Midwestern State at Cameron
Friday, Apr. 15, 2016 | 2/4 p.m.
Saturday, Apr. 16, 2016 | 12/2 p.m.
McMahon Field | Lawton, Okla.
Records: Midwestern State (25-23, 10-14 LSC); Cameron (29-16, 14-10 LSC)
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WICHITA FALLS, Texas – Midwestern State softball closes out its regular season road slate this weekend when the Mustangs take on rival Cameron in a four-game Lone Star Conference series at McMahon Field in Lawton, Okla. The two teams first square off in a doubleheader Friday at 2 p.m. before closing out the series Saturday at noon.

LAST TIME OUT
– Midwestern State split its first LSC series of the season last weekend at Mustangs Park, earning a pair of Friday wins over Texas A&M-Commerce before the Lions roared back to claim the final two games in the series Saturday
– Junior pitcher/first baseman Erin Knox and sophomore catcher Amanda Thomas led the Mustangs at the plate, each hitting .500 on the weekend
– Knox finished with a 1.333 slugging percentage and .600 on base percentage while recording three home runs and a double for eight RBI over the four-game series
– Thomas added a team-best two doubles and four RBI while matching Knox with six hits
 
A LOOK AT THE MUSTANGS
– Midwestern State enters the weekend sitting at 25-23 on the season and 10-14 in the LSC for sixth place in the league standings
– The Mustangs sport one of the top offenses in the nation, ranking 13th with 1.06 home runs per game and 31st with 6.23 runs per game
– MSU also ranks 26th with a .403 on base percentage, 31st with a .491 slugging percentage and 47th with a .318 batting average
– Senior third baseman Katelyn Vinson comes in with an LSC-leading .445 batting average and .813 slugging percentage and a team-best .566 on base percentage, ranking fourth in the nation in on base percentage and 18th in slugging percentage
– Vinson also paces Midwestern with 48 RBI, 35 walks and 12 home runs, ranking seventh in the country with .81 walks per game, 15 in RBI and 19th in home runs
– Knox has boosted her offensive production as of late, hitting .413 on the season with a team-high 14 doubles while adding 10 homers and 44 RBI to her stat line
– Senior center fielder Haley Howerton has also shined at the plate with a .408 batting average and a LSC-high 71 hits and team-best 46 runs scored while making starts in all 48 contests this season
– Howerton also leads the Mustangs in stolen bases, going 20-for-24 on the base paths
– In the circle, freshman Makenzi Harris sports a team-best 4.36 ERA in 70.2 innings of work for an 8-5 record
– Redshirt freshman Peyton Helton carries a 4.57 ERA, seeing the most action for the Mustangs in the circle with 27 appearances and 107.1 innings
– Helton has won her last three games and is 7-8 on the season with three saves, which ranks 18th nationally
 
SCOUTING THE AGGIES
– Cameron comes into this weekend's series with a 29-16 overall record and 14-10 mark in the LSC for third place
– The Aggies dropped their second LSC series last weekend with a 1-3 record against Tarleton State on the road
– Senior first baseman Sonora Zukerman leads CU with a .423 average at the plate with a team-high 60 hits, 44 runs, 42 RBI, 11 home runs and 11 doubles
– Zukerman carries a .732 slugging percentage and a .485 on base percentage on the year
– Junior left fielder Breezy McComas is hitting .406 for the Aggies while also putting up double figures with 10 homers and 10 doubles with a .719 slugging percentage and .483 on base clip
– In the circle, junior Emily Wasinger has posted a 15-6 record with a 2.82 ERA, 17 complete games and four shutouts
– Wasinger has allowed 133 hits, 53 earned runs and 54 walks while fanning 73 batters in 131.1 innings of work
– Head coach Rodney DeLong is 101-55 (.647) in three seasons leading the Cameron softball program
 
VINSON BECOMES LSC HOME RUN LEADER
– Katelyn Vinson moved to the top of the Lone Star Conference career home run list Mar. 30 with her two-run shot to left center in game two of a doubleheader vs. Oklahoma Christian at Mustangs Park
– Vinson inked her 63rd career home run and 10th of the season to surpass former West Texas A&M standout Renee Erwin, who set the record as a senior in 2015
– Vinson continues to extend the LSC record, having recorded 65 homers coming into the weekend against Cameron
 
MUSTANGS MAKING THEIR MARK
– Seniors Katelyn Vinson and Haley Howerton have not only posted some big numbers to climb the MSU record books, but the duo have also moved to the top of the NCAA Division II active career leaders list in several offensive categories during their final campaigns
– Vinson is the active career leader in NCAA Division in home runs (65) and comes in second in RBI (220) and total bases (475)
– Howerton has also moved to the top of the active leaders, ranking fifth in career hits (259) and runs scored (181)
 
VINSON SETS TWO NEW SCHOOL RECORDS
– Making her return to the field after a two-game absence, Vinson made history in the series opener against Eastern New Mexico on Feb. 26 by becoming the MSU career home run leader
– Vinson inked her 57th career bomb with a three-run shot to break open a 3-3 ballgame in the fifth inning against the Greyhounds
– The Southlake native climbed to the top of the record books just three games after tying Kim Jerrick's previous record-holding mark of 56 set in 2014
– In the series finale against the Greyhounds, Vinson moved to the top of the career RBI list as she blasted a three-run home run to push her career total to 200, breaking former teammate Kelley Schaefer's record of 199 set last season
 
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 481-251 (.657) 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 closes out the regular season at home next weekend against Texas A&M-Kingsville at Mustangs Park
– The four-game series begins with a doubleheader Friday at 4 p.m. before wrapping up Saturday at 1 p.m.
– The MSU softball program will also honor seniors Haley Howerton, Katelyn Vinson and Chelsey Wall as they play their final games at Mustangs Park