Midwestern State at Eastern New Mexico
Friday, Feb. 26, 2016 | 1/3 p.m. (CT)
Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016 | 1/3 p.m. (CT)
ENMU Softball Field | Portales, N.M.
Records: Midwestern State (12-8, 0-0 LSC); Eastern New Mexico (7-7, 0-0 LSC)
Live Stats: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4


WICHITA FALLS, Texas – Midwestern State opens up Lone Star Conference play Friday and Saturday with a trip to Eastern New Mexico to take on the Greyhounds in a four-game series at ENMU Softball Field in Portales. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. (CT) for both Friday and Saturday's doubleheaders.

LAST TIME OUT
– Midwestern State extended its winning streak to seven games at last weekend's NSU Softball Festival in Tahlequah, Okla., before suffering a defeat in the tournament finale to record a 3-1 mark in the Mustangs' final regular season tournament
– MSU posted wins over Rogers State (5-2), Lindenwood (14-2) and Wisconsin-Parkside (8-2) while coming up short to William Jewell (4-1)
– On the weekend, the Mustangs outscored their opponents 28-10 while hitting .341 at the plate
– Junior designated hitter Baylee Voigt posted a team-high .636 average and .909 slugging percentage in three games, registering three doubles among her seven hits
– Senior center fielder Haley Howerton extended her hitting streak to 12 games last weekend, batting .600 with a team-best nine hits and six runs scored. Howerton is just two games from tying her career-best 14-game hitting streak that she recorded from Apr. 8–May 11, 2014 to close out her sophomore campaign
– Junior left fielder Taylor Bermudes also put together a strong weekend at the plate with a .375 batting average and .813 slugging percentage while recording a team-high seven RBI behind a pair of home runs and a double in her six hits
– Bermudes tallied the first multiple home run game of her career in an 8-2 win over Wisconsin-Parkside Saturday, becoming the 14th Mustang in program history to accomplish the feat and the second this season after senior third baseman Katelyn Vinson totaled two homers in a win over Colorado State-Pueblo at the WT Invitational  
 
A LOOK AT THE MUSTANGS
– Midwestern State improved to 12-8 on the season following a 3-1 weekend at the NSU Softball Festival
– The Mustangs sport four players hitting over .400 on the season with senior third baseman Katelyn Vinson leading the way with a .500 average
– The Southlake native has eight extra base hits with five doubles and three home runs in 15 games, tying for the team lead with 16 RBI
– Howerton's 12-game hit streak has propelled her to a .453 average with a Lone Star Conference-leading 34 hits and team-best 21 runs scored while appearing in all 20 games for the Mustangs this season
– Junior pitcher Erin Knox has seen success at the plate and in the circle for MSU
– Knox is third for the Mustangs with a .417 batting average, leading Midwestern with six doubles and tying for the team lead with 16 RBI
– The West native is 4-0 with three complete games in five appearances in the circle, owning a 4.67 ERA with a team-best 33 strikeouts in 30.0 innings of work
– After leading the Mustangs with a .636 average last week, Voigt climbed to .408 on the season while recording five doubles and matching a team-high three homers and 16 RBI
– Junior hurler Tayler Jerrick leads the Mustangs with a 2.66 ERA in 26.1 innings, carrying a 1-2 mark in seven appearances and five starts
– Redshirt freshman Peyton Helton has seen the most action for the Mustangs with 13 appearances and eight starts to compile a 4.59 ERA and 4-5 mark in 58.0 innings
 
SCOUTING THE GREYHOUNDS
– Eastern New Mexico is 7-7 on the season after a 2-3 weekend at the North Texas Softball Bash in Grand Prairie
– The Greyhounds sport a 3-1 record at home this season after opening 2016 with a pair of wins over Oklahoma Panhandle State and splitting with in-state foe New Mexico Highlands last week
– Junior infielder Erikka Burke leads ENMU with a .388 average at the plate with a team-high 19 hits, 12 RBI, four doubles and three home runs
– Senior infielder Morgan Green is batting .357 with a team-high 17 runs scored and 11 walks while matching Burke with four doubles and 12 RBI
– Sophomore Aja Secheslingloff has a 4-3 mark in 2016 with a team-best 6.33 ERA, making seven starts in eight appearances
– Secheslingloff has fanned 33 batters in 42.2 innings this season while allowing 50 hits, 30 earned runs and eight walks
– Former Lubbock Christian assistant coach Katie Welborn took over the reins of the ENMU softball program in June 2015
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
– Midwestern State is 14-2 in the series against Eastern New Mexico dating back to 2005
– The Mustangs have won nine straight and 13 of the last 14 in the series
– The two teams will square off for the first time since 2014 after the series was cancelled last year due to inclement weather and unplayable field conditions at Mustangs Park
 – MSU sports a perfect 6-0 mark at the ENMU Softball Field, outscoring the Greyhounds by an impressive 62-15 margin in 2013 and 2014
– The Greyhounds earned their first-ever win over the Mustangs back on Feb. 2, 2008 with a 1-0 victory in San Antonio while also collecting a 6-3 win on Mar. 2, 2012 in Wichita Falls
 
ROAD WARRIORS
– Midwestern State will play 24 road games before making its first appearance of the season at Mustangs Park on Friday, Mar. 4 against West Texas A&M
– The 24-game road swing is the longest stretch MSU has went before hosting its home opener while Mar. 4 is the second-latest date the Mustangs have opened a season at home behind last season's Mar. 13 home opener against Texas Woman's
– The Mustangs also began their 2008 home slate during the month of March, hosting a doubleheader with Abilene Christian on Mar. 2
 
VINSON MAKES HISTORY AGAINST THUNDERWOLVES
– With two home runs in the fourth inning against CSU-Pueblo on Feb. 14, Katelyn Vinson climbed to the top of the MSU record books by matching Kim Jerrick's career home run record of 56 set in 2014
– Vinson tallied her ninth multiple home run game of her career, a school record, while becoming just the second Mustang to hit two home runs in an inning after Mallory Mooney also accomplished the feat in the third inning of a 13-0 win over Missouri Southern on Feb. 20, 2011
– Being at the top of the record books is nothing new for Vinson as the Southlake native is currently the career leader in batting average (.423) and slugging percentage (.832) while ranking second in on base percentage (.489), RBI (188) and total bases (411)
 
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 468-236 (.665) 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 will host West Texas A&M in a four-game series for its 2016 home opener Friday, Mar. 4 and Saturday, Mar. 5 at Mustangs Park
– The series gets underway Friday with a doubleheader at 5 p.m. while first pitch for Saturday's doubleheader is scheduled for 2 p.m.