LCU SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT
Lubbock, Texas (PlainsCapital Park)
Friday, January 29th:
1:00 p.m. - Lady Chaps vs. Western New Mexico
3:15 p.m. - Lady Chaps vs. Regis
Saturday, January 30th:
12:00 p.m. - Lady Chaps vs. Western New Mexico
2:15 p.m. - Lady Chaps vs. Midwestern State
Sunday, January 31st:
1:15 p.m. - Lady Chaps vs. Regis

OPENING WEEKEND
The Lady Chap softball team opens play Friday by hosting a three-day tournament that includes Midwestern State, Oklahoma Panhandle State, Regis and Western New Mexico. The tournament will begin Friday morning with teams playing at LCU's PlainsCapital Park and Lubbock Christian High School's softball field.

LOOKING BACK AT LAST SEASON
The Lady Chaps went 36-12 in 2015 and 19-4 in Heartland Conference action to finish with a share of the regular season title, making it the second consecutive year LCU has done so. LCU finished having nine players named to the All-Heartland Team (six first-team selections), including Co-Freshman of the Year Sydney Beuthien and Newcomer of the Year Liz Torres. Three Lady Chaps were named to the All-Region team as well - Beuthien, Torres and Sammie Murrietta.

KEY RETURNERS
Seven of the nine Lady Chaps selected to the 2015 All-Conference team are back. Last season's home run (16) and RBI (61) leader, Beuthien, returns along with the batting average leader (.405), Torres. They are joined by fellow All-Conference returners Ashton Bell, Molly Davison, Kelsey Hoppel, Katlin Reed and Murrietta. The group combined to hit 59 home runs and drove in a total of 223 RBI. Also back from a redshirt year are 2014 All-Heartland team members Morgan Colburn and Katera Eltsosie. Colburn led the conference in 2014 with 19 home runs and finished second in slugging percentage (.874), third in batting average (.430), runs scored (53) and hits (65). Eltsosie, as a sophomore in 2014, led the conference in wins (24) and batters struck out looking (57).

KEY LOSSES
Three starters were lost to graduation - Faith Koria, Jessica Loiacano and Courtney McGee. In two seasons with the Lady Chaps, Koria played in 111 games and finished with a .369 batting average driving in 31 runs and stealing 61 bases. Loicano finished her Lady Chap two-year career with 33 home runs and a .786 slugging percentage while driving in 110 runs. McGee finished her career at LCU with a 41-7 record, throwing 31 complete games with six shutouts. At the plate McGee had 40 hits and 30 RBI while being hit 35 times in her two seasons as a Lady Chap. Due to McGee taking a medical redshirt in 2014, their careers together spanned three seasons and totaled a winning percentage of 142-32 (.816).

NEWCOMERS
The Lady Chaps add eight new faces with seven incoming freshmen and one transfer. The incoming freshmen are Allie Calderon (Ralls, Texas), Lindzi Clemmer (Snyder, Texas), Baylee Goolsby (Lubbock, Texas), Susie Reimer (Seminole, Texas), Sondra Samaniego (San Angelo, Texas), Grace Tauferner (Salado, Texas) and Shelby Welch (Carlsbad, N.M.). Katlyn Holmes (Gunter, Texas) is the lone transfer coming in from Midwestern State.

HITTING
The Lady Chaps have finished both seasons in the Heartland Conference with the highest team batting average (.397 in 2014 and .363 in 2015) and home runs (100 in 2014 and 79 in 2015). Continuing the trend seems promising as six of the top eight hitters return from last season.

ABOUT WESTERN NEW MEXICO
WNMU finished the 2015 season with a 23-20 record. The Lady Mustangs advanced to the third round of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) tournament before being eliminated by the host school, Metro State University-Denver. They return five starters from the 2015 team and welcome several new faces. LCU is 5-0 all-time versus WNMU.

ABOUT REGIS
Regis, located in Denver, Colo., is picked to finish first in the RMAC and is ranked 21st in the nation in the NFCA preseason poll after concluding 2015 with a 32-19 record and a 22-11 mark in conference play. The Rangers advanced to the regional tournament last season after defeating regular season conference champion and conference tournament host, MSU-Denver. Regis returns 12 players, three of which were All-Conference selections last season. LCU is 1-0 against the Rangers, facing them for the first time last season.

ABOUT MIDWESTERN STATE
The Mustangs went 24-24 last season with two of those wins coming against the Lady Chaps in the North Texas Bash Tournament in Mansfield last February. That pair of losses by LCU were the only times the teams have met in  regular season action, but the squads have squared off in fall scrimmages over the years. MSU returns Katelyn Vinson, their leading home run hitter with 18, from last season along with their leading pitcher, Tayler Jerrick, who led the team with a 3.61 ERA.