KINGSVILLE, Texas – With a pair of Lone Star Conference Championships already in their pocket, the Texas A&M-Kingsville softball team will now turn its attention to the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament, which will be held at Hubert Field in Kingsville, Texas Thursday through Saturday. The first team to win three games will earn a trip to NCAA Super Regionals.
The first game of regionals for the No. 3 Javelinas (43-8), who are the top seed, pits them against eighth-seeded Oklahoma Christian on Thursday at 6 p.m. after fourth-seeded West Texas A&M and fifth-seeded Colorado Mesa get the tournament started with a game at 3:30 p.m. Three more games will be played on Friday beginning at 2 p.m. to decide who plays in the regional final on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
TAMUK's goal is to clinch a spot at Super Regionals for the first time in program history. To do that, they'll need three wins, which would also match the highest win total in school history, a mark set in 2002.
The last time the Javelinas were at Hubert Field, they defeated two ranked teams on the same day to capture their first Lone Star Conference Tournament Championship in 17 years. The team's top two pitchers stole the show in that tournament, allowing only a single run in 14 innings.
Against No. 19 Tarleton, junior Breanna Smith (San Antonio, Texas) permitted only one hit and one walk over seven innings and struck out six while picking up her career-high 17th win. In her last 34 1/3 innings, Smith has allowed 17 hits and two earned runs. In the clinching game, freshman Saidi Castillo (Kingsville, Texas) struck out 10, permitted only three hits and defeated No. 7 A&M-Commerce for the third time. Castillo's 23 wins are tied for the third-most in a single season in program history.
In Oklahoma Christian, the Javelinas will be dealing with a team that possesses two outstanding pitchers of its own. Hurlers Kali Crandall and Madison Hagood were both selected All-Heartland Conference selections, with Crandall landing on the first-team. In just her first year of collegiate competition, Crandall has put together a 16-5 record with a 2.13 ERA and 163 strikeouts. All of those marks are among the top three in the conference and Crandall has also picked up a win in five of her last six appearances. Hagood has gone 15-7 in 2019 with six shutouts and, in 144 innings, only one home run has been hit off her.
The Eagles' lineup contains seven .300 hitters and they also own their conference's second-best slugging percentage at .455. Brie Dunckel and Kayla Eichler are each in the Heartland's top five in hitting and Eichler has the conference's second-highest stolen base total, having swiped 22 bags without being caught.
TAMUK and OCU will also be contending with No. 11 Colorado Mesa, the regular season champion in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, and the nation's No. 9 team in WT. Both squads bring with them an offense that ranks among the elite in Division II. Mesa averages more runs per game than any team in the country at 8.15, while the Lady Buffs have hit 81 homers and own a .612 slugging percentage, both tops in the nation.
The leader of WT's lineup is the same player who was honored as the LSC Player of the Year, first baseman Kylee Moore. Her .596 on-base percentage is third-best in the nation and she's also sixth in the nation with an .884 slugging percentage.
The RMAC's Player and Pitcher of the Year were both Mavericks. The latter award went to senior Kimbri Herring, who collected 21 wins with a 2.37 ERA and eight shutouts. The former honor was bestowed upon junior AnnMarie Torres, who led the conference with a .460 average and tied for first in RBIs with 67.
Live coverage of every game in the South Central Regional Tournament, including live stats and video will be available on Javelinaathletics.com. To keep up with everything related to Javelina softball during the postseason, fans can stay up-to-date with Javelina softball throughout the season by following @TAMUKSB and @JavelinaSports on Twitter, @JavelinaSports on Instagram, liking Javelina Sports on Facebook and visit Javelinaathletics.com.
