MIDWESTERN STATE SCHEDULE
Friday, Jan. 29
Midwestern State vs. Western New Mexico – 3:15 p.m. (Lubbock Christian School) – Live Stats
Midwestern State vs. Oklahoma Panhandle – 5:30 p.m. (PlainsCapital Park) – Live Stats
Saturday, Jan. 30
Midwestern State vs. No. 21 Regis (Colo.) – 12 p.m. (Lubbock Christian School) – Live Stats
Midwestern State vs. Lubbock Christian – 2:15 p.m. (PlainsCapital Park) – Live Stats | Live Video
Sunday, Jan. 31
Midwestern State vs. No. 21 Regis (Colo.) – 11 a.m. (Lubbock Christian School) – Live Stats


WICHITA FALLS, Texas – Midwestern State begins its hunt for a 10th NCAA Tournament appearance Friday when the Mustangs open the 2016 season at the three-day Lady Chaps Invitational, hosted by Lubbock Christian at LCU's PlainsCapital Park and Lubbock Christian School.

2015 RECAP
– Midwestern State avoided its first losing season in program history with an 8-4 victory over Texas A&M-Kingsville in the season finale to finish the year at 24-24
– The Mustangs finished seventh in the Lone Star Conference standings with an 11-17 record, missing out on the LSC Tournament for the first time in school history by two games
– Junior designated hitter Katelyn Vinson and junior outfielder Haley Howerton each earned LSC Second Team honors while senior third baseman Kelley Schaefer captured third team accolades
 
A LOOK AT THE MUSTANGS
– Midwestern State returns eight letterwinners from last season's squad with a slew of upperclassmen that will look to lead the Mustangs back to postseason play
– Among the returners are seniors Haley Howerton and Katelyn Vinson, who both started in every game they appeared in during the 2015 season
– Howerton paced the Mustangs with a .371 batting average, 62 hits and 49 runs scored while going a perfect 18-of-18 in stolen bases in 48 starts last season
– The center fielder was also consistent on the defensive end, making just one error for a .986 fielding percentage
– Vinson was one of the top power hitters in all of NCAA Division II last season, ranking third with 0.38 home runs per game and 10th with 18 total homers to help the Mustangs finish the season 10th nationally with 1.19 home runs per outing
– The designated hitter led MSU with 49 RBI and a .735 slugging percentage while ranking fourth on the squad with a .327 batting average
– Junior right fielder Taylor Bermudes also returns for another season after making 40 starts last year
– Bermudes hit .319 while tying for the team lead with eight doubles and three triples and ranking second with four sac bunts and a .428 on base percentage
– In the circle, the Mustangs return junior right-handed pitchers Tayler Jerrick and Erin Knox
– Jerrick logged 97.0 innings on the season, allowing 106 hits and 50 earned runs for a team-best 3.61 ERA and 7-7 record in 18 appearances and 16 starts
– Jerrick led the Mustangs with three shutouts while ranking second with 11 complete games
– Knox posted the second-best ERA on the team last season with a 5.56 in 97.0 innings, giving up 142 hits and 77 earned runs for an 8-8 record in the circle
– Also returning for the Mustangs are senior outfielder Chelsey Wall, junior catcher/DH Baylee Voigt and junior outfielder Jennifer Quintero
– Wall totaled 13 starts in 29 appearances as a designated hitter and infielder in 2015, hitting .326 in 46 at bats
– Voigt made 31 appearances for the Mustangs with 16 starts at catcher and DH while Quintero saw time in the outfield in 19 contests last season
– Looking for their first action in a Maroon and Gold jersey this season are three Division I transfers and one junior college transfer in redshirt sophomore catcher Kara Tilton (UT Arlington), sophomore catcher Amanda Thomas (UTSA), freshman pitcher Makenzi Harris (Texas Tech) and junior infielder Tammy Viliamu (Midland College)
– The Mustangs also sport redshirt freshman pitcher Peyton Helton (Electra, Texas) and true freshmen infielders Taylor Mordecai (Waco, Texas) and Misty Muniz (Seabrook, Texas)
 
SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS
– Western New Mexico is coming off a 23-30 season and seventh-place finish in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in 2015
– The Mustangs were picked ninth in the RMAC Preseason Coaches Poll with a total of 60 points
– WNMU returns nine letterwinners including its top hitter in sophomore shortstop Mariangela Garcia, who finished with a .410 batting average with 66 hits, 42 runs scored and 36 RBI in her freshman campaign
– The Mustangs also return all-RMAC preseason selection in junior second baseman Linzy Granger, who hit .329 with a team-high 46 runs and five triples in 53 starts in 2015
– In the circle, senior right-handed pitcher MaryJo Granger threw 152.1 innings in 2015 for a 5.24 ERA and 7-11 season record
– Head coach Angela Corliss enters her fifth season coaching for her alma mater with a career mark of 74-136 (.352)
 
SCOUTING THE AGGIES
– Oklahoma Panhandle State finished the 2015 season with a 16-34 record and eighth-place finish in the Heartland Conference
– OPSU was tabbed eighth in the Heartland Conference Preseason Poll with 32 points
– The Aggies return 16 letterwinners including senior shortstop Ashley Jarzombek, who earned All-Heartland Conference Second Team honors after leading the team with a .360 batting average and .504 slugging percentage in 2015
– Senior pitcher Samantha Arledge also returns after leading the league with 199 strikeouts a season ago 
– Megan Mulcahy begins her fourth season as head coach for the Aggies with a 33-111 (.229) record
 
SCOUTING THE RANGERS
– Regis (Colo.) enters 2016 as the No. 21 team in the country following a 36-19 season that included a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference title and a trip to the NCAA South Central Regional
– The Rangers were named the RMAC preseason favorite with five first-place votes and 133 points, beating out Metro State (Colo.) by three points
– Senior Nicole Aviles earned RMAC Preseason Pitcher of the Year honors after a 21-9 record with a league-best 162 strikeouts and .234 opponent hitting percentage
– Senior pitcher Nicole Hull and junior first baseman Carlie Sexton joined Aviles on the Preseason All-RMAC Team after the pair earned second team honors following the 2015 season
– Sexton set a new single-season school record with 18 doubles last season while leading the Rangers with a .544 slugging percentage and 44 RBI
– Hull finished with a team-high six home runs while totaling a .525 slugging percentage and 31 RBI, second-most for the Rangers in 2015
– Head coach Nicole Trimboli is in her sixth season with the Rangers with a 123-129 career record (.488)
 
SCOUTING THE LADY CHAPS
– Lubbock Christian returns seven of nine all-conference selections from a team that went 36-12 overall and finished with a share of the Heartland Conference regular season title in 2015
– The Lady Chaps were picked to repeat as conference champions in the Heartland Conference Preseason Poll after earning 10 of 18 first-place votes and 152 points
– Heartland Conference Co-Freshman of the Year and NFCA Division II National Freshman of the Year finalist Sydney Beuthe returns after pacing the squad with 16 home runs and 61 RBI as a designated hitter in 2015
–The Heartland's newcomer of the year, senior catcher Liz Torres, also returns for LCU after leading the Lady Chaps with a .405 batting average
– Senior second baseman Sammie Murrietta joined Beuthein and Torres on the Daktronics South Central Region Second Team after hitting .386 last season
– Torres also racked up NFCA All-South Central Region accolades in addition to her Daktronics honor
– Head coach Daren Hays enters his fifth season with the Lady Chaps softball program with an overall record of 214-40 (.842)
 
THE TIGERT ERA
– Since starting the program 12 years ago, head coach Brady Tigert has led Midwestern State softball to nine NCAA Tournament appearances while compiling a 456-228 (.667) record in his time at MSU
– After a three-year stint at LSC foe Texas A&M-Kingsville, Tigert guided MSU to a 31-16 record in its inaugural season in 2004 where the squad captured the LSC North title and punched a ticket to the NCAA Tournament
– Under Tigert, the Mustangs have claimed two South Central Region Championships (2010, 2011) and advanced all the way to the national semifinals in 2011 before falling to Alabama-Huntsville
– During that two-year span, the Mustangs led all of collegiate softball with 108 wins with back-to-back 54-win campaigns to set a new LSC single-season wins record
– Tigert holds three regional coaching staff of the year honors (2006, 2010-11) and is a five-time LSC Coach of the Year awardee (2004, 2006-07, 2010-11), capturing conference titles in 2006 and 2007
 
MUSTANGS PICKED SEVENTH IN LSC PRESEASON POLL
– Midwestern State was chosen to finish seventh in the Lone Star Conference Preseason Poll, voted on by the league's head coaches, sports information directors and media representatives
– The Mustangs totaled 87 points in the poll behind West Texas A&M (211), Angelo State (173), Tarleton State (161), Texas Woman's (159), Cameron (142) and Texas A&M-Commerce (101). Texas A&M-Kingsville (54) and Eastern New Mexico (37) rounded out the poll in eighth and ninth, respectively
 
LOOKING AHEAD
– Midwestern State continues tournament play next weekend, Feb. 5-7, with the three-day Gulf Coast Invitational at the Gulf Shores Sportsplex in Gulf Shores, Ala.
– The Mustangs will take on six opponents during the event in Southern Nazarene (Okla.), Rockhurst (Mo.), Lee (Tenn.), North Alabama, McKendree (Ill.) and North Georgia