The Teams: Tarleton Texans (14-13, 0-0 WAC) vs. UTSA Roadrunners (6-18, 0-0 C-USA); Seattle U (19-7, 0-0 WAC)
Where: Stephenville, TX; Seattle, WA
Stadium: Tarleton Softball Complex; Logan Field
Times: 6 p.m. CT (Tuesday);  5 p.m. / 7 p.m. CT (Friday); 3 p.m. CT (Saturday)
Video: ESPN+
 
TEXAN SOFTBALL GAME DAY
Tarleton will have a quick turnaround from last weekend's series as they host UTSA tonight in Stephenville before hitting the road to begin WAC play this weekend. The Texans square off with UTSA tonight at 6 p.m. and then will start a three-game league series against Seattle U at 5 p.m. CT.
 
There will be live stats for all games through the week. The games will be streamed on ESPN+.
 
SERIES HISTORY

• Tarleton will get back to action quickly after playing the first three-day series in program history last weekend. The Texans will have one day of preparation before hosting UTSA in a Tuesday night, single game showdown in Stephenville at 6 p.m. Then the Texans will head to Seattle to open WAC play against Seattle U.
• The meeting between Tarleton and UTSA will be the first between the two programs.
• The series between Tarleton and Seattle U began back in 2007 as NCAA Division II teams when the Texans and Redhawks met in the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Phoenix. The Texans won that meeting 4-2. The teams didn't meet again until Tarleton's debut Division I season (2021) when the Redhawks came to Stephenville and won two of three to take the series. Tarleton won game one 2-1 with unanswered RBI hits from Katy Schaefer in the sixth and a walk-off double by Georgia Capell in the seventh.

 
QUICK HITS

• Tarleton is 9-3 at home this season. At the friendly confines of the Tarleton Softball Complex, the Texans are hitting .324 as a team with the trio of Katy Schaefer (.528), Austin Germain (.500), and Kelci Hill (.417) all hitting over .400 with at least 30 at bats. Schaefer (10) and Hill (11) lead the team with a combined 21 RBI at home this season.
• As good as the Texans have been at home, it's been a different tale of the tape on the road. In five true road games this season, the Texans have only three players hitting above .200. Austin Germain and Kayla Wallace lead the team with a .429 average on the road while Tristyn Trull is .375. Three of the five true road losses are against Power 5 opponents, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State.
• The Texans are off to a 16-for-18 start in stealing bases, led by Tristyn Trull and Kayla Wallace with three steals each. Tarleton is on pace for its first 30-steal season as a team since 2018 when they went 34-40 on the base paths. There are currently seven different Texans with a stolen base this season, including six with at least two stolen bags.
• Austin Germain has been one of the best in the nation at collecting two-base hits. The sophomore from San Antonio leads the team with 10 doubles in the 25 games she's played. Her average of 0.40 doubles per game would rank her No. 21 in the nation. She leads all reclassifying players in that category and is second in the WAC behind only NM State's Kendal Lunar (0.67), who leads the nation.
• Germain isn't just hitting doubles, she's putting bat on ball with the best of them. The sophomore enters this week as one of the toughest hitters in the nation to strikeout. She leads the WAC and all reclassifying players with a 61.0 percent strikeout average (61 ABs, 1 K). That has her tied for the fifth-best in the nation. Katy Schaefer's 15.4 percentage strikeout average (77 ABs, 5 K) has her ranked No. 5 among national reclassifying players.
• As a team, Tarleton is tied for No. 25 in the nation and leads all reclassifying teams with 37 doubles this season. Germain leads the Texans with 10 two-baggers as one of nine different Texans with a double this season.
• This week features Tarleton head coach Mark Cumpian against another 200-win head coach and another who is close to reaching the feat. UTSA's Michelle Cheatham is in her 10th season at the helm and enters the week with 195 victories while this weekend will pit Cumpian (205 wins in 7 seasons) against Geoff Hirai (202 wins in 8 seasons). The three coaches this week have a combined 602 wins over the last decade.

 
BROADCASTING ON THE WORLDWIDE LEADER

• Part of the latest renovations to the Tarleton Baseball Complex and Tarleton Softball Complex included the capability to match ESPN standards of multiple camera angles on the broadcast. With that, Tarleton will stream select 2023 baseball and softball home games on ESPN+.
• Over the last two years and this past week, Tarleton has broadcast all of their baseball and softball home games on WAC International, formerly called WAC Digital Network. Due to specific renovations in regard to the ability to have added camera angles, Texan games can now reach a larger audience on the ESPN platform.

 
A LOOK AT THE WAC

• After splitting into divisions for one year, the WAC has returned to a non-divisional league platform. Tarleton was part of the Southwest Division last year.  This year, the WAC will consist of 12 schools all vying for the title of regular season champion.
• Tarleton was chosen to finish sixth in the WAC Preseason Poll released on February 2. The Texans received 62 total votes, which was two votes ahead of ACU. Grand Canyon was picked at the top of the conference with Seattle U (2), SFA (3), California Baptist (4), and Utah Valley (5) finishing ahead of the Texans.
• Morgan Medford returns to her shortstop position as a reigning second-team All-WAC selection from last spring. The junior from Denton hit .323 with 48 runs scored, including a school record five runs against Sam Houston on April 9.
• Katy Schaefer was tabbed to the Preseason All-WAC team on Feb. 2. The junior from Sweeny is coming off a .359 season with nine home runs and 49 RBI.
• On Feb. 20, Katy Schaefer and Grace Garcia were named the Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week for their dominant showings last week. This is the first WAC Player of the Week award for both players. Schaefer couldn't be stopped at the plate and led the Texans with a .650 (13-20) batting average while driving in nine RBI, including one home run and four doubles. Garcia went 3-0 with an ERA of 0.00 over 13.2 innings, allowing zero runs on five hits, with 10 strikeouts and zero walks. She pitched two shutouts and improved to 4-0 on the season. She capped off her week with a six-inning perfect game on Sunday against Texas A&M-Commerce. It was the second perfect game in program history and first since 1997.

 
BRIDGES CLIMBING THE ALL-TIME STRIKEOUT LIST
Tristan Bridges begins the season among the Tarleton top-10 list for strikeouts. The senior enters the week with 371 career strikeouts. She now has her sights set on Caryn Holbrook at No. 4 with 384.
 

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.	Tristan Bridges	2019-22	371
	Samantha Swanda	2011-12	349
7.	Haley Freyman	2015-18	333
8.	Brooke Saulters	2007-08	320
9.	A.J. Bristow	2003-05	280
10.	Jill Ratliff	1999-02	276

 
OVER 500 INNINGS FOR BRIDGES
Tristan Bridges has been a mainstay in the pitching circle for Tarleton since day one. The senior surpassed the 500-inning plateau. She reached her 500th inning with a swinging strikeout to lead off the bottom of the third inning against Tulsa on March 3.
 

Strikeouts
#	Player	Seasons	Total
1.	Haley Freyman	2015-18	678.0
2.	Carla Geeslin	2001-04	647.1
3.	Jordan Withrow	2017-20	608.0
4.	Randi Fentress	2011-14	563.0
5.	Jill Ratliff	1999-02	558.0
6.	Caryn Holbrook	1997-00	554.0
7.	Tristan Bridges	2019-22	518.2
8.	A.J. Bristow	2003-05	474.0
9.	Brooke Saulters	2007-08	423.0
10.	Samantha Swanda	2011-12	356.2

 
 
TURNING THINGS AROUND QUICKLY
The Texans' 30 wins in 2022 highlighted an incredible turn of events for Tarleton, who won only 17 games in its debut Division I season in 2021. The Texans enjoyed a 12.0 game improvement, which was the 17th best in NCAA Division I from 2021 to 2022. The programs with at least an 11.5 game improvement are as follows:
 

Biggest Turnaround from 2021 to 2022
Rank	School	Head Coach	'21 W-L	'22 W-L	Imp.
1.	Penn St.	Clarisa Crowell	7-34	32-22	18½
2.	Boise St.	Justin Shults	20-25	40-10	17½
3.	Grand Canyon	Shanon Hays	19-30	39-16	17
4.	Murray St.	Kara Amundson	22-29	40-18	14½
	South Dakota	Robert Wagner	13-39	28-25	14½
6.	Belmont	Laura Matthews	15-26	33-17	13½
	Louisiana Tech	Josh Taylor	22-30	39-20	13½
	North Florida	Marcie Higgs	21-23	42-17	13½
9.	Fla. Atlantic	Joan Joyce	12-35	29-26	13
	Georgia Tech	Aileen Morales	20-26	38-18	13
	Omaha	Mike Heard	20-28	32-14	13
	USC Upstate	Chris Hawkins	29-17	48-10	13
13.	Nebraska	Rhonda Revelle	22-22	41-16	12½
	New Mexico	Paula Congleton	10-36	26-27	12½
	Presbyterian	David Williams	15-19	36-15	12½
	UNCW	Kristy Norton	15-23	32-15	12½
17.	Akron	Meaggan Pettipiece	8-46	18-32	12
	Samford	Kimball Cassady	18-27	34-19	12
	Tarleton St.	Mark Cumpian	17-36	30-25	12
20.	Oregon St.	Laura Berg	20-26	39-22	11½
	Rutgers	Kristen Butler	8-36	25-30	11½
To determine games improved, add the difference in victories between the two seasons to the difference in losses, then divide by two. Ties not counted. This includes postseason play.

 
CUMPIAN JOINS ELITE TEXAN COACHING COMPANY
It hasn't taken long, but Mark Cumpian has already climbed to the elite status of Tarleton Athletics coaches. With his 200th career win last Sunday, Cumpian is the eighth head coach in Tarleton Athletics history (seventh with NCAA wins during their tenure) to reach the 200-win milestone. He is the fourth-fastest coach at Tarleton to reach the milestone and the fastest among baseball or softball coaches to reach the plateau.
 

Fastest Tarleton Coach to 200 Wins
#	Coach	Sport	Games to Reach 200
1.	Jan Lowery (all NAIA)	W. Basketball	277
2.	Ronnie Hearne	W. Basketball	299
3.	Lonn Reisman	M. Basketball	307
4.	Mark Cumpian	Softball	316
5.	Jack Allen	Baseball	330
	Julie Mata	Softball	330
7.	Mary Schindler	Volleyball	339
8.	Bryan Conger	Baseball	350

 
NOTABLES

• SCHAEFER ECLIPSES 100 RBI: Katy Schaefer is entering Tarleton elite territory as an all-time run producer. The Sweeny, Texas native drove in her 100^th career RBI with a run-scoring single up the middle on March 5 against Maine. After one RBI last weekend, Schaefer is now one away from tying Nicole Cone (2006-09) for No. 10 all-time with 102 driven in.
• RUN HOME, MORGAN MEDFORD: Morgan Medford already holds the Tarleton record for runs scored in a single game and now she has top-10 all-time in that category for her resumé. With a run scored against Houston Saturday, Morgan Medford passed Amanda Smith for No. 10 all-time with 104 runs scored. She is five runs away from passing Kelli Gayle (2006-08) for No. 9.
• BETTER TOGETHER: Mark Cumpian and Stefanie Phillips have reached the decade mark of time spent together. The two joined forces as assistants under former head coach Julie Mata in 2014. They spent three seasons as assistant coaches together before Cumpian took over as head coach and Phillips became the top assistant. The coaching duo have been together for 491 games and have a record of 287-206 (.582)  together.
• CUMPIAN AMONG THE BEST: While reclassifying programs are not counted among the national records and yearly record books, Tarleton head coach Mark Cumpian would be considered among the elite coaches in the nation. The seventh year head coach enters the week with a career record of 205-126 for a win percentage of .619, which would rank him among the top 50 active coaches in the country for win percentage.
• WALK-OFF FOR NO. 1: Kelci Hill's walk-off double for Tarleton against Northern Kentucky marked the first time since 2015 that Tarleton's first win of the season came on a walk-off. Tarleton went on to win 33 games in 2015 and advance to the Division II Super Regional Series. The Texans got a walk-off single by Kady Crow to defeat Southwestern Oklahoma 15-14 for their first win of 2015.
• EYEING 30 AGAIN: Tarleton is coming off its first 30-win season as a member of NCAA Division I. The Texans reached 30 wins by winning the second game of the National Invitational Softball Championship (NISC) in Fort Collins, Colo. last May. The Texans' invitation to compete in the NISC marked the first postseason invitation for any program at the Division I level for Tarleton State University.
• WALK-OFF QUEEN: For someone who walks to the plate to the tune of Johnny Cash, Jordan Dickerson might want to consider renaming the song "Walk the Line" to "Walk It Off". Jordan Dickerson was at the plate for the third walk-off victory of her Tarleton career Sunday afternoon when she drew the game-ending, bases-loaded walk against Texas A&M-Commerce. She has walk-off hits against CBU (4/9/21), UNT (4/21/21), and Commerce (2/19/23).
• THAT EPIC SUNDAY WIN: On Sunday, Feb. 19, Tarleton enjoyed quite the afternoon. Grace Garcia became the second pitcher in program history to throw a perfect game. She went 18 up and 18 down over six innings to defeat Texas A&M-Commerce 8-0. She joins Caryn Holbrook (3/29/97) as the only Texans with a perfect game in program history. Mark Cumpian became just the seventh head coach of any sport in Tarleton State Athletics history to win 200 games for Tarleton. He notched career win No. 200 in his 316th game at the helm of Texan Softball. Not to be lost in the shuffle of Cumpian's milestone win and Garcia's perfecto, the Texan offense set a new school record with seven doubles in Sunday's game. The previous record of six was set in 1997 and has been matched five times since, most recently in 2017.
• TRIO OF TEXAN TWIRLERS: Three of the most consistent pitchers in program history now sit as the top three in program history for complete games. Since 2015, Tarleton has developed three of the top pitchers in the history of the program. The combination of Haley Freyman, Jordan Withrow, and Tristan Bridges have combined to start 278 of the 440 games (63%) Tarleton has played in the last eight years. Bridges is now No. 3 on the all-time list for complete games (52). She trails only Freyman (67) and Withrow (65).
• HILL'S FOUR-HIT GAME: Kelci Hill enjoyed a career night on March 1 against Lamar. The Texan centerfielder went 4-for-4 with a run scored and three RBI. This was the third four-hit game of Tarleton's NCAA Division I era. Hill joins Amanda DeSario (2/25/22) and Morgan Medford (4/9/22) as the only Texans to log four hits in a game since moving to the WAC.

 
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
Tarleton will stay on the road for another weekend series against the WAC standings leader, Grand Canyon. The Texans and Lopes will meet in Phoenix for a three-game series next Friday and Saturday.