LIVE STATS | VIDEO | GAME NOTES

LAREDO, Texas (April 20, 2018) –Texas A&M International University finish its 12-game home stand with a non-conference doubleheader against No. 11 West Texas A&M on Sunday, April 22. First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m. at Dustdevil Field. 
 
Links for live stats and video can be found at GoDustdevils.com under the softball schedule page. 
 
A LOOK AT THE DUSTDEVILS
Texas A&M International University enters the final two games of its longest home stand since 2015 with a record of 7-3 after dropping a pair to nationally-ranked Angelo State on Monday afternoon. The Dustdevils are 21-30 overall and 17-10 in Heartland Conference play with two weeks of regular season play remaining. 
 
Hitting
Maya Paul continues to lead the Dustdevil offense with the freshman hitting .336 in 46 starts this season. She has a team-high 12 doubles and one home run for a total of 18 RBIs with a .445 slugging percentage. The San Antonio product is also dangerous once she gets on the base paths with 18 stolen bases on 19 attempts. Lindsey Smith is batting .338 but has only seen action in 26 games after suffering a pair of injuries earlier in the season. The junior is hitting .348 since her return with five of her eight hits going for extra bases including a pair of home runs. Maddison Schofield continues to hit the ball well as the junior is hitting .312 from plate with seven doubles and five home runs for a team-high 29 RBIs. She has been magnificent during the home stand hitting .433 with two doubles, three home runs and nine RBIs while slugging .800. 
 
Pitching
Melanie Lint and Delainy Thompson have combined for 19 of the Dustdevils' 21 wins in the circle this season. Lint is 10-8 with an ERA of 2.89 in 32 appearances and 14 starts allowing 70 runs (52 earned) on 132 hits and 65 walks with 50 strikeouts. The freshman is one win short of tying the freshman record for wins in a single set by Krystal De La Cruz in 2016. Thompson enters the weekend series 9-13 on the season with an ERA of 2.97 in 24 appearances. With her next win, the Eastvale, Calif. product will become the second player in program history to record 10 or more wins three times. Prior's to Monday's start against Angelo State, Thompson had not allowed more than three runs in six straight appearances including her no-hitter against Lubbock Christian. 
 
A LOOK AT THE LADY BUFFS
West Texas A&M are 36-4 overall and 17-4 in Lone Star Conference play entering the weekend where they will play a three-game series against Texas A&M-Kingsville before making the trip to Laredo for the first time. The Candace Abrams led Lady Buffs are ranked second in the inaugural NCAA South Central Region Rankings released on Wednesday and 11^thin the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association National Poll.  
 
Hitting
The Lady Buffs lead the nation in home runs per game (1.95) and are hitting .363 with 55 doubles, 22 triples and 78 home runs for a total of 282 RBIs. Suka Van Gurp leads the team with a .461 batting average as the junior has six doubles, three triples and eight home runs with 32 RBIs in 35 starts this season. Ashley Hardin is the reigning NFCA and Lone Star Conference Hitter of the Week after becoming the conference's career RBI leader last week against Cameron. The All-American who has 76 career home runs is hitting .410 with 12 doubles, three triples and 18 home runs. Kylee Moore is the third Lady Buff hitting over .400 as the junior is 50 for 124 from the plate. She has scored a team-high 53 runs with four doubles, two triples and 21 long balls for 58 RBIs. 
 
Pitching
Kilee Halbert, the 2016 D2CCA South Central Region Pitcher of the Year, is having a fine senior campaign where she is 17-5 with an ERA of 2.11. The Dalhart product has allowed 56 runs (41 earned) on 136 hits and 43 with a team-high 126 strikeouts in136 1-3 innings of work in the circle. Shayne Starkey earned All-Lone Star Conference Third Team last season as a sophomore after going 6-1 in the circle. She has been even better as a junior with a perfect 13-0 record in 17 appearances and 12 starts. The Denton product has a team-best 1.87 ERA allowing 25 runs (21 earned) on 74 hits and 16 walks with 56 strikeouts. Kourtney Coveney and Stevie McLemore have also seen time in the circle combining for 17 appearances and five starts. 
 
THE SERIES
The Dustdevils are 1-13 all-time against the Lady Buffs. Sunday's doubleheader will mark the first time the two teams will play in Laredo with the previous 10 games taking place in Canyon. TAMIU's lone win of the series happened on March 17, 2010 in the second game of a doubleheader. 
 
THE LAST MEETING
- The Dustdevils and Lady Buffs met twice earlier this season at the WTAMU Invitational in Canyon on Feb. 16-17. 
- WT won the first game 8-0 behind a pair of three-run home runs from Moore and Shanna McBroom. Schofield, Lindsey Smith, Alyssa Acuna and Erika Sanchez all singled for the Dustdevils in the loss.
- The Dustdevils jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second game on a two-run home run by Brandi Giles. The Lady Buffs tied it at 2-all on a Hardin and Moore's home run before scoring the winning run in the bottom of the sixth on a Van Gurp's infield groundout. 
 
AROUND THE HEARTLAND
St. Mary's enters the final two weeks of the regular season with a slim lead over Lubbock Christian and TAMIU in the Heartland Conference Standings.  The Rattlers have dropped five straight to allow the Lady Chaps and Dustdevils to get back into the title race. Oklahoma Christian sits fourth and will travel to San Antonio for at three-game series this weekend. Rogers State occupies the fifth and final conference tournament spot with Newman and St. Edward's rounding out the top seven. 
 
RECORD WATCH
12 – Maya Paul's 12 doubles are the 10^thmost in a single season in program history. The freshman also ranks second in stolen bases with 18. 
 
10 –Melanie Lint picked up her 10^thwin of the season in the first game of Friday's doubleheader against St. Edward's making her the sixth Dustdevil to reach that plateau in a single season. She is one short of tying Krystal De La Cruz's freshman record of 11. 
 
32 –Lint's 32 appearances are the fourth-most in a single season in program history and second most by a freshman. De La Cruz made 39 appearances pitching 177 innings during her only season at TAMIU in 2016. 
 
210 – Alyssa Acuna enters Sunday's doubleheader with 210 career starts, two short of moving into a tie for fourth with Janelle Ruiz (2008-11). The senior would also move past Ruiz in games played if she gets the nod at shortstop against WT. 
 
UP NEXT
The Dustdevils will take their seven game Heartland Conference win streak on the road for a regular season finale series against Lubbock Christian on April 27-28.