The Teams: Tarleton State Texans (18-12, 0-0 WAC) vs. Rhode Island Rams (4-8, 1-5 A-10) 
Where: Stephenville, Texas 
Stadium: Tarleton State Softball Complex (750)  
Days and Times: Friday at 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. | Saturday at 12 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.  
Streaming Platform: ESPN+ 

SERIES NOTES 

• This marks the first all-time meetings with Rhode Island. 
• Rhode Island arrives in Stephenville without a true road win yet this season, starting 0-5. The Rams do have four neutral site wins, a 4-3 neutral site record. 
• Rhode Island just snapped a six-game losing streak with an 8-7 8-inning home win against St. Bonaventure  
• Rhode Island has a strong defense, 24th in the nation and best in the A-10 in fielding percentage at .976. The Rams' offense has struggled this season, posting the fifth-fewest hits in the country (75) and the tied-fewest home runs (one). They average 2.1 runs per game, fifth worst in the country. 

QUICK HITS 

• With Tarleton State's next win, head coach Mark Cumpian will earn his 300th victory at the helm of the Texans. This is Cumpian's 10th season as Tarleton State's head coach, replacing the winningest coach in program history, Julie Mata, in 2017. Mata earned her 300th win in her 11th season.  
• Friday marks Tarleton State's first home game in nearly a month, last in Stephenville on Feb. 22. That was the end of an 11-game homestand. Tarleton State is 6-5 at home this season.  
• Tarleton State Athletics has partnered with Stephenville Rents to host a Giving Week Softball Challenge. Stephenville Rents is generously giving $5 for every person in attendance at the Texans' doubleheader Saturday against Rhode Island.  
• Tarleton State is through tournament play 18-12. The Texans have the second most wins across WAC programs thus far, trailing only California Baptist at 22-10. 
• The Texans and Rams are squaring off for a four-game series Friday-Saturday. Tarleton State hasn't played a four-game series in eight years, last hosting Western New Mexico for a similar four-game series (DH Friday, DH Saturday) on March 23-24, 2018. The Texans swept that series 4-0, allowing just two runs across the four games with two shutouts.  
• In the past tournament, Tarleton State scored 15 runs across the first two games, going 2-0, and scratched across three runs over the final three games, going 0-3. When the Texans score six runs in a game, they are 18-1 this season. When scoring five runs or fewer, they are 0-11. 
• Tarleton State has one of the best offenses in the country, scoring 6.6 runs per game, 50th in the nation and third most in the WAC. They are 15th in total hits (269, first in the WAC), 31st in RBI (176, first in the WAC), 36th in batting average (.332, second in the WAC), 37th in on-base percentage (.419, second in the WAC), 54th in doubles (45, second in the WAC), and 60th in triples (seven, fourth in the WAC). 
• Macie Vickers leads the team in doubles on the year with 10, the 28th most in the country and second most in the WAC.  
• Hayden Fox has been plunked 10 times this season, 19th most in the country and fourth most in the conference.  
• Macie Vickers was named WAC Player of the Week for Week 2, becoming the first Texan to earn a WAC weekly honor this season. 
• Mikayla Wilson earned a spot on Michella Chester's Lineup of the Week for Week 1 after having a tremendous opening weekend, listed alongside some of the nation's best. 
• For the first time in program history, Tarleton State was ranked No. 1 in the WAC Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Texans received four first place votes, ranking five points ahead of California Baptist. 
• Shelby Schultz picked up three individual preseason awards, including Preseason Co-Player of the Year, Pitcher of the Year, and Preseason All-WAC Team.  

Team Comparison (Tarleton State vs. Rhode Island) 

• Batting Average (.332 to .246)  
• Slugging Pct. (.471 to .295)  
• BB/SO (106/111 to 30/29)  
• On-Base Pct. (.419 to .318)  
• SB-Att (11-14 to 7-12)  
• HR (18 to 1)  
• 2B (45 to 10)  
• 3B (7 to 1)  
• Runs (199 to 25)  
• ERA (5.47 to 3.34)  
• WHIP (1.90 to 1.43)  
• Opp. Batting Avg. (.309 to .267)  
• SO/BB (109/104 to 57/34) 

200 KS AND COUNTING FOR SCHULTZ  
Sophomore pitcher Shelby Schultz struck out her 200th batter while at the UNCG Tournament in North Carolina. The ace reached the milestone in the Texan's first all-time meeting against the Lehigh Mountain Hawks on Mar. 13 where they got the win 8-1. Schultz pitched 2.0 innings, allowing only two hits with no runs while striking out three. The Temple, Texas native, finished her rookie season at Tarleton State with a total of 173 strikeouts.  

CUMPIAN CLOSING IN ON 300  
Head coach Mark Cumpian is only one win away from reaching the 300 mark of career wins in his 10th season as head coach. Cumpian earned his 275th career win on April 22, 2025 vs. Prairie View A&M with a 7-2 win and earned his 250th earlier in the season with 10-2 run-rule walk-off win over Houston Christian (Feb. 14, 2025).  

RECORD-BREAKING START  
Tarleton State Softball started their 2026 season 9-1, earning their second-best start through 10 games in the D1 era. Their best start came in 2022 when the Texans went 10-0. In their first game against Colgate, the Texans also set a new program record of 21 hits, beating their previous record of 20 hits set in 1997 and 2004. TSU also broke several opening weekend records during their season-opener at the Runnin' Bulldog Classic. The Texans have now earned their second-best start through 25 games in the D1 era with a record of 16-9 and their best start through 30 games in the D1 era at 18-12.  

ON THE NATIONAL RADAR  
As of March 4th, the Texans were nationally ranked within the top 25 in 10 statistical categories, including 12th in the nation in hits (206) and 19th in triples (7). TSU also led the WAC in nine categories. 

As of Feb. 17, Tarleton State was nationally ranked top five in seven different statistical categories. The Texans were 3rd in both runs and RBI behind SEC schools Oklahoma and Florida. TSU also ranked fifth in batting average (.400) and on base percentage (.507), fourth in RBI per game (9.80) and scoring (10.80), and were tied for fifth in walks (54). 

Hayden Fox was leading the nation in runs (20), ranked second in on base percentage (.730), tied for second in runs per game (2.00), and ranked ninth in batting average (.600). Mikayla Wilson and Mariah Debose were each tied for first in different categories, with Wilson leading in hits (20) and Debose leading in triples (3).  

WIN NO. 375 FOR THE DUO  
Mark Cumpian and Stefanie Phillips reached their 375th win together after the Texans' game against Houston Christian during the UNM Invitational, dating back to when they were both assistant coaches at Tarleton State.   

VICKERS TABBED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK  
Sophomore catcher Macie Vickers was named WAC Player of the Week for week two, becoming the first Texan to earn a WAC weekly honor this season. Vickers started all five games during the Whataburger Invitational, catching for two and hitting as the designated for three. She averaged .438 on the weekend, tallying three runs on seven hits and driving in 10 runs in 16 at-bats, and had three extra-base hits totaling a pair of doubles and a triple. Behind the plate, Vickers did not have a single runner attempt to steal a base on her. 

The Escalon, Calif., native, notched three multi-hit games in the Whataburger Invitational, including a three-hit game against Colgate on Feb. 14. She also tallied a pair of multi-RBI games. Against Colgate on Feb. 13, she recorded a 5-RBI game with a pair of extra-base hits in part of a 14-5 run rule victory. 

Through the first 10 games of the season, Vickers started every game for the Texans. In the first two opening weekends, she totaled six runs on 12 hits on 34 at-bats. She posted a team-best 16 RBI which led the WAC and was ranked 17th in the NCAA this season. She also totaled four doubles this season which was tied for the fourth most in the league.  

WILSON AMONG ELITE COMPANY  
Mikayla Wilson earned a spot on Michella Chester's Lineup of the Week for Week 1 alongside some of the nation's best. The freshman from New Braunfels High School.

Wilson started all five games for the Texans in right field during opening weekend, kicking off her collegiate career batting .650 (13-for-20) with a team-high 11 RBI in five games. She also tallied seven runs and 16 total bases with a slugging percentage of .800. As of Feb. 8, Wilson led the Texans in five different offensive categories: at-bats (20), hits (13), RBI (11), total bases (16), and was a perfect 3-for-3 in stolen bases.  

FRESH IN THE CIRCLE WITH A DUB  
Freshman pitcher Taylor McKean pitched her first complete collegiate game during opening weekend, leading the Texans to a 7-2 win over Furman and keeping Tarleton State in control throughout the game. She finished the weekend with a 1.91 ERA and allowed only five hits and two runs on 27 at bats. McKean is the third Texan since Jordan Withrow (Feb. 3, 2017) to earn the win in their collegiate debut following Shelby Schultz and Sadie Beck.  

MID-MAJOR RANKING  
Tarleton State was ranked #25 in D1Softball's Mid-Major Rankings for week two. The Texans were the only team from the WAC to be including in the list.  

STARTING OFF STRONG  
The 2026 Tarleton State Softball season hardly could've started any better. The Texans (5-0) swept their run at the Runnin' Bulldog Classic in North Carolina opening weekend. This marks the second time the Texans have started a season 5-0 in their NCAA Division I era, their first since 2022 when they started 10-0, as well as the fifth time in program history. Tarleton State also scored a record-setting 53 runs on the weekend, marking the most runs scored in opening weekend since 2017, the second-most all-time runs through the first five games and the most in the D1 era through the first five games. This is the first time Tarleton State has averaged +10 runs through the first five games since 1997 when they averaged 13.4.  

PRESEASON HONORS  
For the first time in program history, Tarleton State was ranked No. 1 in the WAC Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Texans received four first place votes, ranking five points ahead of California Baptist. 

Following a big year and her WAC Freshman of the Year selection, Shelby Schultz earned three more honorable titles: Preseason Co-Player of the Year, Preseason Pitcher of the Year, and Preseason All-WAC Team. She helped lead the Purple and White to their WAC Tournament appearance, pitching 8.1 innings in the title game against Grand Canyon.  

During her breakout season, the sophomore pitcher appeared in 33 games while starting 21. She finished the season nationally ranked 13th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.81), 21st in strikeouts per seven innings (8.4), and 30th in overall strikeouts (173), while leading the WAC in all three categories.   

WOOD RETURNS TO THE COWBOY CAPITAL OF THE WORLD  
Following a handful of years away from Stephenville, Nyka Wood has made her return to Tarleton State as an assistant coach for the Texans. Wood returns to the Cowboy Capital of the World after most recently coaching at Akron from 2022-24. The former four-year standout backstop is no stranger to Cumpian's staff as she served as a Graduate Assistant for the Texans in 2019 after wrapping up her playing career from 2015-18.  

SCHULTZ SISTERS  
For the second time in program history, the Texans have a set of twins on their roster, Shelby and Casey. The twins started their second season with the Purple and White in the season-opening Runnin' Bulldog Classic in Boiling Spring, N.C. Shelby is a left-handed pitcher while Casey is an infielder. They are mirror image identical twins as Shelby is left-handed and Casey is right-handed.  

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 667 games with a record of 381-286 together. The pair reached their 650th game together in Tarleton State's matchup again Pitt during their annual Texan Classic on Feb. 20, 2026. Game No. 2 of the doubleheader against Grambling in 2023 was the duo's 500th game together on the Tarleton State coaching staff. The second game of Tarleton State's sweep at UTA on April 29 was the duo's 300th victory together on the coaching staff.  

CUMPIAN AMONG THE NATION'S BEST  
While reclassifying programs are not counted among the national records and yearly record books, Tarleton State head coach Mark Cumpian would be considered among the elite coaches in the nation. The tenth year head coach enters the week with a career record of 299-208 for a win percentage of .590  and 29.9 wins per season.  

CUMPIAN AMONG TARLETON STATE ELITE  
It didn't take long for Mark Cumpian to climb to elite status of Tarleton Athletics coaches. With his 200th career win vs. Texas A&M Commerce on Feb. 19, 2023, Cumpian is the eighth head coach in Tarleton Athletics history (seventh with NCAA wins during the tenure) to reach the 200-win milestone. He is the fourth-fastest coach at Tarleton State to reach the milestone and the fastest among baseball or softball coaches to reach the plateau.  

LET'S GET PERSONAL 
All of the Tarleton State players have great stories and unique things about them -- here are some of the most notable... 

#00 Taylor McKean 

• Loves to run and read — favorite genre is romance 
• Majoring in biomedicine – wants to be a Physician's Assistant 
• Chose Tarleton State because of the traditions, rooted in the backstory – didn't know about TSU before being recruited 
• Her best friend is Mikayla Wilson, didn't know each other before Tarleton State 

#1 Mikaila Gilliland 

• Likes to read, liked to watch documentaries, especially serial killer ones 
• Stephenville reminds her of home, as it's about the same size of home, a cowboy town 
• She likes to rides horses 
• Her uncle, Craig Smith, played shortstop for the Milwaukee Brewers 
• Is an avid Fortnite player 

#2 Addison Wittram 

• Likes shopping and watching a good Netflix show. Likes crime shows the most. 
• Bakes a little bit, makes a great cream cheese pound cake 

#3 Hayden Fox 

• Enjoys baking, has a famous chocolate chip cookie recipe  
• Fishes in the summer time 
• Is Greek 
• Loves watching TV shows with her family, like White LOTUS, The Office, cartel shows 
• One reason she chose Tarleton State is it's close to her family, so they can come to the games 
• Her plan postgrad is to become a registered dietician after getting her master's degree 

#4 Madison Runyan 

• Transferred to Tarleton State to live closer to her family and is able to hang out with them more 
• Loves watching movies, has started cooking a lot more – loves watching comedy movies, any Adam Sandler movie especially. Her favorite Adam Sandler movie is Grown Ups 

#6 Braylin Pannill 

• Is a first generation Tarleton State attendee, the first in her family to attend college and the first to play college softball (of course) 
• Likes to go to the beach a lot 
• She's a cleaner 
• Likes to play Fortnite 
• Really likes Jessie Murph 
• She's a dog mom, Willow Grace, a golden Aussie Doodle 

#10 Hannah Reed 

• Is the aunt of three (two nieces, one nephew) 
• Likes to rope whenever she's bored 
• Likes to shop, go on walks 
• Loves watching shows, the Summer I Turned Pretty, mystery shows, Netflix surfs 
• Loves coffee, drinks a lot of it 
• Chose TSU – a lot of her family went to Tarleton State, although she is the first athlete 
• Will pursue her MBA – wants to do something in marketing, might start a business with sister in marketing postgrad – possibly social media management 

#11 Mikayla Wilson 

• Likes to go on runs – has a dog, a Frenchie, Rufus 
• Chose TSU because it felt like home, girls were really welcoming, has the small town field 
• Involved with FCA at TSU 

#14 Avery Pemberton 

• Loves watching shows, favorite show is One Tree Hill 
• Her Great-great-great grandfather invented Coca Cola, John Pemberton 

#15 Gracie Riney 

• Likes to take her dog, Cash, a corgi, on walks and play frisbee, got him in May 
• Likes to watch tv series with her roommates, Molly Cochran – just finished Stranger Things, likes Landman 
• Is Native American, Osage Tribe on her mom's side 
• Chose TSU because close to home and loves the family aspect and traditions – always wanted to know she wanted to come, and on visit, knew she had to come 

#16 Katherine Brunner 

• Likes hunting and fishing when not playing softball 
• Likes lifting and going to the gym 
• Involved with FCA 

#18 Gisele Rayngay 

• Likes to do nails and likes to bleach dye hoodies, likes to craft a lot 
• Likes her dogs and playing with her brothers, has two dogs, loves her grandma 
• Chose TSU because close to home and likes the environment 
• Plan postgrad, wants to become a sports physical therapist and have her own business 

#19 Alyson Higginbotham 

• Likes to line dance 
• Watches Teen Wolf 
• Has changed major three times, now business 

#20 Alyssa Budisalovich 

• Has a 2 year old puppy, Owen 
• Is really good at Fortnite and baking – banana bread and corn bread 
• Chose TSU because of the town and area, community 

#23 Jaelynn Duke 

• Is a great Fortnite player 
• Has a dog, Beaux, doxie, long hair Dotson 
• Really likes Jessie Murph 

#24 Isabella Bojkovic 

• Likes to go to the gym, wants to go law school, wants to be a sports lawyer postgrad 
• Likes to cook or watch The Office 
• Chose TSU, is big on family, family oriented ran program, close to home – parents are able to come to most games 

#25 Abigail Dowell

• Loves to sew, likes to hang out with friends or her brother at home, family time and spending time at the church 
• Sews things on sweatshirts 
• Plan postgrad is to go to school radiology, will need to go to 2-year course. 

#28 Riley McDaniel 

• Likes to hang out with teammates, bible study together, likes to cook – has a pasta "Riley's Surprise" 
• Likes to watch reality TV, Secret Lives of Mormon Lives and Dance Moms 
• Brother plays high school baseball, uncle golfed at Grand Canyon, rest of her family went to CBU 
• Was the 20th person in her family to go to CBU, grandma was on the first volleyball team there after Title IX 
• Plan postgrad, wants to get certified for strength and conditioning, interning with Tarleton State Athletic Performance 

#30 Alex Aguilar 

• Likes to read, fantasy books and romance 
• Biology major, wants to get into dental school postgrad 
• Likes to try small coffee shops 
• Likes to play Fortnite 

UP NEXT 
The Texans will host the third ranked team in the country, No. 3 Texas Tech, on March 24 at 5 p.m.