The Lone Star Conference season is winding down, with two weeks of regular season play remaining.
      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.
      The LSC 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.  Note, UT Tyler is not eligible to compete in the 2021 LSC softball tournament due to their NCAA Division II provisional membership status.
      LSC schedule and results available here: http://www.lonestarconference.org/calendar.aspx?path=softball&&
 
SOFTBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
HITTER
Lindsey Stoeckel, Oklahoma Christian, JR, Mass Communications/Public Relations-Advertising, First Base-Pitcher, Oklahoma City, Okla., Southmoore HS
Stoeckel homered and drove in three runs – including the game-winner in game two – as No. 10-ranked OC swept No. 6 Texas A&M-Commerce 2-1 and 5-4. Her single to center field drove in OC’s first run in the opener. In the second game, with OC trailing 3-0, she hit a solo home run in the fifth inning to start the Eagles’ comeback. In the eighth inning, with two outs and a runner on third base, she sent a sinking line drive to center field to bring home Hunter Hays with the winning run. For good measure, she also was the starting pitcher in the second game, throwing 4 1/3 shutout innings and allowing only three hits while striking out three batters. OC has won a school-record 16 straight games and is in second place in the LSC standings.
 
PITCHER
Erin Hill, UT Tyler, SR, Business Administration, LHP, Maryville, Tenn., William Blount HS
Hill threw two complete game shutouts and recorded a save to go 2-0 for the week without conceding a single earned run in her 14.2 innings of work for No. 3 UT Tyler. She tossed complete game shutouts in both of her starts for the week in the Patriot doubleheader sweeps against St. Mary's and Cameron. Hill also picked up the save in game one on Tuesday afternoon for UTT, taking over for fellow starter Payton Foster in the seventh to record the final two outs against St. Mary's and collected save number two for the year. The Maryville, Tenn. native struck out a total of 14 batters between the three appearances and ranks seventh in all of Division II softball with 17 wins on the year. Hill and Foster rank first and second in the LSC with ERA's of 0.97 and 0.98 and have combined for a 31-5 record in 2021.
 
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
A-27     Lindsey Stoeckel, Oklahoma Christian
 
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
A-27     Erin Hill, UT Tyler
 
SELECTED NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
      Aylene Lucero, Eastern New Mexico, had a great weekend as the Greyhounds went 3-1 overall. She appeared in three games. Overall, she went 8-11 at the plate for a .727 batting average and a 1.182 slugging percentage. She hit a two-run home run, two doubles, and had five RBI throughout the weekend series with WNMU and UTPB.
      Madison Johnson, West Texas A&M, had a massive weekend for the Lady Buffs, hitting .667 with two triples and three home runs and 11 RBIs for a 2.111 slugging percentage. She had two hits and three RBIs in a 9-1 victory over UT Permian Basin, then hit a three-run home run in the night as WT defeated the Falcons in six innings. She homered for the third straight game in Sunday’s series opening win against Western New Mexico. She finished the weekend 1-for-2 from the plate as the Lady Buffs pushed their win streak to eight games.
      Victoria Gonzales, Texas A&M International, had a great weekend at the plate for the Dustdevils, going 7-for-14 at the dish. In the doubleheader against Texas Woman's on Friday, Gonzalez went 5-for-7 including the go-ahead RBI single in the bottom of the fifth inning in game one, followed by a game tying double in the bottom of the seventh in game one. Against Midwestern State, Gonzalez had yet another multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 in the second game of the doubleheader. She currently leads the team in batting average (.368).
      Victoria Aldridge, St. Mary's, recorded at least one hit in all six games, hitting a team best .427 for the week. She also tallied three sacrifice hits and walked twice without striking out. Aldridge has now reached base safely in 14 games, with the last seven being via hits.
      Courtney Plocheck, UT Tyler, homered three times and slugged 1.308 in the four wins for #3 UT Tyler to help keep the Patriots atop the Lone Star Conference standings with a record of 25-1. She went 6-for-13 from the plate with extra-base hits in five of those six hits and led the team with eight RBI in the four wins. Plocheck was especially hot at the plate in the Patriot's two wins over Cameron on Sunday afternoon, going 5-for-6 with six runs scored and seven RBI as the Patriots defeated the Aggies by 11-1 and 11-0 final scores. Plocheck ranks fifth in the Lone Star Conference with an average of .433 for the year and has recorded a hit in 13 out of her last 14 games.
      Tyla Lee, Lubbock Christian, helped LCU to a 3-1 week with a road series split at St. Mary's and to their first road series sweep of St. Edward's in Austin for the first time in program history. In the series at St. Edward's, Lee was 4-for-7 with three RBI, two doubles and a home run. She was 3-for-6 on the week in at-bats with the bases empty.
      Alex McLennan, St. Mary's, in five appearances, did not allow an earned run and totaled one save. She threw at least one inning in each contest, totaling 12.1 for the week. Over those innings, she held opponents to a .200 batting average and struck out four. In two innings at UT-Tyler, McLennan did not allow a hit, while she surrendered just three in the three innings over two games against Lubbock Christian.
      Emilee Wilson, West Texas A&M, did not allow a run in two starts this weekend as the Lady Buffs have now won eight straight games. The redshirt sophomore allowed five hits and no walks with nine strikeouts in 10.0 innings of work. She allowed four hits with three strikeouts in WT’s 9-1 win over UT Permian Basin on Friday evening before holding Western New Mexico to one hit in four innings of work on Sunday.
      Dakota Stotyn, Lubbock Christian, who sits in the top-five nationally with a conference-leading 0.49 walks per seven innings, went 2-0 on the week for LCU with a pair of road victories. She held St. Mary's to one earned run over 6.1 innings Saturday, as LCU posted their first win of the season when trailing after five innings (1-10) with a 3-2 win at StMU and followed with her first complete game shutout of the season Sunday by holding St. Edward's to five hits in a 4-0 win to help LCU complete their first series sweep over SEU in Austin in program history.
      Kali Crandall, Oklahoma Christian, allowed only five hits and one earned run in 10 innings of work, picking up both pitching wins as No. 10 OC swept No. 6 Texas A&M-Commerce 2-1 and 5-4. Crandall (22-1) moved back into the lead in NCAA Division II for pitching wins with the sweep. In the opener, she pitched her 12th complete game of the season, striking out a season-high 11 batters. She entered the second game in relief in the seventh inning and fanned three more Lions in two innings of work before OC won the game in the bottom of the eighth. With those 14 strikeouts, she raised her career total to 415 and moved herself into third place on OC's career list in that category. With 22 wins, Crandall is now tied for third place on OC's single-season list for wins with OC Athletic Hall of Famer Leah Carrell, who had 22 wins in 2000. Crandall has won 18 straight decisions.
      Erika Cortez, Texas A&M International, had yet another 2-0 weekend for the Dustdevils, helping lead TAMIU to a 3-1 mark overall between Friday and Sunday. In Friday's 3-2 win over Texas Woman's, Cortez allowed two runs on just two hits and struck out nine Pioneers. On Sunday, she had another stellar outing, allowing just one run and five hits to go with seven strikeouts against Midwestern State. For the weekend, Cortez threw two complete games allowing a combined three runs, seven hits and struck out 16 batters, with an ERA of 1.50 for the weekend and an opponent batting average of just .142. She now leads the LSC in strikeouts with 160 and is top 10 in numerous categories.