The Teams: Tarleton Texans (30-26, 13-11 WAC) vs. CBU Lancers (27-27, 10-14 WAC)
Where: Phoenix, AZ
Stadium: GCU Softball Field
Time: 3 p.m. CT (Wednesday)
Video: ESPN+
TV Talent: Michael Potter (PxP); Mary Kay Mauro (Color)
Radio: 100.7 FM KXTR (Stephenville)
Radio Talent: Kyle Crews (PxP)
 
TEXAN SOFTBALL GAME DAY
With the regular season in the rearview, every pitch matters with Tarleton's softball season on the line in the postseason. The Texans have earned the No. 5 seed in the WAC Championship Tournament in Phoenix, Arizona, which begins Wednesday. Tarleton will play a single elimination game against California Baptist Wednesday at 3 p.m. CT with the winner moving into a double elimination bracket starting with No. 4-seed Seattle U.
 
There will be live stats available for every game of the tournament and all games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
SERIES HISTORY

• Tarleton is competing in conference tournament week for the first time as a member of NCAA Division I. The Texans have qualified for the WAC Championship as the No. 5 seed in their first season eligible for the tournament.
• In the spring 2022 meeting of the Western Athletic Conference Board, the WAC approved reclassifying institutions to participate in championships. This academic year was the first for Tarleton to compete and softball is now the third Texan team to qualify for a WAC postseason where bids are required, joining men's basketball and women's tennis.
• The tournament will begin with two games of single-elimination competition that feature the 5-8 seeds in a play-in game scenario. Tarleton (5) will play CBU (8) with the winner advancing into the double elimination portion of bracket while Sam Houston (6) and UTA (7) will rematch from last weekend in the other single elimination game.
• Tarleton and CBU will meet for the first time outside of Stephenville. CBU made the trip to Stephenville in Tarleton's debut D1 season of 2021 and the Texans won the series 2-1. The series renewed this year again in Texas and CBU took two of three to even the all-time series at 3-3.

 
QUICK HITS

• Tarleton's Kelci Hill and Kayla Wallace are among three players tied for second-most in the WAC with four triples this season. They are the only teammates in the league among the top eight in the WAC in three baggers.
• Grace Garcia and Tristan Bridges have been workhorses for the Tarleton pitching staff this season. The Texan tandem enters the WAC Championship Tournament ranked No. 3 and 6, respectively, in the WAC in innings pitched. They have combined to throw 265.0 of the 356.2 innings (74%) that Tarleton has pitched this season. Utah Valley is the only other WAC school with two pitchers in the top 10 in innings pitched.
• Katy Schaefer has become the first Texan in Tarleton's Division I history to post back-to-back seasons with a 1.000 OPS (on-base plus slugging). Schaefer led the team with a 1.083 OPS this season, which is an uptick from 1.020 last year.
• CBU will be a memorable foe for Tarleton starter Tristan Bridges. In the series opener against the Lancers on March 31, Bridges fired her first career no-hitter. The Texan southpaw went all seven innings without surrendering a hit and seeing just three batters over the minimum (two hbp, one error).

 
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.

 
HEADED TO PHOENIX

• By sweeping UTA on April 30, the Texans secured their spot in the WAC Tournament, which takes the top eight teams in the league standings with the top four seeds earning a path straight to the double elimination portion of the tournament. The No. 5-8 seeds will play a single elimination round to begin the tournament before moving on to double elimination part.
• This is Tarleton's first conference championship tournament appearance in their first eligible season at the NCAA Division I. Last June, the WAC approved reclassifying institutions to participate in all conference championships starting in 2022-23. This will be Tarleton's 18th appearance in a postseason conference tournament with the previous 17 coming as a member of the Lone Star Conference in NCAA Division II.

 
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 fourth place all-time for RBI in program history (132) and 17 away from top three behind Arianna Rodriguez (149).
 

RBI
#	Player	Seasons	Total
1.	Georgia Capell	2018-22	215
2.	Nyka Wood	2015-18	191
3.	Arianna Rodriguez	2010-13	149
4.	Katy Schaefer	2020-23	132
5.	Alicia Petersma	1999-02	129
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

 
400 STRIKEOUTS
Tristan Bridges sits in the top-5 list for strikeouts. The senior got SFA's Lexi Benson swinging in the second inning of the series opener to become the fourth Texan with 400 career strikeouts.
 

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	404
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 12.0 innings shy of becoming the fourth Texan in program history to eclipse 600 innings. If she reaches 600 innings, she will join Jordan Withrow and Hall of Famer Carla Geeslin as the only pitchers in Tarleton history with 600 innings and 400 strikeouts.
 

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	588.0
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. 3 all-time.
 

Defensive Assists
#	Player	Seasons	Total
1.	Kelly Siskowski	1996-99	367
2.	Nicole Cone	2006-09	358
3.	Morgan Medford	2020-23	349
4.	Cheryl Dickens	2000-03	343
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

• KELCI GOES YARD: In the series opener against UTA, Kelci Hill ripped her first career home run for the purple and white in a barnburner victory over the Mavericks. It was her first home run since April 11, 2021 against Marshall when she was a member of Middle Tennessee State. After snapping the streak of 748 days without a long ball, Hill went yard in consecutive days with her second home run of the season in the finale against UTA.
• TOUCH 'EM ALL, KATY: Katy Schaefer has also moved into the top five all-time at Tarleton for career home runs. Schaefer stands alone in fifth place all-time with 28 home runs and is three away from moving into a three-way tie at No. 3 with Alicia Petersma and Samantha Swanda (31).
• 46 AND COUNTING FOR TRISTAN: Tristan Bridges continues to etch her name among the best pitchers in Tarleton history. With two wins over UTA, Bridges moves into the top five for Tarleton in another category – all-time victories. Bridges finished the regular season with 46 wins, moving her into a tie for fifth place in program history with A.J. Bristow.
• 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 eight 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 516 games with a record of 301-215 (.583) together. Game No. 2 of the doubleheader against Grambling was the duo's 500th game together on the Tarleton coaching staff. The second game of Tarleton's sweep at UTA on April 29 was the duo's 300th victory together on the coaching staff.
• CUMPIAN AMONG THE BEST: 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 520 games with a record of 303-217 (.583) together. Game No. 2 of the doubleheader against Grambling was the duo's 500th game together on the Tarleton coaching staff. The second game of Tarleton's sweep at UTA on April 29 was the duo's 300th victory together on the coaching staff.
• ANOTHER 30-WIN SEASON: Tarleton secured its second straight 30-win season Saturday afternoon with a win over Stephen F. Austin. Tarleton had its first 30-win season as a member of NCAA Division I last year. It is the 13th time in program history to eclipse 30 wins in a season and the fifth time in Mark Cumpian's seven seasons as the head coach. The only time in Cumpian's career he has not reached 30 wins was Tarleton's debut season at D1 ('21) and the COVID-shortened season ('20) when the season was cancelled with Tarleton leading their conference at 19-4.
• 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: In Tarleton's 30 wins, the Texans have eight hitters in the lineup with a .300 batting average or higher in at least 50 at bats including two hitters eclipsing .400 and Kelci Hill leading the way with a .485 clip. In games Tarleton has lost, the Texans have no one hitting over .300 and only four hitters with over a .200 average with at least 50 at bats.
• POUND THE ZONE: In the circle, the difference between wins and losses have shown in the walk column. In Tarleton's 28 wins this season, Tarleton has walked 85 batters (2.8 bb/g). In the 26 losses, the Texans have walked 128 (4.9 bb/g). Tarleton has walked one or less in nine games this season and are 7-2, including 5-0 in games where they allow no walks. Tarleton's last game to feature two walks or fewer came on April 22 vs. Sam Houston.
• GARCIA AMONG WAC BEST: Grace Garcia has been one of the best pitchers in the WAC this season with the Texans. The senior right-hander is second in the league in strikeouts (100) and third in wins (13).
• DOUBLE VISION: Tarleton is second in the WAC in doubles (81) this season and has hit at least one double in 15 of the last 18 games. Over that 18-game span, the Texans have seven games with multiple two-baggers.

 
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
Tarleton will continue through the WAC Tournament with every win.