THE GAMES
After only getting two games in last weekend in Arkadelphia, Tarleton is ready for action and will get plenty of opportunity with six softball games in San Angelo this weekend as a part of the George McCorkle Challenge at Angelo State University. The Texans will begin the tournament Friday at 1:15 p.m. against Ouachita Baptist and then end the day with an 8 p.m. game against New Mexico Highlands. On Saturday, Tarleton will play Highlands again at 12:15 p.m. and close out with Texas A&M International at 7 p.m. The final day will include a 2:30 outing against Texas A&M International and the tournament finale against host Angelo State at 4:45 p.m.

GAME COVERAGE
All games of the series will have live stats and a video stream available, courtesy of the host team. The video stream at Angelo State is pay-per-view only. Direct links to live stats and video can be found at the Tarleton Softball schedule on TarletonSports.com or on the Game Day graphics from @TarletonSports on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
 
SCHEDULE CHANGE
Due to weather concerns, the George McCorkle Challenge will start an hour later on Friday, which will delay the expected start times for Tarleton. The Texans will now begin the weekend at 1:15 p.m. against Ouachita Baptist and play New Mexico Highlands at 8 p.m.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Tarleton played only two of their four scheduled games last weekend at the McGhee/Hawkins Invitational in Arkadelphia, Arkansas due to weather. The Texans added a pair of wins on Saturday after rallying past Henderson State for a 6-5 win then downing Missouri-St. Louis 9-1 in six innings behind a complete game win from Tristan Bridges. Saturday's games against Mississippi College and Ouachita Baptist were cancelled and will not be made up.
 
TARLETON IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Tarleton Softball opened the 2020 season ranked No. 21 in the nation by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association. This is the fourth time in program history Tarleton has opened a season among the national top 25. Tarleton is one of four Lone Star Conference teams to begin the season national ranked- joining Texas A&M-Kingsville (2), Texas A&M-Commerce (10) and Cameron (15). The four Lone Star Conference schools are the most by any conference in the national pool. Five other leagues were represented by two teams.
 
LSC PRESEASON POLL
The Texans racked up 90 wins over the last two years – the most in the LSC – having their second straight 40-win season in 2019. Tarleton Softball was picked to finish third in the annual Lone Star Conference preseason. The LSC preseason poll is voted on by conference coaches, Sports Information Directors and media members. Tarleton collected 594 votes and one first-place vote. After advancing to the 2019 National Championship game, Texas A&M-Kingsville is picked to finish atop the league with 692 votes and 32 first-place votes. Texas A&M-Commerce is the only other team ahead of Tarleton, with the Lions picked second with 666 votes and seven first place selections.
 
CAPELL TABBED PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Georgia Capell was selected as the LSC Preseason Player of the Year after a sophomore campaign where she was named CoSIDA Google Cloud Academic All-America First Team section, earning both D2CCA All-America and NFCA All-American status. She hit .387 with 57 runs scored, 17 doubles, 18 home runs, and 68 RBI last season. Her 68 RBI and .822 slugging percentage were outright Tarleton single-season records. She also moved into sole possession of second place on Tarleton's all-time home run list with 35. Capell finished the season among the top 10 in the nation in five statistical categories – RBI (68), RBI per game (1.24), home runs (18), home runs per game (0.33) and total bases (134).
 
SCHUTT SPORTS/NFCA 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 Jordan Withrow. 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. This is the third year that Tarleton has been represented on the early-season watch list. Katelyn Conlee (2016) was the first player in program history to be on the list. Capell and Tanna Huie were on last year's list. Capell becomes the first player to appear on multiple watch lists.
 
TOPS IN THE LSC
Tarleton has won 96 games combined since the start of the 2018 season. That total is the most wins by a Lone Star Conference school over that span. The second most is Angelo State with 94 wins since 2018. Tarleton and Angelo State will meet in the tournament finale this weekend.
 
WITHROW GETS 600
Tarleton's all-time strikeout leader recorded her 600th career strikeout with a looking strikeout of Henderson State's Kaitlyn Felder in the fourth inning on Feb. 8.
 
QUITE OFFENSIVE
All nine of Tarleton's starting hitters have recorded at least one multi-hit game through the first eight games of the season. Georgia Capell leads the team with four multi-hit games.
 
MILESTONE WATCH: GEORGIA CAPELL
Georgia Capell is already closing in on Tarleton's all-time home run leader, Arianna Rodriguez, in her junior season. With her first long ball of the year on Feb. 1, she is now five HR away from tying Rodriguez for the program record.
 
MILESTONE WATCH: JORDAN WITHROW
Jordan Withrow is closing in on her former teammate's all-time wins record at Tarleton. Withrow (63) is four wins shy of passing Haley Freyman (67) for the most wins in Tarleton history. With five more wins, she will become the program's all-time wins leader. Jordan Withrow is five shutouts away from tying Hall of Famer Carla Geeslin for the most goose eggs in Tarleton history. She is also three saves away from matching Geeslin's all-time saves mark.
 
INSIDE THE SERIES: MCGHEE/HAWKINS INVITATIONAL
Tarleton will face off with four different teams for six games this weekend, including a pair of conference rivals Texas A&M International and Angelo State. Here's a look at how Tarleton has fared against the teams they will see this weekend:
 
Tarleton leads Ouachita Baptist 3-1 since the series began in 2004. The teams last met in 2014 when the Texans won 9-2.
 
Tarleton and New Mexico Highlands will renew their rivalry for the first time since 2012. The Texans are 2-1 all-time against Highlands, including a Cowgirls' forfeit in 2006.
 
Tarleton and Texas A&M International have a history over 30 games old dating back to the inaugural meeting in 2008. The Texans own a 23-9 record all-time against the Dustdevils including a 5-3 mark at neutral site locations. The Texans have won the last six meetings since 2018.
 
Tarleton and Angelo State have a rich rivalry over 60 games long that dates back to Angelo State's inaugural softball season in 2002. The Texans have won 21 of the 63 all-time games against the Rambelles, including 8 of the last 12 since 2016. Tarleton is 6-4 against Angelo State under head coach Mark Cumpian.
 
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
Tarleton will head to Lubbock for a three-game round robin tournament against league rivals next weekend. The Texans will face tournament host Lubbock Christian, as well as West Texas A&M and Eastern New Mexico over Friday and Saturday. For more information on Tarleton Softball program, follow @Tarleton_SB on Twitter.