The Teams: Tarleton Texans (5-12, 0-0 WAC) vs. Prairie View A&M (0-4, 0-0 SWAC); #10 Texas Longhorns (10-2, 0-0 Big XII); Texas Southern Tigers (2-7, 0-0 SWAC); BYU Cougars (8-9, 0-0 WCC)
Where: Prairie View, Texas; Austin, Texas
Stadium: Lady Panther Softball Field (Wednesday); Red & Charline McCombs Field (Friday-Saturday)
Times: 1:00 / 4:00 p.m. CT (Wednesday); 1:00 / 6:00 p.m. CT (Friday); 11:00 a.m. / 4 p.m. CT (Saturday)
 
TEXAN SOFTBALL GAME DAY
Tarleton will continue to square off against some of the toughest competition the nation has to offer as the Texans prepare for six games in Prairie View and Austin this weekend against the Lady Panthers of PVAMU and a four-game swing at the University of Texas. Tarleton will play the Panthers in a rematch of an earlier season meeting on Wednesday afternoon. This weekend, the Texans will play two games with the No. 10 Longhorns in Austin and one game each against Texas Southern and BYU.
 
Tarleton's games against Texas and BYU will be broadcast on the Longhorn Network as part of their agreement with ESPN. Fans can watch using their ESPN+ accounts. Live stats will be available for all games. In person attendance will be limited to only player comp list fans at this time.
 
ABOUT THE MATCHUPS

• Tarleton will play six games this week against four different opponents, beginning with a midweek doubleheader against Prairie View A&M on the road. From there, the Texans will journey to our state capitol for a four-game event at the University of Texas. The Texans will play two games against No. 10 Texas and one game each against BYU and Texas Southern. The games against Texas and BYU will be featured on the Longhorn Network.
• Tarleton and Prairie View A&M resumed their all-time history two weeks ago when the Panthers visited Stephenville. The Texans swept the doubleheader to improve their all-time lead in the series to 4-0, dating back to 1997. Kristen Zuehl led the team in hits against the Panthers, going 4-6 with two triples and a double during the last meeting. Tristan Bridges and Julia Wernet combined to pitch 9.2 innings of work allowing two runs and striking out 10.
• Tarleton's games in Austin against Texas, Texas Southern and BYU will be the first all-time meeting against each of those three schools.

 
QUICK HITS

• The weekend slate in Austin is not officially a tournament. The games were originally scheduled just to be a doubleheader between the Texans and Longhorns. But as schedules were shaken up due to weather conditions, it eventually grew into a larger weekend for the hosting Horns.
• Texas will be the third nationally-ranked Top 15 team that Tarleton has seen through the first 25 games of this season. The Longhorns enter the weekend ranked No. 10 in the nation for the NFCA Coaches Poll. Tarleton has previously played No. 3 Oklahoma and No. 11 Oklahoma State, who have each since moved up higher. Tarleton also has two games against Baylor, who was ranked No. 23 in the nation earlier this season.

 
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 15 opponents that Tarleton has seen this year have a combined record of 107-98 (.522), including the teams the Texans will see this week. Of those 15 opponents, five of them have already reached double-digit wins this season and Oklahoma remains undefeated at 17-0 and are currently ranked No. 2 in the nation by the NFCA Coaches Poll.
• 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 Saturday night.
• BEARS. BRIDGES. BATTLESTAR GALACTICA.: Tristan Bridges was masterful in her two performances against the Baylor Lady Bears in Ruston last weekend. 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.
• SCHAEFER AMONG WAC BEST: Katy Schaefer has been a star since arriving to Tarleton this offseason. The Sweeny, Texas native is hitting .423 through the first 17 games of the season, which is the third-highest average in the WAC. She is also in the top five in the WAC in hits (22), RBI (13), and slugging percentage (.615).
• BREAKING OUT: After a 2-24 start to the season at the plate, Georgia Capell had a breakout performance in the final three games of the North Texas Invitational and has been the team's leading hitter since. Beginning with the Friday nightcap against UIW in Denton, Capell is hitting a team-high .370 with two doubles, four RBI and seven RBI – all of which lead the team.
• 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 (46) and is top 5 in program history in five other offensive categories: runs scored (156), RBI (149), doubles (44), hit by pitch (32) and total bases (366). 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 156 career runs scored and is 19 shy of tying Melody Mayse (175) for the program record.
• DRIVE 'EM HOME: Georgia Capell has moved into a tie for second all-time in RBI with Arianna Rodriguez. She is 42 RBI shy of tying Nyka Wood for the program's top mark.

 
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
Tarleton will have one more powerful week next week as the Texans host Abilene Christian on Wednesday for a 6 p.m. single games before heading to Lubbock for their final tournament of the season at the Jeannine McHaney Memorial Classic at Texas Tech. The Texans will play three games against the Red Raiders and one against UTEP. For the home event against ACU, Tickets to softball home games are NOT available for purchase this season. Due to limited capacity and 50-percent capacity limitations, only player family members on the official team will call list, Texan Club members and Tarleton students will be permitted inside the stands at the Tarleton Softball Complex this season.