The Teams: Tarleton Texans (5-7, 0-0 WAC) vs. Abilene Christian (3-9, 0-0 SLC); La Tech Lady Techsters (2-4, 0-0 C-USA); Baylor Lady Bears (5-3, 0-0 Big XII)
Where: Abilene, Texas; Ruston, Louisiana
Stadium: Poly Wells Field (Wednesday); Lady Techster Softball Complex (Friday-Sunday)
Times: 6 p.m. CT (Wednesday); 6:00 p.m. CT (Friday); 12 / 5 p.m. CT (Saturday); 1:30 p.m. CT (Sunday)
 
TEXAN SOFTBALL GAME DAY
Tarleton Softball returns to action with five more games over the remainder of the week, beginning Wednesday night with a single game at Poly Wells Field against Abilene Christian at 6 p.m. Following the rekindling of the Tarleton-Abilene Christian rivalry, the Texans will head east for four games over the weekend at the brand-new Lady Techster Softball Complex against La Tech and Baylor.
 
Fans are welcome to attend the game at Abilene Christian. Admission to the game is free, but fans will only be admitted until 50% of the stadium's capacity is reached. Poly Wells Field originally seats 1,000 fans, so only the first 500 will be admitted. Stay tuned to the softball schedule page at TarletonSports.com for updates from La Tech or contact the LTU Ticket Office at (318) 257-3631.
 
ABOUT THE MATCHUPS

• Tarleton will play five games this week against three opponents in two cities across two states. The Texans added an impromptu visit to Abilene to rekindle an old rivalry Wednesday night at 6 p.m. against Abilene Christian and then will head east across the Louisiana border to Ruston for four games against La Tech and No. 23 Baylor. The Texans will play both teams twice between Friday and Sunday.
• Tarleton and Abilene Christian have one of the richest rivalries in school history. The teams began competing on the softball diamond in 1997, which was Tarleton's second season of competition. ACU holds a slim 31-28 lead in the head-to-head matchups, including a 14-12 mark in Abilene. Tarleton has won seven of the last 11 meetings between 2010 and 2013. The teams have not faced each other since March 23, 2013 as members of the Lone Star Conference.
• Tarleton has never faced La Tech and is 0-1 all-time against Baylor. Tarleton and Baylor played in Waco on April 13, 1996 and the Lady Bears won 5-0 against Julie Garcia's first-year softball program.
• Mark Cumpian has never faced any of these three opponents as a head coach. Tarleton's run of winning seven of the last 11 meetings against ACU since 2010 all came with Cumpian on staff as an assistant.

 
QUICK HITS

• As the Texans look to recoup games lost from their opening weekend, the Texans will make a quick road trip down I-20 for a single game against rival Abilene Christian Wednesday night at 6 p.m.
• After a dominant week in the pitching circle and accounting for four of Tarleton's five wins on the week, Julia Wernet has been named the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week. This is the first weekly conference honor for the Tarleton Softball program as a member of the WAC and the first in Wernet's career.
• Tarleton games against Baylor will be the third nationally-ranked opponent out of the Big XII that Tarleton has played this season. The Texans have already seen No. 11 Oklahoma State and No. 3 Oklahoma. Tarleton will play Texas in Austin next month.

 
NEW DIVISION WITH A BRIGHT FUTURE

• WELCOME TO THE WAC: After being a part of NCAA Division II and the Lone Star Conference since its inception in 1996, Tarleton Softball is on the move to the Western Athletic Conference and NCAA Division I. The softball program is the only active program at Tarleton with an NCAA-only history.
• WAC PRESEASON POLL: Tarleton was chosen to finish seventh in the WAC Preseason Poll released on February 3. The Texans received eight total votes, which was four votes behind fellow transition school Dixie State in sixth place.
• PRESEASON ALL-WAC: Georgia Capell and Destiny Crumpley's reputation of dominance has carried over to the next level as the Texan tandem was named to the Preseason All-WAC Team.
• CUMPIAN: "MAYBE WE WILL": Following the WAC Preseason Poll, Tarleton head coach Mark Cumpian had this to say: "Judging by last year's standings, I'm not sure I would have picked us seventh. I know we're new to NCAA Division I and the WAC and we need to earn our place, but the tradition we've built here speaks for itself. I know that needs to translate at the next level before we can expect the same kind of preseason respect we had at Division II. And it's hard to say how the season will play out. Maybe we will finish seventh – but I can guarantee, if we do, we will be the toughest, most competitive seventh seed the WAC has ever seen."

 
NOTABLES

• NOT BACKING DOWN: Tarleton opened the season with six games against arguably the toughest competition in the country. The Texans dropped six games on opening weekend; however, three came against three perennial national powerhouse programs including nationally-ranked Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. Tarleton's opponents from opening weekend are sitting with a combined record of 38-20 (.655), including OU boasting an undefeated mark. OU and OSU are ranked in the national poll to No. 2 and No. 10, respectively. The Texans will see another ranked Big XII opponent this weekend in No. 23 Baylor.
• FINDING THEIR GROOVE: Since making their home debut last Wednesday, Tarleton has won five of their last six games and is starting to find their rhythm after nearly a full calendar year between live competition. Over the last six games in which Tarleton has won five, the Texans are hitting .306 as a team with a combined ERA of 2.45 in the circle. Julia Wernet is 4-0 over that span with a 0.94 ERA and a team-high 16 strikeouts while Katy Schaefer's .450 batting average over the last six leads the Texan offense that has seven different players hitting over .300.
• WERNET DEALIN': On her way to being named the WAC Softball Pitcher of the Week, Julia Wernet earned wins in each of her last four decisions while striking out 17 batters in five outings last week. She helped the Texans pick up their first Division I win with 4.2 innings of relief against Prairie View A&M. Wernet also collected complete-game victories over Incarnate Word and Stephen F. Austin in which she allowed just one run in each game. To top off her week, Wernet struck out a career-high 10 batters on Friday against UIW.
• SCHAEFER STARTING STRONG: Katy Schaefer has been a consistent dominant force for the Texans in the middle of the lineup. The freshman slugger from Sweeny is leading the team and tied for second in the WAC with a .444 batting average. She also leads the team in OPS (1.154), RBI (9) and extra-base hits (4) through the first two weeks.
• RECORD RETURNER: Georgia Capell has put together a Hall of Fame worthy resumé – and it's only been two and a half years. Capell enters the weekend as the program's all-time home run leader (44) and is top 5 in program history in five other offensive categories: runs scored (151), RBI (138), doubles (42), hit by pitch (29) and total bases (354). She's also on pace to be among the all-time leaders in batting average and slugging percentage.
• RACKING UP THE BASES: Georgia Capell moved into sole possession of fourth place on Tarleton's all-time total bases list. She has now collected 354 total bases in her career, which moves her past Alicia Petersma (1999-02). She is 28 bases shy of tying Nyka Wood for third-most in Tarleton history.
• TOUCH 'EM ALL: Georgia Capell continues to move up the all-time offensive record lists at Tarleton. With four runs last weekend, she passed Arianna Rodriguez for the second-most runs scored all-time. Capell enters the week with 151 career runs scored and is 24 shy of tying Melody Mayse (175) for the program record.

 
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
Tarleton will play another Wednesday midweek twin bill and follow up with a four-game tournament next week. The Texans will visit Prairie View A&M next Wednesday for a 1 p.m. doubleheader before heading to Austin for four games – two against the Longhorns, one against Texas Southern and one against BYU. The games at UT will be broadcast on the Longhorn Network.