LEADOFF
Midwestern State opens Lone Star Conference play by playing host to No. 1-ranked West Texas A&M for a three-game series this weekend at Mustangs Park. The teams play a single game Friday night at 7 p.m. before squaring off in a doubleheader Saturday afternoon at 1 and 3 p.m.
 

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Midwestern State vs. West Texas A&M
Friday, Feb. 28 | 7 p.m.
Saturday, March 1 | 1/3 p.m.
Mustangs Park | Wichita Falls, Texas
Records: Midwestern State (12-8, 0-0 LSC); West Texas A&M (17-0, 0-0 LSC)
Live Video: MSUMustangs.com  
Live Audio: None
Live Stats:  Game 1   |  Game 2   |  Game 3 
 
SCOUTING THE LADY BUFFS
West Texas A&M is off to its best start in school history at 17-0 including seven via run-rule and is riding the wave of four consecutive mercy victories into Wichita Falls. The Buffs lead the LSC in every major team category with a .376 team batting average, 1.80 ERA and a .975 team fielding percentage. Reigning NFCA national player of the week Jessica Sipe leads the league with a .545 batting average with five doubles, two triples and six homers while driving in 20 runs. Junior outfielder Renee Erwin is second in the LSC hitting .509 with six doubles, a triple, five homers and 23 RBIs. The Lady Buffs boast six other starters hitting better than .300 including senior infielder Alyssa Lemos (.392, 6 2B, 1 3B, 5 HR, 23 RBI, 10 SB), sophomore infielder Brittany Gehle (.375), junior infielder Allie Cranfill (.373, 3 2B, 2 3B, 5 HR, 18 RBI), senior catcher Mallory Wyatt (.325, 5 2B, 2 3B, 12 RBI) and junior outfielder Tyler Wilkinson (.320, 2 2B, 1 3B, 16 SB). Sophomore Hannah Newcomb leads the LSC with a 0.90 ERA while posting a 6-0 record with four shutouts in her seven starts. Junior transfer Rita Hokianga is 8-0 with a 2.11 ERA and leads the conference with 89 strikeouts in 56 1/3 innings while limiting the opposition to a .197 batting average. West Texas A&M ranks second in the LSC with 26 homers and scores 8.4 runs per game.
 
ABOUT THE SERIES
Midwestern State and West Texas A&M meet for the 28th, 29th and 30th time on the diamond Friday and Saturday at Mustangs Park. MSU owns a 19-8 edge in the series which dates back to the 2006 season. The Mustangs won 16 of the first 17 match-ups in the series, but WT has claimed five the last six and have carried a national ranking into each of its last 15 meetings with MSU. The Mustangs have won eight of those contests. This is the second-straight season WT drags a No. 1 ranking into town. Midwestern dealt the Lady Buffs a 6-3 defeat in the opener last season before WT claimed two-run wins in the final two contests (14-12, 8-6).
 

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MSU TEAM NOTES
- Midwestern State heads into a weekend series with No. 1 West Texas A&M. The Mustangs are 1-3 against nationally ranked opponents this season. MSU split with No. 6 Valdosta State at the West Florida Spring Tournament claiming losing 5-4 in 10 innings before taking a 6-3 victory. No. 14 St. Mary's claimed a pair of narrow victories over the Mustangs (6-4, 4-3) last weekend at the Rattler Invitational.
- The Mustangs lead the Lone Star Conference with 37 home runs in 20 games (1.85 per game), while West Texas A&M is second with 26 homers in 17 games (1.53 per game).
- MSU ranks second in the league scoring 7.8 runs per game and are fourth in team batting average at .337.
- Midwestern slugged eight home runs in a sweep of Texas-Permian Basin earlier this week. The Mustangs were powered by two homers each by Shelby Carter, Katy Vandewater and Chelsey Wall, while Baylee Voigt and Krisha Hamm each added long balls for the Mustangs.
 
MSU PLAYER NOTES
- Sophomore outfielder Haley Howerton has strung together a current 3-game hitting streak (5-for-12) after hitting .500 (21-for-42) during a 12-game hitting streak earlier this season. Howerton leads the team with eight doubles.
- Freshman outfielder Claire Hopkins has scored 12 runs in her 18 appearances this season.
- Freshman outfielder Jennifer Quintero has started six games in the outfield. She is hitting .400 with two RBIs and four runs scored fueled by a three-hit game against Northeastern State on Feb. 15.
- Freshman pitcher Erin Knox has won each of her last five starts while posting a  2.25 ERA with 17 strikeouts and five walks during 28 innings during the stretch. Knox has also been a force at the plate upping her average to .405 by going 3-for-3 Tuesday against Texas-Permian Basin while matching a school record with three doubles against the Falcons.
- Freshman outfielder Taylor Bermudes has started two games in the outfield this season.
- Redshirt-freshman outfielder Demi Thompson has appeared in 16 games this season making six starts in the outfield. She is hitting .22 .
- Freshman first baseman Krisha Hamm blasted her second homer of the season -- a three-run shot -- Tuesday against Texas-Permian Basin.
- Freshman Baylee Voigt launched her fifth home run of the season Tuesday at Texas-Permian Basin. She averages a homer every 6.4 at bats. Voigt hit a home run in three consecutive games from Feb. 13-14 earlier this season.
- Sophomore outfielder Chelsey Wall broke out of an 0-for-13 slump to go 3-for-5 with a pair of  home runs in Tuesday's doubleheader at Texas-Permian Basin. She is hitting .370 with two doubles, four homers and 16 RBIs this season.
- Senior catcher Kim Jerrick is hitting .579 (11-for-19) during a current six-game hitting streak with a double, a homer and 11 RBIs. She leads the Lone Star Conference with 7 home runs.
- Sophomore pitcher Kat Batey had a string of nine scoreless relief innings snapped at Texas-Permian Basin on Tuesday.
- Freshman pitcher Katlyn Holmes snapped a personal three-game skid by limiting UTPB to no earned runs on six hits in five innings on Tuesday.
- Sophomore second baseman Shelby Carter recorded multiple homers for the first time her career while driving in four runs in Game 1 Tuesday at Texas-Permian Basin.
- Junior shortstop Katy Vandewater ran her season-best hitting streak to 11 games hitting .457 (16-for-35) with three doubles and four homers while driving in 10 runs.
- Sophomore outfielder Katelyn Vinson has missed the last eight games due to injury. The 2013 Daktronics South Central Region Player of the Year is hitting .333 with two homers and 16 RBIs.
- Junior first baseman Katelyn Potts logged back-to-back multiple hit games against Oklahoma Christian and St. Mary's last week at the Rattler Invitational. She has accounted for two doubles and two homers while driving in five runs this season.
- Junior third baseman Kelley Schaefer is 5 for her last 11 over a current three-game hitting streak to raise her season average to .328 with two doubles, three homers and a team leading 19 RBIs.
 
MILESTONES
- Senior catcher Kim Jerrick will play in her 200th career game this weekend against West Texas A&M.
- Jerrick became the program's all-time leader in runs scored last weekend in San Antonio. She now has 185.
- Jerrick needs three homers to become the first player in school history to amass 50 home runs. She needs nine more homers to match LSC career leader Kim LeComte, who hit 56 for West Texas A&M from 2009-12.
 
MSU UNDER BRADY TIGERT
Brady Tigert is in his 11th season at the helm at Midwestern State and is the program's lone head coach since it was resurrected in 2004. The Mustangs have averaged just over 40 wins a year under Tigert, who boasts a 413-188 (.687) record which includes NCAA Division II postseason trips in eight of 10 seasons. MSU finished as national semifinalists in 2011, claimed two regional titles (2010, 2011) and two Lone Star Conference championships (2006, 2007).