UT Tyler sits atop the Lone Star Conference softball standings at 15-1 after both the Patriots and Texas A&M-Commerce fell from the ranks of the unbeaten following conference games last week.
      LSC teams are playing a single round-robin schedule with a doubleheader (two games) against each league opponent starting on March 5.  The LSC Champion will be the team(s) with the best winning percentage in regular-season conference games.
      LSC schedule and results available here: http://www.lonestarconference.org/calendar.aspx?path=softball&&
 
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
HITTER
Shanna McBroom, West Texas A&M, SR, Sports and Exercise Science, Catcher, Sachse, Texas, Sachse HS
McBroom hit .636 (7-for-11) to help the Lady Buffs go 3-1 in week seven, moving to 21-7 overall.  The Sachse, Texas native registered a 1.455 slugging percentage with two doubles, two triples and a solo home run.  She scored the game-winning run in WT's 6-5 victory over St. Mary's and was responsible for eight of the Lady Buffs' 28 runs against St. Edward's and StMU.
 
PITCHER
Kali Crandall, Oklahoma Christian, SO, Nursing, Pitcher, Artesia, N.M., Artesia HS
Crandall picked up four wins and a save while recording an 0.84 ERA and 25 strikeouts over 21 1/3 innings during a 6-0 week in which Oklahoma Christian recorded doubleheader sweeps of Arkansas Tech, Midwestern State and Texas Woman’s, the latter two on the road. She had nine strikeouts and went the distance in a 2-1 win over Arkansas Tech in the opener, then picked up her second save of the season with a one-inning stint in a 3-1 win in the second game. She pitched four shutout innings with eight strikeouts in a 13-0 win over Midwestern State, then returned in the second game to pick up another win with 3 2/3 innings of relief in a 7-2 win. In six innings of a 14-1 win over Texas Woman’s, she allowed two hits, no runs and struck out five. She currently leads NCAA Division II with 15 wins.
 
WEEKLY AWARDS
Hitter
F-9       Brooke Makemson, Lubbock Christian
F-23     Shanna McBroom, West Texas A&M
M-2      Ruby Salzman, West Texas A&M
M-9      Uxua Modrego, Texas A&M-Commerce
M-16    Madison Fernandez, Angelo State
M-23    Haley Castle, Cameron
M-30    Shanna McBroom, West Texas A&M (2)
 
Pitcher
F-9       Alyssa LeBlanc, Texas A&M-Commerce
F-23     Taylor Franco, Lubbock Christian
M-2      Erika Cortez, Texas A&M International
M-9      Alyssa LeBlanc, Texas A&M-Commerce (2)
M-16    Kali Crandall, Oklahoma Christian
M-23    Erika Cortez, Texas A&M International (2)
M-30    Kali Crandall, Oklahoma Christian (2)
 
SELECTED NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
     Madison Schaefer, Texas A&M-Commerce, was the Lions' offensive catalyst in a 3-2 week with an impressive .778 on-base percentage and 1.500 slugging percentage. She was 6-for-10 with 3 homers. In the Southern Arkansas game, she was 2-for-2 with a homer, 2 walks, 3 runs, 2 RBIs and 3 steals. She was 2-for-2 with 2 walks, 2 runs, and 2 steals in the LCU opener, then hit a 2-run homer and had 2 walks in the nightcap. She had a homer in the Angelo State opener, then walked twice in the second game. For the season, she leads the LSC in slugging (.872), on-base percentage (.592), homers (9), and walks (24). She ranks fourth in batting average (.462), runs (29) and has only six strikeouts in 78 at-bats for a 4:1 walk to strikeout ratio.
     Ashley Perez, UT Tyler, hit three homers in four games over the weekend as #6 UT Tyler moved into first place in the Lone Star Conference standings with a record of 15-1 in league play. Perez hit .500 for the weekend from the plate, going 7-for-14 with five runs scored and five RBI. She recorded a hit in all four games and homered in three out of the four games, including a walk-off solo homer in the bottom of the tenth inning to secure a 4-3 win over Lubbock Christian in game one on Sunday afternoon. The Pflugerville, Texas native then led off game number two with her second straight homer in as many at-bats to record three RBI throughout the day on Sunday. The senior also homered and went 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI in Friday's game one win over #24 Angelo State. She leads the Patriots with a .417 average and ranks second on the team in homers (3) and RBI (19).
     Briana Arredondo, Texas A&M International, continued her hot streak at the plate, helping TAMIU to a 4-0 record over the weekend. In two victories against Western New Mexico, Arredondo went a combined 6-for-8 with a double, three home runs, seven RBI and three runs scored. On Sunday, in two shutout victories against UT Permian Basin, Arredondo went 3-for-7 with a double, home run, four RBI and a run scored. For the weekend she hit .600 (9-for-15) with three singles, two doubles, four home runs, 11 RBI and four runs scored with a 1.533 slugging %. Her hitting streak has now reached 13 games and she currently sits tied for the LSC lead in home runs (9), 3rd in RBI (36) and 7th in slugging percentage of (.788).
     Claire Chernosky’s, Texas A&M-Kingsville, nine hits in four games for a .643 average and a 1.000 slugging percentage helped the Javelinas score sweeps of UT Permian Basin and Western New Mexico last week. After picking up an RBI in TAMUK's first game against UTPB, Chernosky logged three hits in game two, drove in two runs and blasted her first homer of the season. She collected five more knocks on Sunday, including two doubles, while adding three more RBIs to her total as the Javs defeated the Mustangs by scores of 4-0 and 6-3. Chernosky drove in six total runs for the week and boosted her average for the season from .275 to .354.
     Bari Christian, St. Mary’s, helped lead the Rattlers to a split against No. 10 West Texas A&M on Sunday. After going 1-for-3 in the first game, Christian went 3-for-4 in game two, scoring two runs. The Rattlers defeated the Lady Buffs in game two, 6-5.
      Tyla Lee, Lubbock Christian, had a solid week, becoming the only LSC team to defeat No.2 Texas A&M-Commerce and No.6 UT Tyler, and completing the task on the road (ended TAMUC's 16-game win streak and UTT's 15-game win streak while the win at TAMUC was their first in program history on the road at a top-5 nationally ranked program). Lee had a trio of multi-hit games and a pair of multi-RBI outings. She opened the week 3-for-3 with two home runs at TAMUC. Lee closed the weekend Sunday at UTT with a 2-for-4 and 2-for-3 performance to combine for 4-for-7 on the afternoon. On the week, she slugged 1.000 and had a .625 against a pair of teams that have solid pitching (TAMUC co-leads the nation in shutouts and UTT leads the conference in ERA).
       Brianna Robinson, Oklahoma Christian, hit .500 and drove in seven runs as No. 16 Oklahoma Christian completed a 6-0 week with sweeps of Arkansas Tech, Midwestern State and Texas Woman’s, the latter two on the road. She went 2 for 3 with a three-run first-inning home run in a 13-0 win at Midwestern State, then went 2 for 3 again with an RBI double in a 7-2 win over the Mustangs in the second game. In a 14-1 win at Texas Woman’s, she went 2 for 2 and drove in two runs (in the first and third innings), then drew a bases-loaded walk during a six-run second inning as the Eagles won 11-2 in the second game. For the week, she posted an .833 slugging percentage and a .647 on-base percentage (having also drawn five walks).
      Emily Andress, UT Permian Basin, had a week highlighted by a 4-4 performance against No. 14 Texas A&M Kingsville. She scored twice as well as brought home two runs. She hit a double and two triples as well to give her a .500 batting average for the week and a .769 slugging percentage.
     Bethany Hines, Cameron, was masterful in the circle for CU as she led the Aggies to two of their three wins this weekend. The senior from Washington, Okla. earned her 70th career win against Texas Woman’s a game in which she gave up just one run on five hits and a walk with two strikeouts in six innings of work. Hines followed that up with a three-hit shutout against Midwestern State, facing just three over the minimum with seven strikeouts in her seventh win of the year. She ranks in the top-10 in the LSC in innings pitched, strikeouts, wins and saves.
     Lizette Del Angel, Texas A&M-Kingsville, fired a complete-game shutout on Sunday in a 4-0 win over Western New Mexico. She permitted only six singles and didn't walk a batter in seven innings while striking out seven to earn her sixth win. Del Angel's week also included 5.1 innings of two-run relief work against UT Permian Basin on Friday in a come-from-behind, 11-7 Javelina win. Over 12.1 innings of work, Del Angel crafted a 1.14 ERA and struck out 11 without walking a batter.
     Kyra Lair, West Texas A&M, earned two victories on the mound as the Lady Buffs went 3-1 in week seven.  The sophomore pitcher recording a 1.27 ERA allowing three runs (two earned) on nine hits with one walk and 13 strikeouts.  She was one strikeout away from tying her career- and season-high strikeouts as she recorded eight in game one against St. Mary's catching three batters looking.
     Kaitlyn Turner, Midwestern State, complied her lowest number of runs allowed in MSU’s games against Oklahoma Christian and Cameron. The freshman allowed only one run in each competition in her 9.1 total innings pitched, her best performances this year. Turner totaled four strikeouts for the weekend and had three walks. In the OC game, she registered only two hits, her lowest of the 2021 season.
     Erika Cortez, Texas A&M International, Erika Cortez (9-4) continued to excel on the mound for TAMIU with a 2-0 record over the weekend. In game one against Western New Mexico, she fanned eight and allowed two runs, seven hits and one walk in the 13-2 victory in six innings. She also hit a home run at the plate in the game. In game two, she was one hit away from a second perfect game in her last starts. She faced one batter above the minimum, allowing the lone hit, while striking out 14 Falcons to match her career-high in the 14-0 victory. Cortez now has 12 complete games on the season and is tied atop the LSC with 118 strikeouts.
     Erin Hill, UT Tyler, saw time in the circle in three of the four games this weekend for No. 6 UT Tyler as the Patriots moved into first place in the Lone Star Conference standings with a 3-1 record against #24 Angelo State and Lubbock Christian. Hill began her weekend with a complete-game shutout of #24 Angelo State, holding one of the league's best offensive teams to just a single hit, an infield single, while striking out nine in the five-inning run-rule of No. 24 Angelo State. She then came in and picked up the win against Lubbock Christian in game one on Sunday afternoon, shutting down a Lady Chap offense by allowing just two hits in 4.0 innings of work to move her overall record to 12-1 on the year. Hill struck out 18 in 10.0 innings pitched in her three appearances over the weekend, surrendering just one walk and three earned runs.