WICHITA FALLS, Texas – Midwestern State hosts No. 13 Oklahoma Christian for a Lone Star Conference doubleheader at Mustangs Park on Thursday at 3 p.m.
Midwestern State (5-29, 3-21) is 1-9 at home this season and returns home after earning a split with Texas Woman's and getting swept in a close battle at UT Tyler.
Kayleigh Bowers worked 5 1/3 innings and allowed two runs on five hits in a 2-1 loss to the Patriots at Irwin Field. Chipper Mayorga was 1-for-4 and drove in a run in the fifth inning for the Mustangs, who are 2-6 in one-run games this season.
Mayorga is hitting .369 to lead the MSU offense, and she is tied for the team lead with 17 RBIs this season. The freshman second baseman from San Antonio leads the team with 44 total bases this season and has hit six doubles.
Mariela Landa, who has a team-leading seven doubles, also has 17 RBIs this season, and has a .990 fielding percentage at first base with just two errors in 205 chances this season.
Landa is one of three players to homer for the Mustangs this season. Paige Scanlin leads the team with three blasts this season. Landa and Tatum Waller each have one home run this season.
Erikha Ibarra-Subia has not played since suffering an injury on March 22, but she leads the Mustangs with an on-base percentage of .454 and has scored a team-leading 18 runs.
Hayeli Acosta has taken over the catching duties since Madison Stewart was injured on March 14. The senior from Dallas has at least one hit in five of her last six games and is hitting .368 in that span, including a two-hit performance in the second game at UT Tyler on Sunday. She leads the team with eight sacrifice bunts this season.
Myka Rylie had a five-game hitting streak snapped in the 2-1 loss to at UT Tyler, and the freshman is hitting .389 over her last six games for the Mustangs.
Oklahoma Christian (29-8, 21-5)
Oklahoma Christian swept the Mustangs in a doubleheader at Lawson Softball Complex last month, winning the first game, 8-0, before taking the nightcap, 10-2. The Eagles lead the all-time series with the Mustangs, 19-5, and 8-3 when visiting MSU. OC is 14-4 on the road this season but lost its last road game at Western New Mexico, 13-11, on March 22.
Kadence Brewster was 6 for 7 in the doubleheader on March 1, and Marty Yaerger was 4 for 5 in the twin bill. Brewster is hitting .402 this season with 17 doubles, two triples and three home runs. Yaerger is hitting .344 with nine doubles, one triple and three home runs.
Kallie Rupp was 1-for-4 against the Mustangs in Edmond, Oklahoma, but is leading the Eagles with a .425 batting average, 10 doubles, nine home runs and 37 RBIs.
Oklahoma Christian leads the conference with 65 doubles, which is 13th-most among NCAA DII programs.
The Eagles have the second-most hits in the LSC with 346, which is 11th-most in the nation, and they are fourth in the league with 27 home runs. OC has the second-best slugging percentage in the conference at .531 and has scored the fourth-most runs in the league with 233.
Jill Dickson worked four innings in the circle during Game 1 against MSU and finished with five strikeouts, allowing just two hits.
Dickson is 13-4 with a 2.05 ERA, and the senior from Edmond, Oklahoma, leads the team with 127 strikeouts in 102 1/3 innings. Opponents are hitting .209 against Dickson.
Ella Resendiz was the winning pitcher in the nightcap on March 1, recording three strikeouts over 2 2/3 innings. Resendiz is 8-0 with a 2.61 ERA and has 87 strikeouts over 77 2/3 innings in the circle.
Oklahoma Christian boasts the fourth-best team ERA in the LSC at 2.90 and leads the conference with 7.3 strikeouts per seven innings, which is eighth among NCAA DII pitching staffs.
Midwestern State has a 10-day gap between games and will next be in action at UT Dallas on April 12 for a doubleheader starting at noon.
