over the Eagles since 2016, including three straight shutouts.
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
The TexAnns will begin Lone Star Conference play north of the border when No. 14 Tarleton visits Lawton for the three-game league series at Cameron, beginning Friday at 6 p.m. For more information on the Tarleton Softball program, follow @tarletonsball on Twitter.
