Tarleton State Softball returns to Stephenville for midweek matchup with North Texas Tuesday winning eight of their last 10 games

STEPHENVILLE, Texas - The Texans have won eight out of their last 10 games and look to keep things rolling as they host the Mean Green from North Texas on Tuesday night.

In the last 10 games the Texans have outscored their opponents 67-29 averaging just shy of seven runs per game. Across the 10 matchups, Tarleton State has scored eight or more four times.

On Monday, the WAC announced as the WAC Pitcher of the Week after her incredible performance in Utah. Schultz added another solid performance to her resume as she tossed her fourth complete game of her record-breaking season and her first shutout of the season as well. She helped guide the Texans to handing the Trailblazers three-straight conference losses.

In her team leading 14th start of the season, she struck out nine marking the ninth time this season she has struck out seven or more. Schultz hit the century mark in strikeouts in her 14th start of the season making her the first freshman in the Division I era for Tarleton State to do so and the first in program history since 2017 when Jordan Withrow hit 100 strikeouts. Schultz completed the feat faster than Jordan Withrow as it took Withrow 25 appearances to do so while it took Schultz just 19 appearances.

Across her single start of the week and two more appearances in relief, she tossed 9.1 IP and struck out 14. She has now struck out 111 total so far this season which puts her with the most on the team, 41 ahead of the next best on the staff. She finished the week with a 0.00 ERA as she gave up just two hits and walked just a single Trailblazer (Utah Tech) as she picked up her team-leading 10th win of the season in Game 1 of the series. Opponents were batting just .067 when Schultz was in the circle.

Through 21 appearances for the left-hander, Schultz has the lowest ERA on the pitching staff of those who meet the requirement of 1 IP/G with a 2.79 ERA. She also has the second lowest WHIP at just 1.37. The freshman also leads the Texans in wins (10), appearances (21), games started (14), complete games (4), innings pitched (87.2), and strikeouts (111).

This past Wednesday, the Purple and White finally cracked the top-25 as they were ranked No. 25 in D1 Softball's Week 8 mid-major rankings.

Including the Texans, the WAC has three of nine members ranked in the top-25 through eight weeks of play. Grand Canyon sits in the No. 5 spot while Seattle U sits just inside of the top-20 at No. 17. Tarleton State is responsible for a combined four conference losses for the Lopes and Redhawks accounting for all conference losses for both teams.

In week seven of the season, the Texans headed west to Phoenix for the first time since 2023 looking to avenge their last trip to the Lopes when they fell in the series 1-2. No. 24/RV GCU came into the three-game series with a perfect conference record of 2-0 after game three of the Lope's series with Utah Valley was cut short due to winter weather. The squad from Phoenix finished the weekend with a conference record of 3-2 and an overall record of 23-6.

Tarleton State handed Grand Canyon bookend losses shutting out the Lopes 3-0 in Game 1 followed by an impressive 5-2 rubber match victory in Game 3 to secure the series. The 3-0 win in Game 1 marks just the second time the Lopes have been shutout this season with the first coming at the hands of then No. 8 Oregon on Feb. 15, 2025, when they were shutout 4-0. Both shutouts this season have come on home turf for the squad from Phoenix.

After securing the series win with the 5-2 victory, the Texans not only earned their first ever conference series over the Lopes but handed GCU their first home series loss since 2022 and their first conference series loss (home or away) since 2023.

With a successful road trip out west complete, Tarleton State returned home to the friendly confines of the Tarleton State Softball Complex. The Purple and White welcomed the Red and Black from Seattle U to town and gave Texan Nation plenty to cheer about. The Redhawks came into the weekend with a perfect 6-0 conference record but the Red and Black didn't leave the Ville with a perfect conference record.

After a combined 18 runs in Game 1 of the series, Seattle U took the opening game of the series moving to 7-0 inside Western Athletic Conference Play. With a Game 1 loss, the Texans had to win two straight to secure their second-straight conference series. Tarleton State did just that handing Seattle U their first two conference losses as the Purple and White took Game 2 4-2 followed by a 10-2 (5) run-rule walk-off in Game 3 to secure series wins over the top-two teams in the conference in back-to-back weeks.

Tarleton State has faced four other teams in the top-25 bringing their total to six teams played in the top-25. The four other programs include No. 9 North Texas, No. 15 Marist, No. 16 Austin Peay and No. 24 ULM.

This matchup with the Mean Green will mark the second and final time during the regular season that the two teams will face off. The first meeting of 2025 came back on Mar. 12 in Denton at Lovelace Stadium.

Last time the two teams met, North Texas took control and won 4-0 as Tarleton State was held to just a single hit avoiding the no-hitter.

The Mean Green hold the lead in the all-time series over Tarleton State 5-1. The largest margin of victory for the Stephenville squad on April 21, 2021, in Stephenville as the Purple and White won 4-3.

The trip to Stephenville for the Mean Green marks just the third time ever with their first in April 2021. The last time the Green and White headed to the Cowboy Capital of the world, the squad from Denton took the contest 6-0.

Through eight weeks, the Texans have multiple athletes leaving their mark nationally. Austin German currently sits sixth in the nation in doubles with 15 on the season and leads the WAC. With her 15 doubles through 38 games, she ranks third in doubles per game. With all the offensive power from Germain, she is the seventh toughest to strike out in the nation and on as she strikes out just once every 55 plate appearances. Germain sits 45th in the nation in batting average hitting .445 and sits No. 2 in the WAC.

Other Texans top in the nation include who has caught 13 base runners stealing which puts her tied for ninth in the nation and leads all of the WAC. Hill also sits just outside the top-50 in batting average at 55 hitting .436. sits 13th in the nation in sac bunts per game at 0.27 as the nation's leader is at 0.42 in Elle Carter of ULM. Fox is also 21st in the nation in on base percentage. and are tied for 70th in sac flies with three thus far.

On the pitching side of things, continues to pound the strike zone as she sits 33rd in the nation in strikeouts with 111 thus far and leads the WAC. She also ranks 25th in strikeouts per seven innings at 8.9 and leads WAC. Schultz also sits 25th in the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio. , and are currently tied for 65th in the nation in saves with two each.

In the WAC, the Purple and White continue to hold three of the top-four spots in batting average as Germain leads the Texans ranking second in the conference hitting .445. Hill sits third hitting .436 while Fox is fourth crushing it at .405. As a team, Tarleton State is in the top-three of 23 different statistical categories in the WAC. The Texans lead the WAC in RBI (196), team strikeouts per seven innings (6.77), total runs (212), total sac flies (13) and walks (152).

First pitch on Tuesday is set for 6 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. The game will air live on ESPN+ and live stats will also be available. Tickets are available for the midweek matchup.

Following the Texans midweek with the Mean Green, Tarleton State will continue their homestand as they will return to WAC play on Friday as Utah Valley will come to town for a three-game series Friday-Saturday.

For the latest news on the Texans, follow Tarleton Softball on Facebook, Instagram and X @tarletonsoftball.