KINGSVILLE, Texas – Two of the nation's best softball teams are coming to Kingsville, Texas and the No. 12 Texas A&M-Kingsville softball team is preparing for the challenge that will begin on Friday when they host the No. 5 UT Tyler Patriots in a doubleheader that will begin at 4 p.m., before welcoming in the No. 4 Texas A&M-Commerce Lions for two games starting at 12 p.m. on Sunday at Vernie and Blanche Hubert Field.
No one in the Lone Star Conference has a better record in league play than UTT's 15-1 mark. The Patriots captured their first 15 games in LSC competition in 2021 until a loss to Lubbock Christian in the second game of a doubleheader on Sunday snapped that streak, but that defeat couldn't unseat UTT from their position atop the conference standings.
The Patriots have hit .323 as a team and own a league-best .423 on-base percentage, but their pitching has been the squad's greatest strength through 26 games. Only three teams in Division II can claim a better ERA than the 1.19 mark that has been put together by coach Mike Reed's ballclub. UTT has allowed more than three runs in a game just three times and they've tossed nine shutouts.
Pitchers Payton Foster and Erin Hill have been in the circle for better than 90 percent of the innings played by the Patriots and their combined ERA is 0.95. In 81 2/3 innings, Foster has pitched to a 0.77 ERA, the lowest in the country among pitchers who've thrown at least 60 innings. In her last 50 1/3 innings, she's permitted only four earned runs.
Lions coach Richie Bruister has built one of the most well-rounded teams in the nation and one that is in the top 10 nationally in strikeouts, fielding percentage and stolen bases. These positive attributes have helped A&M-C put together a ledger that includes 21 wins and eight losses, including a 14-2 mark in the LSC.
Two Lions are in the LSC's top 10 in both batting average and strikeouts, with their leader in the latter statistic being freshman Alyssa LeBlanc. Her 125 Ks are tops in the LSC and third in Division II with a season-high of 12 punch outs that she's reached twice. She's also been credited with seven shutouts. LeBlanc's fantastic rookie season has provided the Lions with another arm to accompany 2019 All-American and LSC Pitcher of the Year Emily Otto, who is 7-4 in 14 starts as a junior.
Attempting to solve these two excellent pitching staffs is a TAMUK lineup that's posted the best average in the LSC at .356, which ranks 9th in the country. Sophomore Matisen Onofrei (Mesa, Ariz.) and junior Claire Chernosky (Sugar Land, Texas) continue to swing TAMUK's hottest bats. In her last 12 games, Onofrei is hitting .543 with seven extra base hits and 10 RBIs. In her last five starts, Onofrei has recorded 10 hits, including a 3-for-3 day with a homer and four RBIs against Texas A&M International on Thursday in the final game of a doubleheader.
Chernosky has piled up three homers and 13 RBIs over her last six games and owns 12 hits in her last 19 at-bats. The three homers and 16 RBIs she's accumulated are already career-highs, while the .370 batting average she's put together makes her one of seven Javelinas hitting over .330 through the season's first 27 games.
Links to live video and live stats for every inning of all four games, as well as recaps of each contest, can be found on Javelinaathletics.com. Stay current with Javelina softball by following @TAMUKSB and @JavelinaSports on both Twitter and Instagram, liking the Javelina Sports Facebook page, subscribing to the Javelina Athletics YouTube Channel and visiting Javelinaathletics.com. Watch your Javelinas live today on the Javelina Sports Network sponsored by Mendoza's Pharmacy.
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