Kingsville - With its season just days away, the Texas A&M-Kingsville softball team is preparing to head to Mansfield to play five games in three days at the DII Lone Star Classic.

The Javelinas, who were picked 10th in the Lone Star Conference preseason poll, were originally slated to play two games each on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Weather concerns, however, became a factor, and led to a shifting in the schedule that now has TAMUK down to five games across the three days: two each on Friday and Sunday and one game on Saturday.

"We are returning two starters from last year's team, but we feel we have upgraded our depth and player personnel from last season," Head Coach Orlando Salinas said. "The goal year in and year out is to continue to improve our program. We always tell our team we have the right people on the bus and now we have to execute and play our style of softball and the winning will take care of itself."

Though the squad is full of new faces, the team is returning two of its top five hitters from last season by batting average, sophomore second baseman Alexis Soliz (.329), and senior outfielder Seleste Compian (.267). Among a slew of big-hitting newcomers is sophomore third baseman Alaunah Almaraz, who hit .260 for the National Champion UT-Tyler Patriots last season and was named to the Lone Star Conference's Players to Watch list ahead of this season. In the circle, TAMUK's returning starter, sophomore LHP Esther Martinez, earned a spot on the LSC's Pitchers to Watch list.

They'll have to hit the ground running as the weekend will see Kingsville take on three different teams who were at least 10 games over .500 last year, including a pair of opponents who finished their seasons 20-plus games over .500.

"It's going to be very competitive but at the same time, it's going to give us an opportunity to create some momentum going into conference play in a couple weeks," Salinas said.

Full schedule is available here.

Scouting the Competition: The Colorado School of Mines Orediggers (22-32) - Friday, 10:00am

After finishing in seventh place in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) last season and narrowly missing the conference tournament, the team is picked to finish sixth in the RMAC's Preseason Poll this year. The Orediggers are returning All-RMAC Second Team member, outfielder Kendall Aragon, who brought it 38 runs and hit north of .400 last season.

Scouting the Competition: The RV Southern Arkansas Muleriders (43-10) - Friday, 12:15pm

Picked first in the Great American Conference (GAC) poll, and received nine of the 12 possible first-place votes after an excellent, 43-10 season last year, which ended in a GAC Tournament Title and a berth to the NCAA Central Region Tournament.

Senior utility player Regan Dillon (First Team), and senior pitcher Kassie Rhodes (Honorable Mention) were impact players on last year's team and will look to step back into significant roles for their squad this season, who is receiving votes in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association's National Preseason Poll. 

Scouting the Competition: The Metropolitan State University of Denver Roadrunners (41-17) - Saturday, 2:00pm

Like a number of the Javelinas' opponents this weekend, MSU Denver is hoping that this year builds on an excellent 2025 season. The Roadrunners finished third in the RMAC last season and won a pair of games at the conference tournament. They also qualified for the South Central Regional where they lost to the eventual National Champions (UTT). The team is picked to finish in third place again in in the RMAC's Preseason Poll

Like Kingsville, Saturday's matchup will be the only game that Denver plays that day, with the two squads sharing a common opponent (Southern Arkansas) in Friday's competition. Though the team graduated a lot of talent from last year's crew, they are returning junior RHP Natalie Romero, who was picked to the All-RMAC Second Team last season and boasted a 1.98 ERA across 27 starts.

Scouting the Competition: The Missouri Western St. Griffins (32-21) - Sunday, 9:00am

After a seventh-place finish in the  Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) last year, the Griffins are picked to again finish in seventh this year in the MIAA Preseason Poll. Despite being 11 games over .500 on the season, that seventh-place finish in 2025 kept MWS out of the MIAA Tournament.

Scouting the Competition: The Rockhurts Hawks (18-26) - Sunday, 11:15am

The Javelinas will be closing out their weekend with a contest against the Hawks, who were picked to finish ninth out of the 15 teams in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC). Last season saw Rockhurt finish in eighth place in the conference, with a .500 record against GLVC opponents, which earned the team a berth to the GLVC Tournament.

The Hawks will be bringing back both sophomore RHP Riley Braden and senior outfielder Eva Fulk, who were each selected to the All-GLVC Third Team last year.