SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – Fresh off a series victory at No. 23 Angelo State last weekend, the University of the Incarnate Word softball team will get no reprieve with No. 2 West Texas A&M coming to town for a three-game Lone Star Conference series on Friday and Saturday.

The Cardinals (25-15, 8-7) and Lady Buffs (30-4, 12-3) are scheduled to play a doubleheader on Friday at 4 p.m. and will finish the series on Saturday with a single game at noon.

The Cardinals are hitting an even .300 as a team this year.  Sophomore designated hitter Victoria Silva leads the team with a .424 batting average and a .536 on-base percentage.  Senior third baseman Monica Acuna was the LSC Co-Hitter of the Week this past week and is hitting .385 with a team high 12 doubles and 33 RBI's on the season.

The Cardinals will need great pitching against the Lady Buffs in order to win.  Junior Whitney Waltrip (Orangevale, CA/Casa Robles HS) was nearly unhittable against Angelo State last weekend tossing 13.0 shutout innings while grabbing two wins en route to being named the LSC Pitcher of the Week.  Briana Sanchez (San Antonio/Marshall HS) enters the weekend with a 13-7 record, 2.43 earned run average and 137 strikeouts.

The Lady Buffs are hitting .336 as a team and have hit 52 home runs on the season.  Every one of their starters is hitting over .300 for the year.  Jessica Sipe leads the team with nine homers and 47 RBI's while Alyssa Lemos and Renee Erwin each have 10 doubles and eight home runs.  Hannah Newcomb and Amber Spencer are the team's main starting pitchers and have a combined 20-4 record while Lauren Heinrich has made 17 relief appearances with an 8-0 record and four saves.
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