No. 8 Tarleton set for home debut when LSC powers collide in Stephenville today

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THE GAMES
Tarleton’s first home series of the season is a big one. The No. 8-ranked TexAnns will make their long-awaited home debut this weekend in Lone Star Conference action against Texas A&M-Kingsville. Tarleton comes into the series 11-2 overall and 2-1 in LSC play while the Javelinas are 14-1 on the season, including a 2-1 mark in LSC action.

TARLETON IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Tarleton moved up six spots in the latest NFCA national rankings to its highest spot in program history – No. 8. This marks the second consecutive ranking this season for the TexAnns after opening at No. 14 in the preseason poll. Tarleton has been a nationally-ranked program in 11 consecutive rankings dating back to last season. It’s also the 10th straight ranking to have Tarleton among the nation’s top 20.

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GAME COVERAGE
There will be live stats and video available for the games, courtesy of the home team. Direct links can be found on the Official Tarleton Sports App, Game Day preview story and Game Day graphics on Tarleton’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages, as well as on the team schedule page at TarletonSports.com. Follow @TarletonSports or @tarletonsball on Twitter for links to coverage. Fans can also have access to all the links for every game by downloading the TarletonSports mobile app for iOS and Android.

SCHUTT SPORTS/NFCA DII PLAYER OF THE YEAR TOP-50 WATCH LIST
The National Fastpitch Coaches Association released its annual Top-50 Watch List for the Schutt Sports/NFCA Division II National Player of the Year Thursday afternoon and Tarleton State University has two players to keep an eye on – Georgia Capell and Tanna Huie. The top 50 list is comprised of returning NFCA All-Americans from last season and a slew of players submitted by head coaches and selected by the NFCA Division II All-America committee. They are the second and third players in Tarleton history to be named to the Top-50 Watch List, joining Katelyn Conlee in 2016.

PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS
Jordan Withrow and Georgia Capell have been named 2019 Preseason All-Americans by Fastpitch News (FPN). Withrow was named an All-America Second Team pitcher while Capell earned honorable mention honors. Withrow is coming off the best year of her brief Tarleton career as a sophomore in 2018. As a sophomore, Withrow was an honorable mention All-American by FPN and the Lone Star Conference Co-Pitcher of the Year. She also earned all-conference and all-region recognition and was named the LSC Academic Player of the Year. Last spring, she became the first Tarleton pitcher in program history with over 200 strikeouts in a single season (252). Capell made quite the impression as she became the first freshman in program history to be named an All-American. She earned third-team honors from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA). In her debut season, Capell was named the South Central Region and Lone Star Conference Freshman of the Year as well as all-conference and all-region.

WITHROW TABBED PRESEASON PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Jordan Withrow was named the LSC Preseason Pitcher of the Year after a sophomore campaign where she was the LSC Pitcher of the Year, an NFCA All-Region Second Team selection and FastpitchNews.com Honorable Mention All-American. Withrow went 26-6 in the circle with 221.1 innings of work and 252 strikeouts, becoming the first player in program history to strikeout 200 in a single season.

MARK’S MILESTONE
Tarleton head coach Mark Cumpian has been an instant success since taking over the Tarleton Softball program. He is currently four victories away from notching career win No. 100 in his young career. He’s on pace to become the second-fastest Tarleton coach (among any sport) in the senior college era to reach 100 career victories. The only coach to reach 100 wins faster was men’s basketball coach Lonn Reisman (133 games).

LAST TIME OUT
Georgia Capell came up big with some late-inning heroics in the field and at the plate in the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader with Cameron to lead No. 14 Tarleton to the series win at McMahon Field. Tarleton won the series opener and lost the series finale in six innings.

INSIDE THE SERIES: TEXAS A&M-KINGSVILLE
Tarleton and Texas A&M-Kingsville have been meeting on the softball diamond since 1997 and have played over 80 games against each other. The TexAnns hold a 49-34 edge in the all-time series and are 23-11 against the Javelinas in Stephenville.

UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
Tarleton will hit the road for its longest road trip of the season next weekend with a three-game series in Silver City, New Mexico against Western New Mexico. For more information on the Tarleton Softball program, follow @tarletonsball on Twitter.

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