THE GAMES
Looking to build on a win in last weekend’s series finale, No. 12 Tarleton is headed for a three-game conference series in Silver City against Western New Mexico. The TexAnns (12-4, 3-3 LSC) will begin the series Friday at 1 p.m. CT against the Mustangs (1-12, 0-3 LSC) before closing things out with an 11 a.m. CT doubleheader on Saturday.
TARLETON IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Tarleton Softball dropped four spots in the latest national rankings by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association. This marks the third consecutive ranking this season for the TexAnns after opening at No. 14 in the preseason poll. Tarleton has been a nationally-ranked program in 12 consecutive rankings dating back to last season. It’s also the 11th straight ranking to have Tarleton among the nation’s top 20.
GAME COVERAGE
There will be live stats 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 three 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
Long balls from Karli Herron and Tanna Huie backed a complete-game shutout from Jordan Withrow as Tarleton salvaged a win in the series finale against Texas A&M-Kingsville.
INSIDE THE SERIES: WESTERN NEW MEXICO
Tarleton and Western New Mexico have square off 12 times since 1999 and the TexAnns own an overall record of 11-1 against the Mustangs. Tarleton is 4-0 all-time in Silver City, sweeping a four-game series in 2017 during Western’s inaugural season as a Lone Star Conference rival.
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
Tarleton will return home for a crucial league series against No. 6 Angelo State next weekend, beginning Friday night at 6 p.m. at the Tarleton Softball Complex. For more information on the Tarleton Softball program, follow @tarletonsball on Twitter.
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