DENVER, Colo. --- Sunday night at 6:30 p.m. PT Biola Softball begins the 2021 NCAA Division II Softball Championship series against No. 6 seed and No. 12 ranked West Texas A&M (41-11).

The championship series is a best of three series where Biola will be home team in game one, the Lady Buffs will be home team in game two and there would be a coin flip to determine home team in the if necessary third game.

Both teams enter the championship series with 3-0 records so far at the tournament. The Eagles have wins over the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country (Augustana & North Georgia). The Lady Buffs route to the final series included No. 13 Grand Valley (1-0), No. 18 Saint Anselm (9-3) and No. 1 Augustana (9-4).

West Texas A&M is the South Central Region Champions. The Lady Buffs are on quite the run after finishing fifth in the ultra-competitive Lone Star Conference during the regular season. WTAM won the Lone Star Conference tournament championship with a 10-0 run-rule win over No. 20 Angelo State to earn a spot in the regional championship they'd eventually win.

The Lady Buffs have wins in 19 of their last 20 contests, taking them from a 22-10 overall mark to today's 41-11 record. They've got two NFCA All-American first team selections on their roster, including the NFCA Catcher of the Year, Shanna McBroom. Sophomore outfielder Ruby Salzman also earned a spot on the first team.

That pair has been a big part of what West Texas A&M has accomplished to this point in the week, combining to go 6-for-19 with four runs scored and five RBI. The Lady Buffs have outscored their opponents 19-7 to this point in the tournament. Biola compiled its 3-0 record with a 12-2 scoring advantage.

On the pitching front, Kyra Lair is the go-to option for Head Coach Michael Mook. Lair was the hero of the regional for the Buffs. She threw a three-hit shutout against Texas A&M Commerce to punch WTAM's ticket to Denver. Since getting here, she's appeared in all three games for West Texas. She's logged 15.2 innings, racked up three pitching victories and allowed four earned runs.

Lair earned all-conference second team honors this season and comes into the series with a 23-5 record and a 2.62 ERA. 

Just on paper, West Texas A&M appears to be the most hittable staff Biola's faced to this point at the National Championships, coming in with a team ERA of 2.77 and an opposing batting average of .238. In their three games this far, they've allowed three, six and nine hits while racking up just 10 strikeouts.

The top of the lineup has been firing on all cylinders for WTAMU so far this week. The one through four hitters have combined for 13 of the Lady Buffs' 23 hits. Shortstop Alyx Cordell has multiple hits in each of the last two games. She's up to 14 multi-hit games this season. Cordell is another one of West Texas A&M's six all-Lone Star Conference selections.

Weather has impacted the schedule for the championship series. The tournament directors initially moved up the game for a 10:30 a.m. PT start to try to avoid rain. Instead, just before game time the rain and lightning sent the teams back to the hotel and pushed the start time back to 6:30 p.m. PT. Gates will open for fans at 7 p.m. local time (6 p.m. PT).

All games will be played at the Assembly Athletic Complex on the campus of MSU Denver, which is operating at full capacity. Tickets are $8 per game and must be purchased online in advance. There is no all-tournament ticket or multi-game passes. Additionally, MSU Denver does charge for parking with a fee between $5.50 - $7 per day.

All games will feature a free live stream at NCAA.com and live stats, also at NCAA.com. The game one direct live link is https://www.ncaa.com/game/5843658. All game times and links will be updated on the Biola Softball Schedule page and also at the tournament central page on the Metro State website.

Biola is making its first NCAA Division II National Championship finals appearance in its first season eligible for NCAA Division II postseason.  

WEST TEXAS A&M	CATEGORY	BIOLA
41	WINS	25
.788	WIN %	.641
2.77	ERA	1.96
5.32	STRIKEOUTS/GM	5.51
1.22	WHIP	1.11
7.19	RUNS/GM	3.15
1.13	HR/GM	0.18
1.92	2B/GM	0.94
.339	BA	.255
.416	OBP	.325
113-129	SB-ATT	37-48

West Texas A&M
South Central Region Champs
Lone Star Conference (5th place)
Location: Cameron, Texas
Mascot: Lady Buffs
Seed: 6
NFCA Rank: 12
Overall Record: 41-11
Lone Star Conference Record: 20-10
3rd NCAA Division II finals appearance
2014 NCAA Division II Champions
Coach: Michael Mook (2nd season)
Coach record: 209-81 (.721) overall/55-20 (.733) at WTAM