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Softball Chris Due (chris.due@lcu.edu)

Lady Chaps Open LSC Championships Facing St. Edward's... Angelo State Awaits

Single-Elimination Tournament Opens With Opening Game Winner Facing Angelo State Later In Day

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OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (May 13, 2021) – The 2021 Lone Star Conference Softball Championships get underway Thursday at Tom Heath Field on the campus of tournament host Oklahoma Christian, with No.7-seed Lubbock Christian facing No.10-seed St. Edward's with a 11 a.m. first pitch. The winner of the contest advances, in the 10-team single-elimination tournament, to face No.2-seed Angelo State at 4 p.m.
LSC SOFTBALL
OPPONENT LOCATION CITY TIME WATCH STATS LCU STATS OPP. STATS
SEU Tom Heath Field Okla. City  11a.m.  Watch Stats Season Season
Angelo St. Tom Heath Field  Okla. City  4 p.m.  Watch Stats Season

WUNDERGROUND WEATHER: Except for a few afternoon clouds, mainly sunny. High 73F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph.

WATCH ONLINE: LSC Digital Network (Online or via OTT apps including Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV and Roku devices by searching "LSC Digital Network.")

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The Scenario
  • If LCU defeats St. Edward's, LCU will take on Angelo State at 4 p.m. (Thursday). If LCU is able to go 2-0 on Thursday, they will advance to Friday's semifinals and would be slated for a 4 p.m. first pitch.
  • Any loss would eliminate LCU from the tournament and place their NCAA Division II South Central Regional hopes in jeopardy.
 
LCU and SEU Series Snapshot
  • LCU leads the all-time series over SEU, 19-7, winning the previous five meetings and seven of the prior eight encounters.
  • This season, LCU is 2-0 against SEU and swept SEU for the first time in a Austin-based regular season series.
    • Tyla Lee is 4-for-7 with a double, home run and three RBI in the series
    • Kamryn Gibbs is 3-for-5 against SEU
    • Alivia Villarreal has a home run and three RBI and is 2-for-6 against SEU
    • Pitchers Dakota Stotyn (complete game shutout, five hits allowed) and Taylor Franco (1.00 ERA with six hits allowed) are each 1-0 against SEU this season.
  • The Lady Chaps swept the series last season in Lubbock (Mar. 6, 2020), winning 5-4 in extra innings (Skylar Herrera was the winning run advancing home on an attempted double play in the ninth inning) and 6-0 in a complete-game shutout by Jordan Wehr.
  • LCU and SEU have never met in a neutral site contest.
 
LCU and ASU Series Snapshot
  • Angelo State is 8-1 all-time against LCU and have shutout the Lady Chaps in three of the nine meetings.
  • The Belles swept LCU in the season series with a pair of wins at Angelo State (4-2, 7-3 wins on May 2).
    • Skylar Herrera is 4-for-7 with a double and triple against ASU
    • Mykayla Stroud (4-for-4) and Ashlynn Box (4-for-6) each have four hits and two RBI in the series.
  • Prior to this season, the two teams had not met since 2017, which was a season the two teams met five times and ASU won all five meetings.
  • Angelo State has been nationally ranked in eight of the prior nine meetings, with the lone meeting unranked resulting in LCU's lone series win: a 5-1 LCU victory on Feb. 12, 2016 in Canyon, Texas.
  • LCU is 1-1 against ASU all-time in neutral site meetings. The first two meetings were neutral site contests, with a 2013 meeting in San Antonio, Texas and their 2016 meeting in Canyon.
 
How is the Team Doing?
  • LCU is 29-16 this season and finished eighth in the LSC standings with an 17-13 in LSC play. They closed the regular season with their final six games on the road (went 3-3 in the trip).
  • The Lady Chaps are hitting .336 as a team (16th nationally, second in the LSC), with 44 home runs (22nd nationally and third in the LSC) in 45 games. They rank sixth in the nation in hits (403). LCU averages 6.02 runs a contest, ranking fourth in the LSC.
  • In the circle, LCU has an ERA of 1.92 (17th nationally), which leads the LSC. Opponents are hitting .232 against LCU this season and the team has 13 shutouts, which is tied for seventh in the nation and tied for the lead in the LSC (with A&M-Commerce).
  • On the field, LCU ranks eighth in the LSC with a .963 fielding percentage.
 
Who is Doing What?
  • LCU has three NFCA All-Region selections this season, marking their highest single-season total in program history.
  • LCU has five LSC All-Conference selections this season, marking their first All-Conference selections since joining the LSC (no honorees last season due to covid).
  • Pitcher Taylor Franco is 14-8 this season with a 1.18 ERA (leads LSC and is 21st nationally) in 148.0 innings pitched (also has three saves). Franco went 45.2 innings to start the season without allowing an earned run. She has 19 complete games (sixth nationally) and 92 strikeouts (eighth in the LSC). Opponents are hitting .210 against Franco, who is 35-18 in her LCU career (fourth player in program history with 35 wins). She is one of five pitchers in conference to appear in 27 games this season. Franco opens the weekend with a 1.01 WHIP, which is second in the LSC.
  • Brooke Makemson is hitting a team-leading .397 on the season. She leads LCU with eight home runs (tied for 12th in conference) and has 38 RBI on the season (ninth in the LSC). Additionally, she was named NFCA National Player of the Week on Feb. 9 after hitting .692 (9-for-13) at the LCU Invitational.
  • Savannah Wysocki, hitting .392 at the plate, has a team-leading 62 hits (ranks 12th nationally and third in the LSC). She also has 28 stolen bases (second in the conference) on the season (10th nationally). Wysocki has three triples this season, placing her with 15 in her LCU career to match the program career mark with Brittany Kent (2011-2012).
  • Skylar Herrera ranks sixth nationally with six triples, and also has seven home runs and is fifth in conference in RBI, with a team-leading total of 41. She is second nationally with six sacrifice flies and fifth nationally with five triples.
  • Athena Muniz is 13th in the LSC in hits (47) and is hitting .370 on the season.
  • Pitcher Dakota Stotyn has 0.54 walks per seven innings, which leads the LSC and ranks fifth nationally.
 
Lone Star Conference Championships Breakdown
  • This season is LCU's first tournament appearance in the LSC Championships.
  • Previously, LCU qualified for four Heartland Conference Championships, winning the tournament twice (2016, 2017) and compiling a 10-5 tournament record all-time.

Lone Star Conference Breakdown
  • This season is LCU's second season in the LSC.
  • LCU is 22-14 all-time in LSC play.
  • LCU completed this season 17-13 this season in conference play.
  • LCU hit .322 in conference, with a 2.24 team ERA (hitting ranked third in the conference and pitching ranked second in the LSC for conference games).
  • Taylor Franco went 7-7 with a 1.68 ERA (opponents hitting .230) in LSC action.
  • Dakota Stotyn went 7-4 in conference and Maxine Valdez was 3-2 with a 2.57 ERA and opponents are hit .152 against her in conference.
  • Savannah Wysocki went 39-for-102 (.382) with 12 extra-base hits in LSC play (her 39 hits in conference play finished ranking tied for third in the LSC). She also ranked third in the LSC with 20 stolen bases in conference play.
  • Athena Muniz led LCU in conference play with a .402 average, and co-leads LCU with six home runs against conference competition (with Tyla Lee).
  • Brooke Makemson is hitting .366 and Tyla Lee is hitting .359 with six homers in conference contests.
  • Skylar Herrera leads the team with 25 RBI in conference.
 
 Neutralizing Things
  • LCU is 5-0 in neutral site games this season.
  • Last season, LCU was 5-2 in neutral site games.
  • Savannah Wysocki is 11-for-21 (.524) in neutral site contests this season with six RBI.
  • LCU has a 3-0 advantage this season in home runs in neutral site play, with Skylar Herrera hitting all three. She also leads LCU with nine RBI in games played at a neutral site locations.
  • Taylor Franco is 3-0 in neutral site starts in the circle, with a 0.00 ERA in 19 innings pitched. She has 17 strikeouts and three complete games (opponents hitting .170).
 
Streaking Along
  • Kamryn Gibbs is LCU's active hit-streak leader, as she each enters Thursday's games with a four-game active hit streak.
  • Brooke Makemson had a 22-game hit streak earlier in the season, which is the longest by a Lady Chaps member this season and is the longest in program history.
  • Makemson also has the team's season-high mark of consecutive games reaching base safely at 25 games.
  • Savannah Wysocki is currently leading the team reaching base safely in her last six games played.
 
Season Expectations
  • The Lady Chaps were preseason picked to finish sixth in the Lone Star Conference.
  • LCU is in their seventh season playing a NCAA Division II schedule (2013 was their last season in NAIA) and this is their second season as members of the Lone Star Conference.
  • There are 16 softball programs in the LSC this season.
 
Coach Talk
  • LCU head coach Daren Hays is in his 11th season at the helm of the Lady Chaps.
  • Hays is LCU's winningest softball head coach, entering Thursday with a softball record of 447-144.
  • Along with surpassing 400 coaching wins in softball, Hays had surpassed 300 wins as a collegiate baseball head coach. He spent eight seasons as the LCU baseball head coach and compiled a 356-163 record.
 
National Notes
  • LCU opened the season ranked No.19 in the NFCA Top 25 Preseason Poll.
  • The Lady Chaps bounced around between No.24 and No.25 before dropping out in early March. They have been receiving votes since dropping out.
  • The Lady Chaps went 8-0 last season against nationally ranked programs, but are 2-10 against nationally ranked programs this season. They did record a win (Mar. 26) at No.2 Texas A&M-Commerce to mark their first win in program history on the road at a top-five nationally ranked program.
  • The NCAA released regional rankings of teams in the South Central Region and LCU is ranked eighth (top six qualify).
 
 Looking at SEU
  • The Hilltoppers are 16-20 on the season (went 12-10 last season) and went 12-18 in conference after closing the regular season with a pair of losses to Texas A&M - Commerce.
  • SEU is one of four LSC squads that did not play a neutral site game during the regular season.
  • St. Edward's was preseason picked 11th in the LSC Preseason Poll, and they finished 11th in the conference with their 12-18 conference mark.
  • The 'Toppers lead the LSC in sacrifice hits with 28 on the season (24 of them in conference play, which leads the LSC).
  • Valerie Brant is in her return season with SEU after the original Hilltopper transferred to LCU and was a member of the Lady Chaps before transferring back to SEU. She had a double and RBI in the regular season series against LCU.
 
Looking at ASU
  • The Belles are 31-11 on the season (went 19-6 last season) and went 22-8 in conference, ending the regular season on a four-game win streak.
  • ASU is 0-1 in neutral site games this season. The lone contest was on Feb. 6 in San Antonio, as ASU fell 4-2 to Texas A&M-Kingsville.
  • Angelo State was preseason picked fourth in the LSC Preseason Poll, and they completed the conference schedule in third place.
  • The Belles rank fifth nationally drawing 170 walks on the season, while also ranking 11th nationally in batters hit-by-pitch (42). It has helped spur an on-base percentage (.422) that ranks 11th nationally.
  • First Team All-LSC selection Courtney Barnhill is sixth nationally with 17 doubles, ranking 21st nationally in double per game (0.4).
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Players Mentioned

Jordan Wehr

#3 Jordan Wehr

RHP
5' 7"
Senior
Valerie Brant

#24 Valerie Brant

C
5' 4"
Junior
Taylor Franco

#72 Taylor Franco

RHP
5' 7"
Junior
Skylar Herrera

#25 Skylar Herrera

INF
5' 11"
Sophomore
Tyla Lee

#44 Tyla Lee

3B/OF
5' 3"
Senior
Brooke Makemson

#21 Brooke Makemson

INF
5' 6"
Senior
Athena Muniz

#4 Athena Muniz

RHP/OF
5' 4"
Senior
Maxine Valdez

#5 Maxine Valdez

RHP
5' 4"
Sophomore
Alivia Villarreal

#49 Alivia Villarreal

3B/C
5' 8"
Graduate Student
Savannah Wysocki

#22 Savannah Wysocki

OF
5' 5"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Jordan Wehr

#3 Jordan Wehr

5' 7"
Senior
RHP
Valerie Brant

#24 Valerie Brant

5' 4"
Junior
C
Taylor Franco

#72 Taylor Franco

5' 7"
Junior
RHP
Skylar Herrera

#25 Skylar Herrera

5' 11"
Sophomore
INF
Tyla Lee

#44 Tyla Lee

5' 3"
Senior
3B/OF
Brooke Makemson

#21 Brooke Makemson

5' 6"
Senior
INF
Athena Muniz

#4 Athena Muniz

5' 4"
Senior
RHP/OF
Maxine Valdez

#5 Maxine Valdez

5' 4"
Sophomore
RHP
Alivia Villarreal

#49 Alivia Villarreal

5' 8"
Graduate Student
3B/C
Savannah Wysocki

#22 Savannah Wysocki

5' 5"
Junior
OF