The Teams: Tarleton Texans (25-24, 9-9 WAC) vs. UTA Mavericks (19-24, 9-9 WAC)
Where: Arlington, TX
Stadium: Allan Saxe Field
Times: 2:30 p.m. / 5 p.m. CT (Saturday); 12 p.m. CT (Sunday)
Video: WACinternational.tv
 
TEXAN SOFTBALL GAME DAY
The final road series of the regular season for the Tarleton Texans is on deck for Saturday-Sunday. The Texans will square off against UTA in Arlington for a three-game series, beginning with a doubleheader Saturday afternoon.
 
The series was originally scheduled to begin today but was delayed due to inclement weather.
 
Live stats will be available for all games and the entire series will be streamed on WACinternational.tv.
 
SERIES HISTORY

• The final WAC road trip of the regular season is on deck for this weekend when the Texans make the short drive to Arlington for a three-game series at UT Arlington.
• The series was originally scheduled for a single game Friday and a doubleheader Saturday. Due to weather, the series has been shifted to doubleheader Saturday and a single game now Sunday at noon.
• This will be the first regular season meeting between Tarleton and UTA on the softball diamond. The Mavericks are in their first season as a member of the Western Athletic Conference after previously competing in the Sun Belt Conference. The teams frequently met during fall semester games when Tarleton was a member of the Lone Star Conference.

 
QUICK HITS

• Since moving into a consistent spot at the top of the Tarleton lineup, Kelci Hill has been on a tear. Hill has started each of the last eight games in the leadoff spot and is hitting .429 with 10 runs scored and two stolen bases. She also has four extra-base hits over that span with three doubles and a triple.
• Katy Schaefer enters the weekend as one of the most feared hitters in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). Schaefer enters this weekend as one of only four players in the league ranked in the top 10 of the conference in batting average and slugging percentage. Schaefer is No. 9 in average (.373) and No. 10 in slugging (.649). Only Lauren Almeida (UTU), Emily Gonzalez (SUU), and Kayla Bowen (NMSU) can say the same.
• Kelci Hill enters the weekend leading Tarleton in hits (56) and is second in the WAC in the category. Hill is seven hits behind the WAC leader and is four hits away from being the third player in Tarleton's Division I history with 60 hits in a season. Only Georgia Capell (64) and Morgan Medford (62) in 2022 have reach 60 hits in a D1 season at Tarleton.
• Tarleton enters the weekend with four spots in the Texan lineup hitting over .300 for the season. The Texans are getting a combined batting average of .323 (2), .356 (3), .386 (4), and .308 (6) from four of the top six spots in the batting lineup this season. The Texans have gotten less than a .200 combined average from the No. 8 and 9 spots.

 
A LOOK AT THE WAC

• 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.
• 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.
• Garcia got the nod from the league office for the second time this season on Monday, March 20 after a stellar performance in the Pacific Northwest. The senior right-hander bested Seattle U, not once but, twice to lift the Texans to a series win. For the week, she threw 16.2 innings of work and struck out seven. She is the second Tarleton pitcher to win the WAC Pitcher of the Week award twice in the same season.
• On Monday, April 3, Tristan Bridges joined the list of WAC weekly winners. The senior southpaw earned her second career weekly honor after serving up a no-hitter against California Baptist in the series opener. She faced two batters over the minimum, allowing baserunners on a hit by pitch and an error. It was the first no-hitter of her career.

 
THE CHASE FOR PHOENIX

• With two weekends remaining in regular season, the WAC Softball playoff picture is as clear as a muddy swamp. There are 11 teams within five games of each other vying for a place in the eight-team WAC Tournament championship.
• The top four teams in the standings – Utah Tech (13-5), GCU (12-6), Stephen F. Austin (10-8), and Utah Valley (10-8) – are separated by three games.
• The middle four teams are deadlocked with identical 9-9 league records entering this weekend – CBU, Tarleton, UTA, and Sam Houston – with three teams on the outside looking in at 8-10 (Seattle U, NM State, and Abilene Christian).
• The WAC Championship Tournament will accept the top eight teams from the league. The opening round games between the bottom four seeds will square off in a single elimination game with the winners advancing into a double elimination bracket the rest of the way.

 
SCHAEFER TOPS 100 RBI
Katy Schaefer is entering Tarleton elite territory as an all-time run producer. The Sweeny, Texas native drove in her 100th career RBI with a run-scoring single up the middle on March 5 against Maine. Her walk-off home run against Grambling State on March 29 moved her into top five all-time at Tarleton. She is now in sole possession of fifth place all-time for RBI in program history (126) and four away from passing Alicia Petersma for fourth place.
 

RBI
#	Player	Seasons	Total
1.	Georgia Capell	2018-22	215
2.	Nyka Wood	2015-18	191
3.	Arianna Rodriguez	2010-13	149
4.	Alicia Petersma	1999-02	129
5.	Katy Schaefer	2020-23	126
6.	Katelyn Conlee	2013-16	108
7.	Monica Garza	2003-04	107
8.	Melody Mayse	2013-16	105
9.	Jennifer Maupin	1996-99	104
10.	Destiny Crumpley	2018-21	103

 
EYES ON 400 STRIKEOUTS
Tristan Bridges sits in the top-5 list for strikeouts. The senior enters the week with 390 career strikeouts and is now in sole possession of fourth place all-time. She is 10 strikeouts away from becoming the fourth pitcher in program history with 400 career punchouts.
 

Strikeouts
#	Player	Seasons	Total
1.	Jordan Withrow	2017-20	676
2.	Carla Geeslin	2001-04	521
3.	Randi Fentress	2011-14	445
4.	Tristan Bridges	2019-23	390
5.	Caryn Holbrook	1997-00	384
6.	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

 
BRIDGES CLOSING IN ON 600 INNINGS
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. Only seven pitchers in Tarleton history have thrown 500 innings. She is now 33.1 innings shy of becoming the fourth Texan in program history to eclipse 600 innings.
 

Innings Pitched
#	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.	Tristan Bridges	2019-23	566.2
5.	Randi Fentress	2011-14	563.0
6.	Jill Ratliff	1999-02	558.0
7.	Caryn Holbrook	1997-00	554.0
8.	A.J. Bristow	2003-05	474.0
9.	Brooke Saulters	2007-08	423.0
10.	Samantha Swanda	2011-12	356.2

 
MEDFORD MAKES THE PLAY
In game two of the series at Seattle U, Morgan Medford became the sixth player in Tarleton history to record 300 career defensive assists. She is currently No. 4 all-time.
 

Defensive Assists
#	Player	Seasons	Total
1.	Kelly Siskowski	1996-99	367
2.	Nicole Cone	2006-09	358
3.	Cheryl Dickens	2000-03	343
4.	Morgan Medford	2020-23	337
5.	Jennifer Cervenka	1996-99	330
6.	Arianna Rodriguez	2010-13	322
7.	Jalayne Rinewalt	1996-99	296
8.	Savannah Stech	2015-17	288
9.	April Gonzalez	2007-10	280
10.	Delaney Wayland	2015-17	263

 
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

• 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. She passed Stacie Greear and is now sixth all-time in touching home plate. She is 12 runs away from moving into a three-way tie for fourth in program history.
• BETTER TOGETHER: Mark Cumpian and Stefanie Phillips have reached the decade mark of time spent together. The two joined forces as assistants in 2014. They spent three seasons as assistant coaches together before Cumpian took over as head coach. They have been together for 513 games with a record of 298-215 (.582) together. Game No. 2 of the doubleheader against Grambling was the duo's 500th game together on the Tarleton coaching staff.
• 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 216-137 for a win percentage of .612, which would rank him among the top 50 active coaches in the country for win percentage.
• EYEING 30 AGAIN: Tarleton had its first 30-win season as a member of NCAA Division I last year. The Texans reached 30 wins in 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. The Texans are five wins away from 30 this season with seven games left on the schedule in the regular season.
• POLISHING OFF THE NO-NO: Tristan Bridges accomplished a goal that has been five years in the making when she no-hit CBU on March 31 in a 2-0 victory. Bridges has flirted with a no-hitter three times in her career, going the complete game and allowing only one hit in those previous efforts. The senior southpaw finally accomplished the feat against the Lancers in seven innings. It was the 10th no-hitter in program history.
• 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.
• WINNING AT THE PLATE: When Tarleton wins a game, the Texans have eight hitters in the lineup with a .300 batting average or higher in at least 40 at bats including three hitters eclipsing .400 and Kelci Hill leading the way with a .512 clip. When Tarleton loses a game, the Texans have no one hitting over .300 and only five hitters with over a .200 average with at least 40 at bats.
• POUND THE ZONE: In the circle, the difference between wins and losses have shown in the walk column. In Tarleton's 24 wins this season, Tarleton has walked 61 batters (2.4 bb/g). In the 24 losses, the Texans have walked 118 (4.9 bb/g). Tarleton has five games this season with no walks allowed and are 5-0 in those games.
• GARCIA AMONG WAC BEST: Grace Garcia has been one of the best pitchers in the WAC in her grad transfer season with the Texans. The senior right-hander is third in the league in strikeouts (84) and second in wins (11).
• DOUBLE VISION: Tarleton is second in the WAC in doubles this season and has hit at least one double in nine of the last 11 games.

 
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
Tarleton will hit the road Tuesday for a single game at Houston Christian at 5 p.m. before returning to Stephenville for the final time in 2023 for a weekend series against Stephen F. Austin next Friday-Saturday.