COMMERCE – The No. 2 Texas A&M University-Commerce softball team returns to the friendly confines of the Cain Complex Friday, looking to extend one of the nation's longest winning streaks against Midwestern State.
 
WHO: Midwestern State at A&M-Commerce
WHERE: Commerce | John Cain Family Softball Field
WHEN: 4 p.m. on Friday, March 19
RECORDS: A&M-Commerce is 14-4 overall and 8-0 in the Lone Star Conference. Midwestern State is 11-9 overall and 4-4 in LSC play.
RANKINGS: A&M-Commerce is second nationally in the NFCA Division II Coaches' Poll.

LIVE VIDEO: LSC Digital Network
LIVE STATS: http://statbroadcast.com/events/statmonitr.php?gid=tame
 
The latest… 
A&M-Commerce is on a 10-game winning streak with doubleheader sweeps of then-No. 16 Rogers State, Eastern New Mexico, and then-No. 17 West Texas A&M, Western New Mexico, and UT Permian Basin. The 10-game win streak is tied for the sixth-longest active streak in Division II.
 

1	North Georgia	16
2	West Chester (Pa.)	15
3	St. Cloud State	13
4	Winona State	12
5	Sonoma State	12
6	A&M-COMMERCE	10
	Colorado Mesa	10
8	Lincoln Memorial	9
	Shepherd	9
10	UT Tyler	8
	Southern Wesleyan	8

The Lions are ranked second nationally, tying the highest-ever national ranking for the program. North Georgia is the No. 1 team, and neither team was voted lower than second in the nation, with UNG getting 12 first place votes and A&M-Commerce getting four.

In conference play, the Lions rank second in the LSC in batting average at .376 with 77 hits in eight games. Their patience at the plate has been rewarded as well, with league highs in walks with 50 and on-base percentage at .509. The Lions .994 fielding percentage with only one error in eight games is also tops in the league.
 
At the plate, leadoff hitter Madison Schaefer is fourth in the LSC in batting average (.563), ninth in slugging (.804), and 10th in batting average (.446) and runs (18). Her 25 hits ranks just above Uxua Modrego's 24. Kinsie Hebler leads the league in walks at 18.
 
Alyssa LeBlanc has been a double threat, leading the nation in pitching wins with a 10-2 record, ranking fifth in the league in ERA at 1.42, second in the conference with 79 strikeouts and ranking 13th at the plate in RBIs with 17.
 
On the opponent…
The Mustangs rank eighth in the LSC in batting average in conference games a .296, but have the third-fewest strikeouts. They are also near the middle of the pack in pitching with a 3.71 ERA ranking ninth in the league.
 
Ashley Turner ranks 14th in the conference with a .426 batting average, but Jacey Henry carries serious pop, ranking sixth in the league with an .813 slugging percentage. Turner has 29 hits, followed by Mattye Tyler's 27. Tyler's 10 doubles ranks second in the league and Henry's six homers is tied for third in the conference.
 
In the circle, Henry has a 3.37 ERA, ranking 20th in the league. Kaitlyn Turner leads the Mustangs in innings pitched at 51.1 with 43 strikeouts.
 
MSU is on a six-game losing streak and is playing the third of four straight road doubleheaders.
 
On the series history…
The Lions are 13-4 all-time against the Mustangs and have won the last five games in the series. A&M-Commerce is 9-1 against MSU in Commerce, and have not lost to the Mustangs at the John Cain Family Softball Field since the first game in the series in 2015.