LEADOFF
Midwestern State takes on Texas Woman's in an elimination game Saturday in the NCAA Division II South Central Region 1 Championships at Schaeffer Park in Canyon.

The winner survives to face the loser of the winner's bracket final between West Texas A&M and Metro State at 6:30 p.m.

ABOUT THE SOUTH CENTRAL REGIONAL 1
A four-team field including West Texas A&M, Texas Woman's, Metro State (Colo.) and Midwestern State square off in a double elimination tournament Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Schaeffer Park in Canyon. The winner advances to play the winner of the South Central Regional 2 including Angelo State, St. Mary's (Texas), Cameron (Okla.) and St. Edward's (Texas) in a best-of-3 Super Regional at the site of the highest remaining seed.
 
South Central Regional #1
Schaeffer Park
Canyon, Texas
Friday, May 9
Game 1: Metro State 9, Texas Woman's 4
Game 2: West Texas A&M 6, Midwestern State 2
Saturday, May 10
Game 3: Metro State (33-15) vs. West Texas A&M (52-5), 1:30 p.m.
Game 4: Texas Woman's (34-18) vs. Midwestern State (28-23), 4 p.m.
Game 5: Game 4 Winner vs. Game 3 Loser, 6:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 11
Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5, 1:30 p.m.
Game 7 (if necessary): Game 6 Winner vs. Game 6 Loser, 4 p.m.

MSU IN THE POSTSEASON
- Midwestern State makes its ninth postseason showing in its 11 seasons since bring back softball in 2004.
- The Mustangs are 14-19 all time in the NCAA Division II postseason claiming South Central Region titles in 2010 and 2011 advancing to the national semifinals in 2011.
 

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Midwestern State vs. Texas Woman's
Saturday, May 10 | 4 p.m.
Schaeffer Park | Canyon, Texas
Records: Midwestern State (28-23); Texas Woman's (34-18)
Live Video: None
Live Audio: None
Live Stats: GoBuffsGo.com   

SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
- Texas Woman's has lost four of its last seven coming into Saturday's elimination game against Midwestern State.
- The Pioneers surrendered seven runs in the top of the fifth inning and gave up five home runs in a 9-4 loss to Metro State Friday afternoon at Schaeffer Park.
- Junior first baseman Kendra Sancet leads the TWU attack hitting .430 with an LSC leading 20 homers while driving in 63 runs.
- The Pioneers hit .339 as a team boasting eight hitters with a .300-or-better average including sophomore left fielder Tealey Farquhar (.387, 5 2B, 19 SB), senior shortstop Bailey Vrazel (.367, 9 2B, 44 SB), freshman third baseman Alyssa Galaz (.350, 10 2B, 10 HR, 52 RBI), senior pitcher/DP Katie Hines (.344, 10 2B, 11 HR, 52 RBI), junior right fielder Samantha Alegria (.331, 6 2B), junior catcher Sarah Wittenburg (.306, 7 2B, 2 HR, 18 RBI) and freshman second baseman Katy Stephens (.301, 5 2B, 4 HR, 28 RBI).
- Senior Brandie Lander leads TWU in the circle with a 24-4 mark and a 2.84 ERA.

ABOUT THE SERIES
- Midwestern State leads the overall series with Texas Woman's by a 22-13 margin.
- Texas Woman's eliminated the Mustangs from South Central Region play 7-1 last season in Denton. It was the only meeting between the program in the NCAA Division II postseason.
- The Mustangs are 7-3 all time against TWU on neutral field, but the Pioneers beat MSU 10-7 in the last neutral meeting on May 4 , 2013 in Canyon -- LSC Postseason semifinals.

MUSTANGS NOTABLES
- Midwestern State matched a school record hitting six home runs in 14-10 loss to Cameron in the LSC quarterfinals last weekend at Schaeffer Park.
- MSU hit two more home runs in the South Central Region 1 opener Friday night against West Texas A&M. The Mustangs have launched at least two homers in each of their last five games and in nine of the last 10.
- Junior shortstop Katy Vandewater is 11-for-15 (.733) with three doubles and six homers while driving in 15 runs over her last five games. The torrid stretch includes four multiple-hit games while hitting homers in four of the five contests.
- Junior third baseman Kelley Schaefer rides a season-best nine-game hitting streak into Saturday's elimination game with Texas Woman's. She is hitting .577 with two doubles, five homers and 14 RBIs during the stretch.
- Schaefer joined senior catcher Kim Jerrick (15 HR), Vandewater (15 HR) and sophomore Katelyn Vinson (10 HR) with double-figure homers by hitting her 10th and 11th long balls last weekend against Cameron. Then hit her 12th long ball of the season Friday against West Texas A&M.
- Senior catcher Kim Jerrick connected on her 55th career home run with a solo blast to left in the sixth inning last Friday against Cameron. MSU's all-time homer leader needs one more to match former West Texas A&M standout Kim LeComte for the Lone Star Conference's all-time homer lead. LeComte hit 56 homers from 2009-12.
- Six different MSU players have connected for two homers in a game this season including Katelyn Vinson (Cameron on 4/16), Shelby Carter (UTPB on 2/25), Erin Knox (West Florida on 2/2), Kim Jerrick (twice -- Southern Arkansas on 2/3 and Eastern New Mexico on 3/7), Katy Vandewater (twice -- Tarleton State on 4/26 and Cameron on 5/2) and Kelley Schaefer (twice -- Angelo State on 3/29 and Cameron on 5/2).
- Midwestern State ranks second in NCAA Division II hitting 1.63 home runs per game.
- The Mustangs have hit 82 home runs which are the second most in school history after hitting 86 in 2013.

MUSTANGS IN NATIONAL STATISTICAL RANKINGS
- The Mustangs rank second in NCAA Division II in home runs per game (1.60), 10th in slugging percentage (.553), 16th in scoring (6.8) and 55th in batting average (.315).
- Senior catcher Kim Jerrick ranks 21st in home runs (15.0), 11th in runs per game (1.25), 12th in walks per game (0.69), 20th in home runs per game (0.31), 55th in on-base percentage (.500), 55th in slugging percentage (.730) and 51st in stolen bases (0.50).
- Sophomore outfielder Katelyn Vinson ranks 53rd in home runs per game (0.26), 39th in slugging percentage (.750), 35th in RBIs per game (1.15) and 82nd in sacrifice flies (3.0).
- Junior shortstop Katy Vandewater is 21st in home runs (15.0), 27th in home runs per game (0.30) and 62nd in RBIs per game (1.14).
- Junior third baseman Kelley Schaefer ranks 85th in home runs per game (0.23), 72nd in RBIs per game (1.00), 97th in slugging percentage (.680), 75th in home runs (11.0) and 12th with five sacrifice flies.
- Sophomore outfielder Haley Howerton is 92nd in stolen bases per game (0.42).
 
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 429-203 (.679) 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).