The Teams: Tarleton Texans (16-31, 4-8 WAC) vs. Sam Houston State Bearkats (14-26, 11-10 SLC); Grand Canyon Lopes (17-25, 6-6 WAC)
Where: Huntsville, Texas; Stephenville, Texas
Stadium: Bearkats Stadium (Wednesday); Tarleton Softball Complex (Friday-Saturday)
Times: 6:30 p.m. CT (Wednesday); 4:00 p.m. / 6:30 p.m. CT (Friday); 12 p.m. CT (Saturday)
 
TEXAN SOFTBALL GAME DAY
After a one-game road trip to Huntsville Wednesday night to take on Sam Houston State, Tarleton will make its final home stand of the season this weekend when the Texans host Grand Canyon for a three-game series. Wednesday's game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. while the weekend series is a 4 p.m. doubleheader Friday and a 12 p.m. CT single-game finale on Saturday.
 
Tickets are available in advance at both locations. Similar to home games in Stephenville, tickets to Sam Houston State softball games are available in advance only. Walk-up ticket sales are not available at either location this week.
 
Tarleton's home doubleheader Friday night against Grand Canyon is a Max Point Event in the Tarleton Fan Rewards program presented by National Farm Life.
 
ABOUT THE MATCHUPS

• Despite the close proximity, Tarleton and Sam Houston State will be making their first appearance against each other on the softball diamond. The teams will become conference rivals next spring when Sam Houston State joins the Western Athletic Conference.
• Tarleton will also be playing its first-ever games against Grand Canyon when the conference-rival Lopes make the journey to Stephenville.

 
QUICK HITS

• In conference games this season, Tarleton has four .300 hitters with Bailee Riggs leading the way at .341 in 12 games. Jordan Dickerson (.324), Katy Schaefer (.308) and Alexis Hoang (.300) are also hitting .300 or above in WAC play. Schaefer (.323) and Riggs (.314) are the only .300 hitters in non-conference games this season.
• In non-conference games against schools outside of the Big XII, Katy Schaefer is hitting a scorching .388 with three home runs and 16 RBI.
• In home games, Tristan Bridges has been spectacular with a 6-2 record and a 1.83 ERA. The left-hander has pitched 46.0 innings at home this season and has 27 strikeouts with a .188 opponent batting average.

 
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 were named to the Preseason All-WAC Team.
• 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."

 
STRONG SCHEDULE
Tarleton has put together one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the WAC and currently has the highest Strength of Schedule ranking in the league based on the NCAA rankings. RPI is the rating percentage index. It is a quantity used to rank sports teams based upon a team's wins and losses and its strength of schedule. Tarleton is in the top half of Division I softball with their strength of schedule. The complete WAC RPI rankings are below:
 

#	School	SOS Rank	RPI Rank
1.	Tarleton	102	191
2.	NM State	139	106
3.	Dixie State	188	197
4.	California Baptist	189	201
5.	Seattle U	203	128
6.	Grand Canyon	205	205
7.	Utah Valley	248	211

 
AMONG THE BEST IN THE WAC
As Tarleton prepares for WAC play, the Texans head into the week with select players among the best in the Western Athletic Conference offensive, defensive and pitching statistics:
 

Rank	Player	Category	Total
1.	M. Medford	AST	98
1.	T. Bridges	CG	17
2.	T. Bridges	IP	149.2
4.	T. Bridges	W	10
4.	G. Capell	AB	139
5.	K. Schaefer	RBI	31
5.	T. Bridges	K	86

 
NOTABLES

• 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 75 games since the beginning of the 2019 postseason and 62 of those have been away from Stephenville. The Texans are 28-34 in road games since May 3, 2019 and 9-4 at home. Tarleton went 713 days between home losses (April 27, 2019 to April 9, 2021).
• RIPPING UP THE RECORD BOOKS: 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 (49) and total bases (408) and is top 5 in program history in five other offensive categories: runs scored (173), RBI (158), doubles (52) and hit by pitch (43). 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 173 career runs scored and is two 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 33 RBI shy of tying Nyka Wood for the program's top mark.
• RACKING UP THE BASES: Georgia Capell has added another all-time record to her Hall of Fame worthy resumé – and it's only fitting she used a home run to do so. With her sixth-inning home run in the series opener against Dixie State, Georgia Capell passed Arianna Rodriguez for the most total bases in Tarleton Softball history. She reached 400 total bases with a game-two, fifth-inning single against New Mexico State on April 16, 2021.
• EYES ON FIFTY: In the history of diamond sports (baseball and softball) at Tarleton State University, there has only ever been one person to hit over 50 home runs while wearing the purple and the white. Texan Baseball star Mike Cantu is the program's all-time home run leader with 58 roundtrippers from 1988-91. Capell (49) is one homer shy of becoming the second Texan in university history from either baseball or softball to hit 50 home runs in her career.
• RIGGS STEPPING UP: Bailee Riggs has started 24 of the last 25 games for the Texans since debuting in the starting nine against #10 Texas on March 13. Since March 17 against ACU, Bailee Riggs has been a mainstay in the lineup and is the team's leading hitter this season with a .329 average.
• WALK-OFF WINNERS: Each of Tarleton's last four wins have come by walk-off and Jordan Dickerson has accounted for two of them. Dickerson's grand slam in the fifth inning to complete a run-rule walk-off against California Baptist on April 9 was the first and Katy Schaefer followed with a game-winning single the next day. Dickerson did it again against UNT on April 21 and Georgia Capell added one with a game-winning double in the series opener against Seattle.
• CREATING NEW RIVALRIES: In Tarleton's first year of NCAA Division I, the Texans have squared off against a slew of new opponents. Including the opponents this week and Utah Valley next week, Tarleton has 26 different opponents on the schedule this season and 22 of them will be the first meeting in program history.

 
SCHEDULE UPDATES

• UTAH VALLEY: The game times for Tarleton's series at Utah Valley have been slightly altered due to graduation ceremonies on campus. The new start times for the final series of the season are 3 p.m. CT (DH) on May 7 and 11 a.m. CT on May 8.

 
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
Tarleton will make its second trip of the year to Utah for a three-game series against Utah Valley to close out the season.