WICHITA FALLS, Texas – Midwestern State will attempt to defend its Lone Star Conference title beginning Thursday night at the Multi-Sports Complex in Durant, Okla.

The Mustangs, who won the league title in 2006 and 2007, enter this season's tournament as the No. 3 seed and will face LSC South Division No. 2 seed Tarleton State at 5 p.m.

The LSC 2008 Softball Championship is a double-elimination, eight-team tournament with the winner claiming an automatic berth into the NCAA Division II South Central Regional.

In other first-round action Thursday night includes: Southeastern Oklahoma State against Texas A&M-Kingsville; Abilene Christian against Central Oklahoma and Cameron against Angelo State.

Tidbits

• Brady Tigert claimed his 300th career coaching as the Mustangs rallied for a 3-2 win over No. 4 Angelo State last Saturday. He is now 300-147 (.671) in his eighth season as a collegiate head coach. Tigert is 190-93 (.671) in five seasons at MSU and was 110-54 (.671) in three seasons at Texas A&M-Kingsville (2001-03).
• Senior Ashley Kuchenski's 12-game hitting streak rates among the four longest streaks in school history. Brandi Tynes had a 17-game streak in 2004, Kristen Stonecipher collected a hit in 15-straight games in 2007 and Sarah Huddleston pieced together a 12-game streak in 2005.
• Kuchenski recorded multiple hits in five-straight games from April 19-26. It is the second longest streak of its kind in MSU program history, but only one behind Stonecipher's streak of six multi-hit contests from March 5-11, 2006. That streak was part of a 10-game hitting streak for Stonecipher in which she recorded at least two hits in eight of those contests. She strung another five two-hit game stretch later in the same season.
• After driving in the go-ahead run in Game 2 at Angelo State on Saturday, Kristen Stonecipher now needs four more RBI to become the all-time Lone Star Conference leader in the category. She now has 168 career RBI and trails former Abilene Christian standout Katie Bryan, who had 171 from 2002-05.
• The LSC originally listed its career hits record this season at 262 by former Southeastern Oklahoma State standout Kim Nichols. Had that been the case, Stonecipher would have snapped that record with her clutch RBI-single to drive in the go-ahead run on Saturday with her 263rd career hit. However, it was found that Nichols played 16 games and had 18 hits in a medical redshirt season pushing her total to 280. Current SOSU center fielder Rachel Lynn has 267 career hits through last week's competition.
• MSU junior center fielder Maranda Bishop has reached base in 53 of the Mustangs' 56 games this season and has recorded at least one hit in 42 of those contests.
• Midwestern State is the only Lone Star Conference North Division team to make an appearance in the league's postseason tournament since its re-inception in 2004. The Mustangs have posted an 11-5 mark in the event and has won seven of its last eight over the past two years. MSU is the two-time defending LSC champion.