Kingsville - After a split with Texas Woman's on Friday, the Texas A&M - Kingsville softball team will take on the No.1 UT-Tyler Patriots in a Sunday doubleheader that begins at 1 p.m..

Sunday, March 16th:
Doubleheader @ No.1 UT-Tyler (FloCollege)
1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

Projected Starters:
TAMUK Game One: Arianna Alaniz (Fr. RHP) - (7-5), 3.09 ERA, 58.1 IP, 0.96 WHIP, 36 H, 20 ER, .165 oAVG, 98 Ks
UTT Game One: Primrose Aholelei (Sr.) - (12-0), 1.85 ERA, 79.1 IP, .96 WHIP, 56 H, 21 ER, .193 oAVG, 97 Ks
TAMUK Game Two: Esther Martinez (Fr. LHP) - (3-2), 5.89 ERA, 51.1 IP, 1.75 WHIP, 64 H, 33 ER, .298 oAVG, 25 Ks
UTT Game Two: Cera, Blanchard (Sr.) - (9-2), 1.46 ERA, 67.1 IP, .98 WHIP, 45 H, 14 ER, .185 oAVG, 76 Ks

The Javelinas will have their work cut out for them facing off against the unanimous No.1-ranked team in the nation. The Patriots are 25-2, with their only two losses coming at the hand of West Texas and Angelo St., who are each ranked in the top five in the nation. UTT boasts three pitchers with a WHIP below one, all of whom rank in the top five in the conference in opposing batting average. In total, its pitching staff owns the best ERA and oAVG in the LSC.

"They have had success for many years, we look forward to playing them," Head Coach Orlando Salinas said. "Our team is growing right in front of our eyes, for the last three weeks, we have played the top teams in our Lone Star Conference and you can see our team getting better every weekend."

The team's offense isn't half bad either, as Tyler owns two of the three best individual batting averages in the LSC. While leading the conference in on-base percentage, the Patriots are also second in hits, RBIs, and slugging. 

They bring an eight-game win streak into the matchup, including a pair of wins over Texas A&M - International on Friday.

Kingsville will be trying to shake off a tight loss to the Pioneers, which saw the team draw within one run in the top of the seventh but come up just short of sweeping TWU. Game one of the doubleheader, however, saw Alaniz pitch her third complete-game shutout of the season and graduate student outfielder AJ Jasso hit her fourth homer of the year. 

The team's offense has been strong all season, averaging the third-best OBP in the LSC and the fourth-best batting average. Showing their mettle against Tyler's aces will be one of the country's best possible tests against the Javelinas' bats.

"The team that plays the best defense and gets the clutch hits will win this series," Salinas said. "We look forward to the challenge."

TAMUK Notes:
Graduate student outfielder Lindsey Evans enters the weekend hitting .488, the fourth-best mark in the LSC
Freshman right hander Arianna Alaniz's 98 strikeouts are the most in the LSC and the eighth-most in the NCAA this year
Alaniz has already won multiple LSC Pitcher of the Week awards in her young career, having thrown a five-inning no-hitter against No.22 Lubbock Christian - she has already posted three games this season with double digit strikeouts
Graduate student outfielder AJ Jasso, who is hitting .369 on the year, leads the team in RBIs with 25 - the team has five different players with at least 17 
Kingsville has four players, Laney Doelitsch, Dakota Martinez, Jasso, and Evans, with at least four homers on the season