The Teams: Tarleton Texans (10-0, 0-0 WAC) vs. Buffalo Bulls (3-2, 0-0 MAC); UTEP Miners (5-6, 0-0 C-USA); North Dakota State Bison (7-2, 0-0 SUMMIT); New Mexico Lobos (6-3, 0-0 MWC)
Where: Albuquerque, NM
Stadium: Lobo Softball Field (Friday-Sunday)
Times: 11 a.m. / 4 p.m. CT (Friday); 1:30 p.m. CT (Saturday); 11 a.m. / 1:30 p.m. CT (Sunday)
 
TEXAN SOFTBALL GAME DAY
Cold weather and the scorching hot Texans don't mix, so Tarleton is headed west to the University of New Mexico for the weekend. Tarleton (10-0) will take part in the Lobo Classic this weekend with five games over three days, beginning against Buffalo Friday at 11 a.m. CT.
 
Live stats will be available for all five games of the weekend. Live video will be available for the New Mexico game only at 1:30 p.m. CT on Sunday afternoon. The video can be found themw.com/watch.
 
ABOUT THE MATCHUPS

• Tarleton will head to Albuquerque, New Mexico for the first time in program history to take part in the Lobo Classic presented by the University of New Mexico.
• The Texans face arguably their toughest test of the season at the Lobo Classic. Tarleton will square off against four opponents with a combined record 21-14 and two head coaches with over 200 career victories, including ND State Head Coach Darren Mueller who is among the nation's top 50 active head coaches in all-time victories (677).
• Tarleton only has history against one opponent in this weekend's schedule – UTEP. The Texans and Miners met on March 20, 2021 in Lubbock and the Texans scored six unanswered runs to erase a 4-0 deficit and win 6-4. Tristan Bridges pitched 5.1 innings of five-hit, shutout relief to earn the win last season.

 
QUICK HITS

• Tarleton has opened the season 10-0 for the first time since 2018. The 10-0 start to a season is the second-best for Tarleton in program history – both under Mark Cumpian. That 2018 season saw the Texans start a school-record 12-0.
• Tarleton enters the weekend with two players that have played in all 10 games and continue hitting over .400. Georgia Capell leads the team with a .438 batting average with four home runs and 13 RBI. Brady Rowland is also hitting .429 for the season with three long balls and 12 RBI.
• Mark Cumpian has been quite successful in scheduling his early season tournaments. Tarleton is 53-20 (.726) under Cumpian in non-postseason tournaments, including 16-6 outside the state of Texas. Cumpian's Texans have swept six tournaments over that time span, including both tournaments to begin this season. Tarleton has finished .500 or better in 13 of the 15 tournaments they've played under Cumpian since 2017.
• Brady Rowland is this week's WAC Hitter of the Week after hitting .462 with two home runs and six RBI to lead the Texans to a 5-0 tournament at home last weekend.

 
WAC UPDATES

• LEAGUE STANDINGS: After the opening weekend, Tarleton sits alone atop the WAC Southwest and overall standings as the only undefeated team in either division.
• FOUR NEW MEMBERS, TWO ON THE WAY: Just a year after welcoming two schools to the league in Dixie State and Tarleton, the WAC has opened its arms once again by bringing in the 'Texas 4'group of Abilene Christian, Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston, and Lamar. Tarleton will also bring in Southern Utah next year and Incarnate Word in 2023 to grow by eight members over a four-year span. Incarnate Word recently accepted an invitation to join the league.
• OWNING THE LONE STAR STATE: With the addition of the four Texas schools, the WAC now boasts the largest presence of any conference in the nation at the NCAA Division I level in the state of Texas.
• LEAGUE DIVISIONS: With the addition of the four Texas schools, the WAC has gone into two divisions for the first time since 2004. The Texans are a part of the Southwest Division that includes all six of the league's Texas schools – Tarleton, ACU, SFA, Sam Houston, Lamar, and UTRGV.
• LEAGUE DIVISIONS: With the addition of the four Texas schools, the WAC has gone into two divisions in softball for the first time. The Texans are a part of the Southwest Division that includes all five of the league's Texas softball-playing schools – Tarleton, ACU, SFA, Sam Houston, and Lamar.
• PRESEASON POLL: Tarleton was picked to finish fourth in the Southwest Division of the Western Athletic Conference. With eight points, the Texans were picked behind SFA (16), Sam Houston (13), and Abilene Christian (9) in a division that includes all five of the league's Texas schools.
• NEW COMMISH IN TOWN: The Western Athletic Conference Board of Directors has announced Brian Thornton as the seventh commissioner in the 60-year history of the conference. Thornton replaces Jeff Hurd, who will be ending a 10-year run as commissioner and 37 years overall at the conference on December 31, 2021.

 
CAPELL LOOKING TO REWRITE THE RECORD BOOKS
Georgia Capell has put together a Hall of Fame worthy resumé. Capell enters the weekend as the program's all-time leader in home runs (54), runs (186), and total bases (447). She is also top 5 in program history in four other offensive categories: hits (225), RBI (177), doubles (56) and hit by pitch (46). She's also on pace to be among the all-time leaders in batting average and slugging percentage.
 

Hits
#	Player	Seasons	Total
1.	Melody Mayse	2013-16	260
2.	Nyka Wood	2015-18	258
3.	Georgia Capell	2018-22	225
4.	Arianna Rodriguez	2010-13	208
5.	Alicia Petersma	1999-02	192

 

Doubles
#	Player	Seasons	Total
1.	Nyka Wood	2015-18	56
	Georgia Capell	2018-22	56
3.	Alicia Petersma	1999-02	49
4.	Arianna Rodriguez	2010-13	47
5.	Katelyn Conlee	2013-16	40

 

RBI
#	Player	Seasons	Total
1.	Nyka Wood	2015-18	191
2.	Georgia Capell	2018-22	177
3.	Arianna Rodriguez	2010-13	149
4.	Alicia Petersma	1999-02	129
5.	Katelyn Conlee	2013-16	108

 

Hit By Pitch
#	Player	Seasons	Total
1.	April Gonzalez	2007-10	47
2.	Georgia Capell	2018-22	46
3.	Nyka Wood	2015-18	36
4.	Arianna Rodriguez	2010-13	29
5.	Tanna Huie	2018-19	20

 
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 91 games since the beginning of the 2019 postseason and 71 of those have been away from Stephenville. The Texans are 34-37 in road games since May 3, 2019 and 15-5 at home. Tarleton went 713 days between home losses (April 27, 2019 to April 9, 2021).
• CHASING CANTU: 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 (54) joins Cantu as the only Texans in university history to club 50 career long balls.
• FULLY-CHARGED BATTERY: After injuries decimated the Tarleton pitching and catching units last season, the Texans made a significant push in those areas this offseason. Tarleton has four catchers on roster with key transfers Brittany Coe (UTSA) and Brady Rowland (Memphis) coming in to join Miranda Pruitt and freshman Paige Nunes. In the circle, Tarleton relied heavily on Tristan Bridges and Julia Wernet last year but will boast the largest pitching staff in program history this season. Tarleton has eight pitchers on staff with the addition of transfers Hannah Mayo (Texas A&M), Reagan Chism (SFA), and Chyanne Ellett (Memphis).
• PITCHING DEPTH ON DISPLAY: Tarleton has now used seven pitchers this season, which ties the school record for the most arms used in a season in Tarleton history. The Texans used six different pitchers last year, which was a first. The 2022 version of the Texan pitching circle now boasts four different pitchers with an ERA under 2.50 and the entire staff has a team ERA of 2.12.
• IT'S A FAMILY THING: Newcomer Ashlee LaRue joins Tarleton after spending one season at Ole Miss. LaRue is a native of Blanco, Texas and has quite the family history with baseball and softball. Her father, Shaun, played professionally with the Cincinnati Reds system. Her aunt, Brooke, played three years for Tarleton from 2007-09. Her uncle, Jason, played 12 years in Major League Baseball for Cincinnati, Kansas City, and St. Louis.
• FOLLOWING IN HER FOOTSTEPS: After earning an undergraduate degree from Texas A&M, Hannah Mayo has transferred to Tarleton where her mother was a trailblazer for the beginning of the Tarleton Softball program. Hannah Mayo's mom, Heather, was part of the first two teams to compete in fastpitch softball at Tarleton in 1996-97. Heather was the winning pitcher for the first victory in program history on Feb. 19, 1996 against Schreiner College 3-2 in extra innings. She was also an All-LSC First Team and Academic All-LSC award winner for the Texans in 1997. Daughter, Hannah, made her home debut last weekend against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and pitched five innings in a 5-4 win over the Islanders.
• AGAINST P5s: Tarleton faced off against teams from the Power 5 conferences 11 times during their first two seasons in NCAA Division I. Tarleton's first win against those schools was an 11-9 win in extra innings over Texas Tech on March 20, 2021. Most recently, Tarleton defeated Syracuse 2-1 on back-to-back home runs with two outs in the seventh on Feb. 18, 2022.
• SEASON-OPENING SHUTOUT: Tristan Bridges spun the first shutout in a season opener since Tarleton began the 2017 season – Mark Cumpian's first – with a 5-0 victory over Washburn. Tarleton's all-time wins leader Haley Freyman blanked the Ichabods with one hit over seven innings for Cumpian's first win as a head coach. Five years and 161 wins later, Cumpian began his sixth season and earned his 162nd career victory with a complete-game shutout from Tristan Bridges.
• SCORING 10: The Tarleton offense has been phenomenal early on this season. The Texans have scored 10 or more runs five times this season, which is one short of their entire total of 10-run games from last year (6).

 
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
Tarleton will begin the non-tournament side of their 2022 season after this weekend, beginning with a midweek doubleheader on March 1 against Texas Southern in Stephenville at 2 p.m. Then, the Texans will head to Lake Charles, La. for a three-game series with McNeese State.