The Teams: Tarleton Texans (11-17, 0-0 WAC) vs. Incarnate Word Cardinals (2-14, 0-6 SLC); Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders (12-11, 5-1 SLC)
Where: San Antonio, Texas; Corpus Christi, Texas
Stadium: HEB Field (Tuesday); Chapman Field (Wednesday)
Times: 2:00 / 4:00 p.m. CT (Tuesday); 12:00 p.m. / 2:00 p.m. CT (Wednesday)
 
TEXAN SOFTBALL GAME DAY
Tarleton will play back-to-back midweek doubleheaders on the road against Incarnate Word in San Antonio and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi down at the coast this week before taking a week-long layoff before gearing up for conference play.
 
ABOUT THE MATCHUPS

• Tarleton and Incarnate Word are former Division II rivals within the Lone Star Conference. Tarleton leads the all-time series 25-18 and met for the first time since 2013 earlier this season at the North Texas Invitational. Tarleton won both games against the Cardinals at the UNT Invitational, including a 9-2 victory in the final game of the weekend. Julia Wernet pitched 10.2 innings against the Cardinals earlier this M10 season and surrendered only one earned run while striking out 13.
• Tarleton and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi will meet for the second time in history – both this season. The Texans dropped an earlier season game at the season-opening tournament in Conroe 13-3 to the Islanders. The Texans led 2-0 after three before free bases led to runs for Corpus. Tarleton walked eight batters in the game, committed two errors and hit two to surrender the lead.

 
QUICK HITS

• Mark Cumpian is looking to push the Texans over .500 against Southland Conference opponents in his career. Tarleton has played eight games – all this year – against SLC opponents and are currently 4-4 against those members.
• Prior to this season, Tarleton's last game against UIW as Lone Star Conference (D2) rivals came in 2013. The last game against UIW was the 2013 regular season finale for Tarleton, who won on a Bailee Mauldin walk-off home run. It was also Tarleton's 500th victory as a program.

 
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

• NOTHING EASY: Tarleton has not taken an easy road to victories in their first season as a Division I institution. The Texans have put themselves up against some of the stiffest competition in the country. The first 17 opponents that Tarleton has seen this year have a combined record of 188-167 (.530), including the teams the Texans will see this week. Of those 17 opponents, three of them have already reached 20 wins this season and five of them boast a winning percentage over .750, including NFCA nationally-ranked No. 1 Oklahoma who remains undefeated at 22-0.
• ALL-TOURNAMENT IN RUSTON: Katy Schaefer and Hallie Saintignan were named to the All-Tournament team following their weekend in Ruston, La. In her first return to her home state of Louisiana, Saintignan led the Texans at the plate in four games. The Benton, La. native hit .429 with six hits, two runs scored and two RBI while playing a clean centerfield. Meanwhile, Schaefer continued to dominate at the dish with a .357 average against La Tech and Baylor. The round-two freshman went 5-14 with a double and three RBI on the weekend, including a two-run, go-ahead double to give the Texans an 8-7 lead over La Tech.
• BEARS. BRIDGES. BATTLESTAR GALACTICA.: Tristan Bridges was masterful in her two performances against the Baylor Lady Bears in Ruston. Bridges tossed complete games in both starts against BU and had a 2.69 ERA for the weekend to lead the team. In her 13.0 innings of work, she struck out eight batters and gave the Texans a chance to win the tournament finale before suffering a hard-luck loss in a 2-0 pitcher's duel. Bridges also delivered Tarleton's first-ever win against a Big XII program as the sophomore left-hander delivered a valiant eight-inning, complete-game victory against Texas Tech in Lubbock as the Texans defeated Texas Tech 11-9 on March 20, 2021.
• SCHAEFER AMONG WAC BEST: Katy Schaefer has been a star since arriving to Tarleton this offseason. The Sweeny, Texas native is hitting .362 through the first 28 games of the season, which is the ninth-highest average in the WAC. She is also in the top five in the WAC in hits (29), RBI (18), and slugging percentage (.575).
• CRUMPLEY SURGING: Destiny Crumpley has been surging at the plate of late. Since March 5 at the La Tech tournament, she has driven in 17 RBI and skyrocketed to No. 2 in the WAC in runs batted in with 22 for the season.
• ROAD WARRIORS: Since the 2019 regular season finale against West Texas A&M on April 27, Tarleton has been the very definition of weary travelers. Tarleton Softball has played 56 games since the beginning of the 2019 postseason and 51 of those have been away from Stephenville. The Texans are 27-24 in road games since May 3, 2019 and 5-0 at home over that span.
• 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 (47) and is top 5 in program history in five other offensive categories: runs scored (164), RBI (150), doubles (48), hit by pitch (36) and total bases (382). She's also on pace to be among the all-time leaders in batting average and slugging percentage.
• TOUCH 'EM ALL: Georgia Capell continues to move up the all-time offensive record lists at Tarleton. This season, she has passed Arianna Rodriguez for the second-most runs scored all-time. Capell enters the week with 164 career runs scored and is 11 shy of tying Melody Mayse (175) for the program record.
• DRIVE 'EM HOME: Georgia Capell has moved into sole possession of second place on Tarleton's all-time RBI list. She is 41 RBI shy of tying Nyka Wood for the program's top mark.
• BATTLING WITH THE BIG XII: Tarleton has faced five different opponents from the daunting Big XII conference in its first season at Division I. The five opponents from B12 are the second-most from any conference that Tarleton will see this season, behind only the six WAC opponents. The Big XII teams, including Texas Tech, that Tarleton has faced this season have a .551 win percentage this season and boast the unanimous No. 1 team in the nation – Oklahoma with a perfect 22-0 record.

 
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
Tarleton will have a week off before returning to play on March 30 at Texas State. That will be the Texans final pre-conference tune-up before beginning WAC play in St. George, Utah against Dixie State on April 2-3.