WICHITA, Kan. — After a week off, the Newman softball team gets back to work at West Texas A&M's Lady Buff Invite this weekend, where they'll face Western Oregon, Lincoln (Mo.) and host No. 22 West Texas A&M in a trio of doubleheaders Friday through Sunday.
Tournament Central
SCOUTING NEWMAN
The Jets (2-4) picked up a pair of wins at the season-opening SAU Softball Invitational the first weekend of February, including a narrow 2-1 win over Cameron and an offensive outburst in a 9-5 victory over the same Lincoln team they'll face this weekend.
LEADERS
Taylor Mannis, Sophomore-.353 avg., 2 runs, 1 double, 2 stolen bases
Kendra Mendoza, Junior-.308 avg., 1 double, 3 walks
Courtney Sartin, Senior-.294 avg., 3 runs, 1 double, 1 HR, 3 RBIs
Kate Smith, Junior-0-3, 1.84 ERA, 3 GC, 19.0 IP, 9 SO, 2 BB
Katie Ingles, Senior-2-0, 4.32 ERA, 1 CG, 11.1 IP, 7 SO, 6 BB
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
WESTERN OREGON, 11 a.m. Friday
The Wolves (3-6) opened their season with a win before dropping three straight in a trip to California, and then picked up two more wins over Western New Mexico and California Baptist at the Dixie State Tournament last weekend.
LEADERS
Zoe Clark-.429 avg., 3 runs, 2 dobules, 1 HR, 5 RBIs
Alyson Boytz-1-2, 4.06 ERA, 2 GC, 20.2 IP, 3 SO, 6 BB
LINCOLN, 11 a.m. Saturday
The Blue Tigers (0-5) also have not played since being in Arkansas, where they managed to find their footing late offensively despite finishing the weekend winless. They scored three runs against Texas Women's before going for five in the loss to the Jets.
LEADERS
Tori Nienhueser-.286 avg., 2 runs, 2 doubles
Madison Ragar-0-2, 7.64 ERA, 1 CG, 11.0 IP, 2 SO, 3 BB
WEST TEXAS A&M, 1 p.m. Sunday
The Lady Buffs (10-0) are ranked No. 22 in the nation by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association, and have shown that they deserve it through their first 10 games. Seven of those wins have come by the run rule, and three have come over other ranked opponents.
LEADERS
Brittany Cruz-.538 avg., 10 runs, 4 doubles, 2 HR, 15 RBIs
Kilee Halbert-4-0, 2.01 ERA, 4 CG, 1 shutout, 2 BB, 18 SO
NOTES
-The Jets saw its offense pick up on the final day of the SAU tournament, especially against Lincoln. In that contest, Newman cracked four extra-base hits and stole a pair of bases on the way to scoring nine runs. Six different players scored a run, and three had multiple hits.
-Lincoln fell to the same teams as Newman did in Arkansas, although the Jets topped Cameron while the Blue Tigers fell 7-0. Lincoln managed to put up more runs against Texas Women's and Delta State, although the final margins were bigger.
-West Texas, which won the 2014 national championship, didn't have much trouble last year either. The Buffs led the country in batting average (.363), on-base percentage (.481), slugging (.658.) and, logically, scoring, averaging 9.0 runs per game in 2015, and are on an even better pace this year, with 114 runs in 10 games so far.
-Western Oregon has shown some power in the early part of the season, connecting for eight home runs and 15 doubles through nine games this year. Six different Wolves have a home run, while eight have produced a double. That's helped WOU to a .455 slugging percentage.
COVERAGE
Live statistics for all six games, as well as live video for Sunday's games against WTAMU will be available at www.newmanjets.com.
