The Teams: Tarleton Texans (20-17, 5-7 WAC) vs. Sam Houston Bearkats (10-27, 4-8 WAC)
Where: Huntsville, TX
Stadium: Bearkat Softball Complex
Times: 4 p.m. / 6:30 p.m. CT (Friday); 12 p.m. CT (Saturday)
Video: ESPN+ (Friday only)
 
TEXAN SOFTBALL GAME DAY
The final stretch run of the season begins this weekend for Tarleton Softball as the Texans venture to Huntsville for a three-game series against Sam Houston. Live stats will be available for all three games of the series while a live video stream will only be available for Friday's doubleheader. Links can be found at the softball schedule on TarletonSports.com.
 
ABOUT THE MATCHUPS

• Tarleton and Sam Houston will square off in their third series in program history this weekend. It will be the second time the teams have met as WAC rivals and the second time Tarleton has visited Huntsville.
• The Texans' last visit to Huntsville was a midweek matchup last year that the Texans lost 3-1. A Katy Schaefer home run accounted for the lone Texan run of the inaugural meeting.
• Tarleton exacted their revenge on their new league rivals when the Bearkats came to Stephenville for the Texans' first WAC series of this season. Tarleton swept the Bearkats with games two and three of the series decided by walk-off runs. After Tarleton won the opener 8-2, Katy Schaefer was hit with a pitch with bases loaded in game two and Amanda DeSario won the finale with a walk-off home run.

 
QUICK HITS

• Georgia Capell leads the team with 10 home runs. She leads all Division I reclassifying players in home runs. This marks her third career season with 10 or more long balls.
• Over the last 10 games, freshman Austin Germain has found her groove at the plate. Over that span, Germain has played in nine games and earned seven starts. She leads the team with a .444 average in that time with two triples.
• In true road games this season, Georgia Capell leads the team with a .436 batting average with nine extra-base hits and 12 RBI. Capell and Austin Germain (.364 in 10 games) are the only Texans hitting above .300 in road games this season.
• After slugging 32 home runs in the first 28 games of the season, Tarleton has been held without a round-tripper in their last nine games. Tarleton's last home run was Georgia Capell's 60th career long ball against Baylor on March 22.
• Mackenzie Peterson has been one of the elite defenders in the WAC over her career at Tarleton. She enters the weekend with a clean 1.000 fielding percentage in 108 chances this season. It has been over a full calendar year since her last defensive miscue (March 30, 2021 at Texas State).
• Morgan Medford leads the WAC Southwest Division in at bats (122) and runs (32) while Georgia Capell tops the division in hits (40), home runs (10), RBI (31), and slugging percentage (.743).

 
WAC UPDATES

• 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 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.

 
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 (60), runs (202), total bases (500), RBI (195) and doubles (63). She is also closing in on the all-time hits record (251), as well as 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	251
4.	Arianna Rodriguez	2010-13	208
5.	Alicia Petersma	1999-02	192

 
BRIDGES CLIMBING THE ALL-TIME STRIKEOUT LIST
In addition to her longevity in the circle, Tristan Bridges has also moved into the Tarleton top-10 list for strikeouts. The junior enters the weekend with 277 career strikeouts and just passed Jill Ratliff for ninth on the list. She now has her sights set on A.J. Bristow at No. 8.
 

Strikeouts
#	Player	Seasons	Total
1.	Jordan Withrow	2017-20	676
2.	Carla Geeslin	2001-04	521
3.	Randi Fentress	2011-14	445
4.	Caryn Holbrook	1997-00	384
5.	Samantha Swanda	2011-12	349
6.	Haley Freyman	2015-18	333
7.	Brooke Saulters	2007-08	320
8.	A.J. Bristow	2003-05	280
9.	Tristan Bridges	2019-22	277
10.	Jill Ratliff	1999-02	276

 
 
WALK-OFF WIZARDS
Since April 9, 2021, Tarleton's home victories have been done mostly in dramatic fashion. Tarleton has had 11 walk-off wins since that span. Six of Tarleton's 10 home wins this season came in the last at-bat. The 11 Tarleton walk-off wins since April 9, 2021 are:
 

Walk-Off Home Wins since April 9, 2021

April 9, 2021 – 14-5 (5) vs. CBU

April 10, 2021 – 3-2 vs. CBU

April 21, 2021 – 4-3 vs. UNT

April 23, 2021  – 2-1 vs. Seattle

May 1, 2021 – 11-1 (6) vs. GCU

Feb. 18, 2022 – 2-1 vs. Syracuse

Feb. 18, 2022 – 10-2 (6) vs. Prairie View A&M

March 1, 2022 – 5-3 vs. Texas Southern

March 1, 2022 – 10-2 (6) vs. Texas Southern

March 12, 2022 – 4-3 vs. Sam Houston

March 13, 2022 – 8-7 vs. Sam Houston

 
NOTABLES

• HOME RUN QUEEN OF TARLETON: With a three-run home run against ACU on March 19, 2022, Georgia Capell hit her 59th career long ball to set the Tarleton State University record for most home runs in the school's diamond sport history (baseball and softball). She became the first Texan ever to reach 60 career home runs with a solo home run against Baylor on March 22.
• 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.
• NOTCHING WIN NO. 20: In Tarleton's 27 seasons of playing fastpitch softball, the Texans have now recorded 20 wins in 23 of those seasons. It's the first 20-win season for Tarleton at the NCAA Division I level and the first since 2019. The 2020 season had Tarleton with a 19-4 record when the season ended due to COVID-19, snapping a streak of 22 consecutive seasons of 20+ wins.
• SCORING 10: The Texans have scored 10 or more runs seven times this season, topping their entire total of 10-run games from the 2021 season (6). Tarleton's last 10-run performance came on March 19 against ACU.
• LEADOFF ON LOCK: There is only one position in the Tarleton lineup that has not changed this season – the leadoff spot. Morgan Medford has started all 37 games in the No. 1 position of the Texan lineup.
• LET THE STICKS DO THE TALKIN': Tarleton is 19-3 this season when scoring three or more runs in a game. Within those games, the Texans are 12-1 when scoring six or more.
• WINNING IN THE CIRCLE: Tarleton is 18-9 this season when allowing five runs or fewer, including a 9-1 mark when allowing two runs or less.
• FRESHMAN STEPPING UP: Freshman Paige Nunes made quite the impression in her first two collegiate at bats against ACU. In her first career AB, Nunes pinch hit and slugged a two-run double to tie the game. In the second game of the doubleheader, she got her second career at bat in a pinch hit and drove in two more runs – this time for the game-winning runs. She earned her first career start in game two Tuesday at Baylor with a 1-for-3 performance.
• FAMILIAR FACE IN THE CIRCLE: Tristan Bridges has entered elite Tarleton pitching compay. The junior southpaw has moved into the top 10 in four categories that are a testament to her career durability. She enters the weekend among the top-10 pitchers in program history in pitching appearances (82), innings pitched (396.1), complete games (38), and games started (69).
• BRIDGES COMPLETES A SOLID TRIO: Since Stefanie Phillips joined Mark Cumpian on the staff in 2015, Tarleton has developed three of the top pitchers in the history of the program. Since 2015, the combination of Haley Freyman, Jordan Withrow, and Tristan Bridges have combined to start 254 of the 396 games (64%) Tarleton has played in those eight seasons.

 
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
Tarleton will return home for a three-game series against Abilene Christian on Easter Weekend. The Texans and Wildcats will play a Friday night doubleheader at 4 p.m. and then a 1 p.m. single game Saturday. Tarleton will be hosting a pregame tailgate and a postgame Easter Egg Hunt at Saturday's game.