SAN ANGELO – The No. 6 Angelo State softball team will host its second top five nationally ranked opponent of the week as defending national champion No.1 West Texas A&M comes to town for a four-game LSC series starting on Friday at 5 p.m at Mayer Field.

The Rambelles moved to 20-2 overall after a doubleheader sweep of No. 5 St. Mary's on Wednesday at Mayer Field. ASU improved its record to 10-0 at home and are 33-5 in the last two seasons. Angelo State head coach has guided the Rambelles to a 256-52 record in San Angelo since 2004. Angelo State is 5-1 against conference opponents and 2-0 in home conference games.

West Texas A&M enters with the No. 1 ranking according to the National Fastpitch Coaching Assocation. The Lady Buffs are 17-2 on the year and 4-0 in the LSC. This will be the first road test for WT. West Texas A&M won the program's first national championship last season. Lacey Taylor has been the Lady Buffs top hitter with a .571 average. She has 28 hits, five doubles, one triple and six home runs while also leading WT with 28 RBIs. Kilee Halbert has the best ERA on the team with a 1.27 in six appearances.

Angelo State owns a 26-19 series advantage on West Texas A&M. The Lady Buffs took four of five games from the Rambelles to clinch the Lone Star Conference Championship but ASU won the LSC Tournament Championship in a 5-3 decision. It will be the first series in San Angelo since 2013. The series was an epic one as ASU took two of three games including the series finale on a walk-off home run from Kacie Easley.

The pitching staff of the Rambelles is coming off outstanding starts. Brandy Marlett threw ASU's eighth no-hitter in school history in a 4-0 win over St. Mary's while Kenedy Urbany pitched 10.0 innings and held the Rattlers to just two runs on six hits in a 3-2 win in 10 innings. Marlett's no-hitter is the fifth shutout of the season for the freshman. Both are 10-1 on the season with Urbany maintaining a 1.33 ERA and Marlett a 1.00 ERA. Marlett is holding opponents to a .190 batting average while Urbany limits teams to a .217 average. Marlett leads the LSC in ERA, opposing batting average, strikeouts (74) and is tied with Urbany for the lead in wins (10). Urbany is tops in the conference in sacrifice flies allowed (1) and second in ERA.

The Rambelles are hitting .377 on the season. Micherie Koria is tops on the team with a .446 average. The senior hit .500 against St. Mary's with two hits and scored a run. She hit a key two RBI single in the bottom of the sixth inning to extend the ASU lead to 4-0 against St. Mary's. She leads the LSC and team with 23 stolen bases and has drawn 10 walks on the season. Koria has a .563 on base percentage and has reached base safely in 22-straight games.

Ciara Sheppard is ASU's second best hitter by average at .441. She has 15 hits with three doubles. She had scored nine runs and batted in seven. She is third on the team with a .618 slugging percentage and has reached base
safely in six-straight games. The freshman went 3 for 3 against St. Mary's and scored one run.

Lanie Robinson is hitting .432 on the season. She has 19 hits, two doubles and has scored six runs. Madison Greenwell is right behind her with a .429 average.  The freshman went 4 of 8 against St. Mary's. She is second on the team with 11 stolen bases and 15 runs scored. Greenwell has four doubles and two triples on the year.

Megan Granado added to her team leading seven doubles with a game-winning double against St. Mary's. The senior is hitting .411 on the season with 23 hits. She has added 12 RBIs and scored 11 runs while drawing 12 walks.

Tina Cisneros broke a 0-0 tie versus the Rattlers with her second home run of the season. The solo home run sparked a four-run inning for ASU. The senior is hitting .393 on the year. She has 22 hits of which four are doubles.

Ambra Hill is third on the team with nine stolen bases. She has a .476 on base percentage and is hitting .389 on the season. She has 14 runs and has scored 14 runs. She is one of four players with at least one triple.

The trio of Darian Dunn, Rachel Moore and Urbany will look to get back on track this weekend. Urbany is hitting .387 with 24 hits and 13 runs scored. She leads the Rambelles with six home runs and 19 RBIs. Moore has a .352 average on the season. The senior has four doubles and two home runs to go along with 11 runs scored and 18 RBIs. The duo of Moore and Urbany lead ASU with 13 walks each. Dunn has 14 hits and scored 11 runs. She has 13 RBIs on the season and scored 11 runs.

Friday's doubleheader will be broadcasted locally on 1260AM KKSA with Jeremy Bryant on the call.