The Lone Star Conference Softball Championship will be played May 13-14-15, at the No. 1 seed. The top 10 teams will play a single-elimination tournament to determine the LSC Tournament Champion, who will receive the league’s automatic qualification into the NCAA postseason.
SOFTBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
HITTER
Ashlynn Box, Angelo State, FR, Business, UTL, Christoval, Texas, Christoval HS
Box had an exhilarating weekend for the Rambelles, hitting .538 in five wins over Texas A&M International and Texas A&M-Kingsville. She was a perfect 3-of-3 in two of the contests with a pair of runs and RBI as well. Box finished with six runs, seven hits, one double, and four RBI with a .615 slugging percentage and a .556 on-base percentage.
PITCHER
Genesis Armendariz, Angelo State, FR, Kinesiology, P, Hobbs, NM, Hobbs HS
Armendariz continues to be a huge asset for Angelo State in the circle as she finished the weekend with three wins, posting a 0.51 ERA in 13.2 innings against Texas A&M International and Texas A&M-Kingsville. In the extra inning win versus the Javelinas, she went eight frames allowing three hits with seven strikeouts. For the week, the freshman recorded 11 strikeouts, allowing only five hits and one run in three games, with an .109 opponents’ batting average.
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)
A-6 Claire Chernosky, Texas A&M-Kingsville
A-13 Keilei Garcia, Angelo State
A-20 Ashlynn Box, Angelo State
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)
A-6 Erika Cortez, Texas A&M International (3)
A-13 Emily Otto, Texas A&M-Commerce
A-20 Genesis Armendariz, Angelo State
SELECTED NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Callie Christensen, Cameron, had her second straight weekend hitting over .600 this week as the Aggies went 3-1 in games against Western New Mexico and UT Permian Basin. The senior catcher opened the weekend by going 4-5 in the doubleheader against the Mustangs, hitting a home run in both games and totaling four runs scored and six RBI for the day. Her two long-balls put her atop the LSC with 11 home runs on the season. She added an RBI and four walks in the doubleheader against UTPB, giving her six free passes for the weekend. In the last two weeks, Christiansen has hit .706 with five home runs and 15 RBI, pulling her to withing three runs driven in of the program’s career record of 183.
Brianna Robinson, Oklahoma Christian, continued her recent sizzling stretch, hitting .538 with a .625 on-base percentage, a 1.077 slugging percentage and eight RBIs while leading OC to a 4-0 week on the road, with three of those wins coming by run rule. She had two RBIs in a 13-0 win at Texas-Permian Basin, then hit a two-run third-inning homer in a 16-3 win in the second game. She had two hits in a 7-3 win at Western New Mexico, then capped the weekend with a three-run homer in an 18-9 win over the Mustangs. She’s on an eight-game hitting streak and has had two hits in five of those games, helping OC extend its winning streak to a school-record 14 games.
Mak Dominguez, UT Tyler, had a run scored and an RBI in both games against St. Edward's on Sunday afternoon for #3 UT Tyler as the Patriots moved to 21-1 in Lone Star Conference play this season with a pair of wins. Dominguez hit .500 from the plate between the two games and slugged 1.167 on the day with a double and a solo homer. The Austin, Texas native finished the day 3-for-6 and totaled a pair of RBI and a pair of runs scored.
Darrian Smith, Texas A&M International, was a catalyst at the plate for TAMIU over the five game weekend, hitting .500 at the plate. In the three game set against Angelo State, Smith went 5-for-9 with a home run and two RBI. Her home run came in the top of the sixth in the opening game of the doubleheader series, eventually sending the game to extra innings. Smith then went 2-for-5 in the two games against Lubbock Christian, notably hitting a two out, two RBI single in the top of the sixth of game one to give TAMIU the lead and ultimately the victory. Smith is currently hitting .390 on the season and ranks 9th in the LSC in slugging % (.752) and is T-5th in home runs (9).
Ruby Salzman, West Texas A&M, hit .429 this past weekend as the No. 12 Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M swept Midwestern State and Texas Woman’s. The redshirt sophomore had six hits including a double, triple and home run for four RBI and 12 total bases. She also wen 5-for-5 on stolen base attempts and scored a team-high seven runs. Salzman recorded multiple hits in three of the four wins including a 2-for-3 performance in the night cap against Midwestern State driving in three runs.
Kyra Lair, West Texas A&M, was nearly unhittable this weekend as the Canyon native went 2-0 in two starts not allowing an earned run on four hits and three walks with 19 strikeouts. She was one strike away from her second career no-hitter in the opener against Midwestern State as she struck out a career-high 10 batters en route to a 11-1 victory. She was would get the start in the opener against Texas Woman’s going four innings holding the Pioneers to two hits while striking out six.
Marissa Salinas, UT Permian Basin, recorded the first shutout of the year for the Falcons as they celebrated Senior Day. Salinas allowed five hits over 9.2 innings of work against Oklahoma Christian and Cameron over the weekend. The senior recorded a 0.70 ERA over the weekend and allowed one run over the span of 10 innings.
Erika Cortez, Texas A&M International, put together two stellar performances on the mound for the Dustdevils this past weekend. In a 3-2 F/8 loss to Angelo State, Cortez limited the LSC's #7 offense to just four hits while striking out seven batters in 7.1 innings. She followed that performance on Sunday, dominating the LSC's #1 offense to the tune of just one run and four hits, along with four strikeouts, as TAMIU defeated Lubbock Christian 2-1. Cortez's weekend line against two teams T-5th in the LSC was: 14.1 IP, 4 R, 8 H, 4 BB and 11 K. She currently sits at 144 strikeouts, just two off the LSC lead and ranks top 10 in numerous LSC pitching categories.
Payton Foster, UT Tyler, struck out nine batters in her complete game win in the 5-2 Patriot's victory in game one on Sunday afternoon over St. Edward's. Foster moved her season record to 12-4 on the year, conceding just six hits and a pair of earned runs in the effort. She retired five out of the first six and then the final six batters in in the outing and continues to lead the Lone Star Conference with an ERA of 0.96 for the season. The nine strikeouts match the second-highest total for Foster this season.
Kali Crandall, Oklahoma Christian, who leads NCAA Division II in pitching wins with 20, picked up two more with road wins at UT Permian Basin and Western New Mexico. She threw five shutout innings, allowing only three hits with five strikeouts, in a 13-0 win at UTPB, then went the distance in a 7-3 win at Western New Mexico, recording three strikeouts. She became only the fourth OC pitcher ever to record a 20-win season and only the fourth to record 400 career strikeouts, finishing the week with 401. She has won her last 16 decisions.