No. 6 Midwestern State vs. No. 3 Cameron
Friday, Apr. 29, 2016 | 11 a.m.
Schaeffer Park | Canyon, Texas
Records: Midwestern State (29-27); Cameron (33-20)
Live Stats | Live Video | LSC Championship Central Page

WICHITA FALLS, Texas – Midwestern State makes its return to postseason play Friday as the Mustangs travel west for the 2016 Lone Star Conference Championship, hosted by West Texas A&M at Schaeffer Park in Canyon.

Midwestern State earned the sixth seed in the LSC postseason tournament where the Mustangs will face off against No. 3 seed Cameron Friday at 11 a.m. The winner moves on to play No. 2 Texas Woman's tomorrow at 4 p.m. On the other side of the bracket, No. 4 Texas A&M-Commerce squares off against No. 5 Angelo State at 1:30 p.m. while the winner advances to face top-seeded West Texas A&M at 6:30 p.m.

The LSC Championship is slated for Saturday at 2 p.m. with the winner receiving an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

MUSTANGS MOVE INTO SOUTH CENTRAL REGIONAL TOP 10 POLL
– Midwestern State made an appearance at No. 10 in the final South Central Regional poll before the NCAA Selection Show 
– The top eight teams from the region advance to the NCAA Tournament with three teams earning automatic bids from the Lone Star, Heartland and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conferences while the remaining five teams will receive at large bids
– Top-ranked West Texas A&M remained at No. 1 in the regional poll and was followed by St. Mary's, Texas Woman's, Colorado Mesa, Texas A&M-Commerce, Angelo State, Cameron, Lubbock Christian, Metro State and MSU
 
VINSON NAMED NFCA PLAYER OF THE YEAR TOP 25 FINALIST
– Senior third baseman Katelyn Vinson was named a top 25 finalist for the 2016 Schutt Sports/NFCA Division II National Player of the Year award on Apr. 20
– Vinson is one of three players in the South Central Region to appear on the list, joining West Texas A&M senior catcher Lacey Taylor and Colorado Mesa senior shortstop Makayla Kovac
– The field will be narrowed down to 10 finalists on May 6 and three finalists on May 12 before the national player of the year is announced May 17
 
LAST TIME OUT
– Midwestern State clinched the sixth and final spot in the Lone Star Conference Championship last weekend by taking three of four games against Texas A&M-Kingsville at Mustangs Park
– The Mustangs swept the Javelinas in Friday's doubleheader with junior designated hitter Baylee Voigt sending MSU into the postseason with a three-run walk-off home run in a 5-4 victory over TAMUK in game two
 
A LOOK AT THE MUSTANGS
– Midwestern State enters the Lone Star Conference Championship with a 29-27 record on the season, posting a 14-18 record in the LSC to earn the No. 6 seed this weekend
– The Mustangs come in ranked 15th nationally with 1.0 home runs per game while ranking 23rd with a .403 on base percentage, 30th with a .481 slugging percentage and 38th with 5.9 runs per game
– Vinson has paced the Mustangs this season with a .432 batting average, .791 slugging percentage and .569 on base percentage, which ranks sixth nationally
– Vinson also leads MSU with 52 RBI, 46 walks and 13 home runs, ranking fourth in the nation with 0.9 walks per game
– Junior pitcher/first baseman Erin Knox is also hitting over .400 this season with a .401 clip while leading the Mustangs with 14 doubles and contributing 69 hits, 49 RBI and 10 home runs for second on the team
– Senior center fielder Haley Howerton has put together a stellar senior campaign with a .389 average at the plate with a team-high 77 hits, 54 runs and 25 stolen bases while starting in all 56 contests this season
– In the circle, Knox carries a 4.35 ERA and 9-7 record with 11 complete games in 19 appearances and 18 starts
– Redshirt freshman Peyton Helton has seen the most action for the Mustangs this season, tossing 123.0 innings with 31 appearances and 16 starts for a 4.50 ERA and 9-9 record
 
SCOUTING THE AGGIES
– Cameron comes into the LSC Championship with a 33-20 record, earning the No. 3 seed at the tournament following an 18-14 league mark
– Senior first baseman Sonora Zukerman leads CU with a .418 average at the plate with a team-high 71 hits, 52 RBI, 50 runs and 13 doubles
– Junior left fielder Breezy McComas is hitting .392 for the Aggies while leading Cameron with 13 home runs and a .725 slugging percentage and adding 12 doubles
– In the circle, junior Emily Wasinger has posted a 16-9 record with a 2.75 ERA, 20 complete games and five shutouts
– Wasinger has allowed 153 hits, 61 earned runs and 75 walks while fanning 82 batters in 155.0 innings of work
– Head coach Rodney DeLong is 105-59 (.640) in three seasons leading the Cameron softball program
 
SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
– Texas Woman's earned the No. 2 seed in the LSC Championship to receive a first round bye, awaiting the winner between Midwestern State and Cameron
– The Pioneers have posted a 31-21 record this season with a 19-13 mark in the LSC
– Senior outfielder Tealey Farquhar leads the LSC with a .464 batting average, 84 hits and 65 runs while coming in second with 42 stolen bases, ranking fifth nationally with 1.25 runs per game, 14th in batting average and 15th with 0.81 stolen bases per game
– Senior catcher Laura Mabary is hitting .400 this season with a team-best 13 doubles and six triples, ranking 12th nationally in triples
– In the circle, junior Tori Bice has totaled a 17-9 record on the year with a 3.45 ERA in 34 appearances and 26 starts
– Head coach Genny Stidham is 93-62-2 (.599) in three seasons leading the TWU 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 66 homers coming into the weekend
 
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 (66) and comes in second in RBI (224) and total bases (488)
– Howerton has also moved to the top of the active leaders, ranking third in career at bats (735), fourth in runs scored (189) and fifth in hits (265)
– In the MSU record books, Vinson has already set career records in home runs, RBI and total bases while sitting atop the career list in batting average (.419) and slugging percentage (.827) and second in on base percentage (.505) 
– Howerton needs just two at bats to break Kristen Stonecipher's career record of 736 and six hits to surpass her record of 270 set in 2008
– She already sits second in the record books in runs scored and stolen bases (80)
 
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 485-255 (.655) 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
 
LOOKING AHEAD
– Midwestern State will learn its postseason fate Monday at 9 a.m. (CT) when the NCAA Division II Softball Committee unveils the 64-team tournament field on NCAA.com