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The Victoria College. Full-time salaried position with benefits available...
DISTRICT "Champions for Community Wellness" has the following positions...
After a week of wondering whether or not their season was over, Lambeth and her players are ready to enjoy the fruits of their hard work at today’s and Friday’s NAIA Region VI tournament in Farmers Branch.
“The last week was nerve-racking,” Lambeth said. “It was difficult to practice not knowing if you were going to play again.”
While waiting to learn their fate, the Jaguars moved up four spots in the latest NAIA Top 25 poll. UHV, ranked No. 19 last week, will enter the Region VI tournament as the 15th-ranked team in the country.
Even though the Jaguars (30-16) are elated to take the first-year program into the postseason, Lambeth said they are not satisfied with just reaching the Region VI tournament. She feels her team has a shot at capturing the tournament title or at least one of the seven at-large bids to the NAIA Softball National Championships in Decatur, Ala., on May 16-21.
“If we can reach the final, I think we would secure a bid to nationals,” Lambeth said.
UHV will have familiarity on its side at the tournament. The Jaguars have played four of the other five teams and beaten three of them, including Northwood University, which UHV faces today in a 10 a.m. first-round contest.
“It will help us having played those teams already this year,”Lambeth said. “The only team we haven’t faced head-to-head is College of the Southwest, but I was able to scout them at a tournament.”
Right-hander Lauren Garza (17-6 record, 2.17 ERA) will start on the mound against Northwood. Garza allowed five earned runs in six innings against Northwood in the Jaguars’ 15-5 victory on Feb. 15.
Northwood (33-19) won the Red River Athletic Conference regular-season title with a 20-4 record and went 3-0 last week in capturing the conference tournament championship. Lambeth is expecting to see a different Northwood team than what the Jaguars played almost three months ago.
“We’ve gotten better, but so have they,” Lambeth said. “We can’t take any team lightly. We have to treat each game like it’s our last.”
Region VI Tournament team capsules
Following are capsules of all six teams competing at the Region VI tournament:
Oklahoma City University STARS
Record: 44-10 overall, 23-3 (1st) in the Sooner Athletic Conference
Notes: Oklahoma City is the defending national champion. … The Stars have a .359 team batting average and 1.58 ERA. Senior center fielder Melody Murphy ranked second in the conference in batting average (.446) and has eight home runs, 35 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. … OCU has solid pitching depth with freshman Jenni Gaby (13-1, 1.00), juniors Julie Harvey (12-4, 1.54) and Elizabeth Oberst (9-2, 1.79) and sophomore Ashley Wilburn (10-3, 2.10).
Saint Gregory's University Cavaliers
Record: 47-11 overall, 21-5 (2nd) in the Sooner Athletic Conference
Notes: The Cavaliers, located in Shawnee, Okla., have a .314 team batting average and 1.37 ERA. … Junior pitcher Sharon Bell (34-9, 1.30) is the all-time career strikeout leader in the NAIA. This season, Bell, who is from Perth, Australia, has struck out 409 batters in 259 innings or 14.21 batters per nine innings. Opponents are batting only .128 against her. … Sophomore infielder Jessica Reed tops SGU with a .381 batting average and five home runs.
Lubbock Christian University Chaparrals
Record: 46-7 overall, 20-6 (3rd) in the Sooner Athletic Conference
Notes: This is LCU’s first year to field a softball team. … The Chaps topped the Sooner in team batting average (.408) and were fourth in ERA (1.66). … Junior shortstop Raquel Hawkins ranked among the Sooner leaders in just about offensive category in being named the conference’s player of the year. She was first in batting average (.475) and RBIs (70) and second in home runs (14).
University of Houston-Victoria Jaguars
Record: 30-16 overall
Notes: UHV is the only independent in the tournament and in its inaugural season. … The Jaguars have a .301 team batting average and 1.93 team ERA. … Juniors Lauren Garza (17-6, 2.17) and Kristen Lindley (11-10, 1.70) have pitched all but 12 innings for the Jaguars. … Lindley leads the team in batting average (.392), RBIs (60), and slugging percentage (.696) and is tied with junior shortstop Stephanie Lavey for the team lead in home runs with 10.
Northwood University Knights
Record: 33-19 overall, 20-4 (1st) in the Red River Athletic Conference
Notes: Northwood, located in Cedar Hill, has a .318 team batting average and a 2.78 team ERA. … Pitcher Ashley Westerman has a 19-7 record and 1.66 ERA. … Center fielder Angelique Meek tops the Knights with a .394 batting average. Shortstop Katie Pfannerstill is batting .363 with six home runs and 36 RBIs.
College of the Southwest Mustangs
Record: 26-24 overall, 16-8 (4th) in the Red River Athletic Conference
Notes: College of the Southwest, located in Hobbs, N.M., qualified for the tournament by finishing second at the Red River tournament. … The Mustangs are batting .349 with a team ERA of 5.30. … Stephanie Ganaway (10-9, 4.97) and Ruby Garza (8-10, 4.97) are the Mustangs’ top pitchers. … Allison McCormick, Erika Martin and Holly Bodway are all batting .355.