Five teams – Midwestern State, Oklahoma Christian, Texas A&M-Commerce, Texas A&M-Kingsville, and UT Tyler – lead the Lone Star Conference standings after one week of league contests.
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
Uxua Modrego, Texas A&M-Commerce, FR, Biological Science, 2B, Burlada, Spain, IES Ibaialde
Modrego led the Lions at the plate, earning at least one hit in every game of a 6-0 week with a batting average of .526 for the No. 5 team in the nation. In the Rogers State sweep, she went 3-for-7 with three steals and two runs. In the two wins over Eastern New Mexico, she went 4-for-5 with three RBIs and three runs scored. In the tight sweep of West Texas A&M, she went 3-for-7 with two runs scored and a triple. For the season she is hitting .442 with 19 hits, 8 RBIs, and 11 runs.
PITCHER
Alyssa LeBlanc, Texas A&M-Commerce, FR, Sport & Recreation Management, P/1B, Katy, Texas, Katy HS
LeBlanc was a major contributor to the Lions' 6-win week, going 4-0 without allowing a run and holding opponents to a .133 batting average. The Lions are on a 33.1-inning streak without allowing a run and had shutouts in the last five games. On Tuesday, she closed out a win in the first game over Rogers State with five strikeouts in two innings, followed by a one-hitter in a run-rule win with seven strikeouts. On Friday, she struck out eight in 4.0 innings, allowing three hits in a shutout of Eastern New Mexico. On Sunday, she had a complete game shutout of West Texas A&M, striking out 6 and walking one with four hits. She also went .313 with five hits and three runs, driving in six with two homeruns at the plate. For the year, she leads the nation with eight wins in the circle, with an 8-2 record, 1.43 ERA, and 69 strikeouts in 49.0 innings.
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
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)
SELECTED NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Amanda Marek, UT Tyler, hit five home runs and totaled 14 RBI in the four games for #10 UT Tyler over the weekend. She paced a Patriot offense that scored 44 runs and hit .404 for the weekend in doubleheader sweeps of #17 West Texas A&M and Eastern New Mexico. Marek hit two home runs in the first game on Friday against #17 West Texas A&M and the second game against Eastern New Mexico on Sunday to total five RBI in both of those contests. The Robinson, Texas native recorded two or more RBI In all four games over the weekend and went 7-for-14 from the plate for a .500 average. Her slugging percentage finished at 1.571 for the weekend as all but two of her seven hits were homeruns.
Alexys Ginegaw, Texas Woman's, had two multi-hit games this week, going 3-for-3 in the opener against Western New Mexico and 2-for-5 in a win over UT Permian Basin. She scored the tying run in the seventh inning when TWU scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings against UTPB, and then drove in the winning run with her RBI single in the 11th.
Mattye Tyler, Midwestern State, put up a .467 average in four games and 15 at bats to help her team go 4-0 in Lone Star Conference play. The sophomore went for a slugging percent of .867 and an on base percent of .467. She garnered six runs, with three coming against the first Western New Mexico match. The DP had seven hits, which included two home runs in that same WNM game. She totaled seven RBIs and had only one strike out. Tyler has at least one hit in the past 12 games and has one in 14 of 15 games. For the year, she leads the team in hits (23) and doubles (10). Her 23 hits ranks seventh in the NCAA Division II and fourth in the LSC. Her 10 doubles is first in the nation and first in the Lone Star.
Whitney Walde, Oklahoma Christian, fingerprints were all over the road sweeps of two ranked foes, No. 25 Lubbock Christian and No. 23 Angelo State, going 6 of 13 at the plate (.462) with a triple, posting a .533 on-base percentage and stealing two bases in as many attempts. She drove in OC’s first run in a 3-1 win at Lubbock Christian that started the Eagles off on their unbeaten weekend, then had two hits and scored in a 4-0 win in the second game. She had three more hits in a 4-2 win at Angelo State.
Reba Reyes, St. Mary's, had a solid week at the plate, hitting .417 in four Lone Star Conference games. The freshman recorded five hits and scored one run. In the first game of the weekend against Texas A&M International, Reyes went 2-for-4 and scored the lone run of the game, helping the Rattlers to a 1-0 victory over the Dustdevils. Reyes served as the designated hitter for the first time this season in the final game of the weekend against Texas A&M-Kingsville, going 2-for-3 with a stolen base.
Callie Christensen, Cameron, provided some key at-bats during the Aggies two wins over No. 23 Angelo State and No. 25 Lubbock Christensen this past weekend. The senior backstop opened the weekend with a two RBI double and a pair of walks in the walk-off loss to the Belles, and then added a solo homer and a sacrifice fly in the 4-2 win in game two. After recording a hit in game one against Lubbock Christian, Christensen added a three-run homer in the 6-4 game two win. She also caught the first three games, recorded 19 put-outs, and was 1-1 in stolen base attempts for the weekend.
Erika Cortez, Texas A&M International, was tremendous in two games for the Dustdevils this weekend. In a 1-0 loss against St. Mary's to open the weekend, Cortez threw a complete game, allowing just five hits while striking out 13 Rattlers. In her second start of the weekend, Cortez went the distance yet again, completing her seventh game of the season, recording her second shutout, allowing just three hits and striking out 10 in a 2-0 win over St. Edward's. In her last three starts, Cortez has three complete games, two shutouts, has allowed just one run, 14 hits and has recorded 29 strikeouts.
Bailey Turner, Oklahoma Christian, allowed one run over 14 innings against No. 25 Lubbock Christian and No. 23 Angelo State, recording two pitching wins that helped fuel OC’s 4-0 record on the week. She pitched a four-hit shutout with one walk and five strikeouts as OC completed a sweep at LCU with a 4-0 win on Friday, then kept OC in the game at Angelo State, allowing only one run and five hits over seven innings before the Eagles prevailed 2-1 in the eighth. She twice escaped bases-loaded jams to keep her team in the game. Opponents batted only .180 against her and did not record an extra-base hit.
Erin Hill, UT Tyler, threw the program's first no hitter of the Division II era on Sunday afternoon against Eastern New Mexico for her second complete game of the weekend. Hill struck out four Greyhounds in that 11-0 win for #10 UT Tyler and was just a single fielding error away from a perfect game. She began the weekend with a complete game against #17 West Texas A&M, allowing just three earned runs in the 10-3 Patriot victory. The Maryville, Tenn. native totaled 12.0 innings in the two starts and limited batters to just a .186 batting average against her. She struck out 10 for the weekend and sports a 1.17 ERA for the season with a record of 6-1.
Jalee McDonald, Texas Woman's, did not allow an extra-base hit in two wins this week.
Jacey Henry, Midwestern State, pitched a total of ten innings in two games for the Mustangs. She held opponents (UT Permian Basin and Western New Mexico) to ten hits and six runs with one walked batter. The pitcher had three strike outs and faced the opposition's .256 batting average. On the other side of the plate, the junior recorded a .417 batting average for the four games. Her .833 slugging percent and .533 on base percent helped MSU to go 4-0 for the week. In her 12 at bats, the Marietta, Okla., native registered five runs on five hits with two doubles and one home run. She had four RBIs and was walked once. Her five home runs for the year ranks eighth in NCAA Division II and second in the Lone Star Conference while her 16 RBIs put her at 16th in the nation and fourth in the LSC.
Makayla Corbin, Angelo State, was a force in the circle for Angelo State in their four wins against Henderson State and their win against Cameron at home. Corbin threw for 21 total innings, throwing 15 strikeouts and registering a 2.33 ERA for her performances against the Reddies and the Aggies. Corbin is currently ranked eighth in the conference with a 1.50 ERA, and is holding opponents to a batting average of .206, which is also ranked eighth in the conference.
Bethany Hines, Cameron, was in the circle for CU when they took down a pair of top-25 ranked teams in Angelo State and Lubbock Christian this weekend to open LSC play. Against No. 23 Angelo State, the senior hurler opened the game with five hitless innings before giving up a pair of runs on a pair of hits in the sixth. Hines struck out 10 of the 26 batters she faced on the way to her fourth win of the year. Two days later behind plenty of run-support, the Washington, Okla. native didn’t allow a crooked number on the scoreboard against No. 25 Lubbock Christian. Hines once again racked up the punch-outs, sitting down five Lady Chaps hitters by way of the K in the win, which was the 69th pitching victory of her career.