ALVA, Okla- Northwestern Oklahoma State softball will kick-off their conference schedule this weekend during their first home series against Arkansas Tech.

The Rangers have gotten off to a slow start, picking up just two wins in their first two tournaments of the season. Head coach Charlie Zeilman's team has been hard at work however the last two weeks addressing the weaknesses that have been exploited by other teams early in the season.

Thus far the Rangers have managed a team average of .235, led by transfer Brittany Corrales who leads the team with a .375 average through her 11 games of action. Corrales currently sits atop the Rangers team in multiple hitting categories including hits (12), RBI's (5), and total bases (16). Junior Madi Parrott has also provided some consistency in the heart of the Ranger line-up with an average of .313 after a slow start to the season in their first tournament.

The Rangers pitching staff will look to make some drastic improvements as the conference season begins after starting off the first 12 games of the year with a team ERA of 8.21. Sophomore Karly Murray has posted the lowest ERA throughout the early stages of the season with a 6.30 mark, followed up by freshman Kendall Jones's total of 6.75.

The Rangers will take on a Golden Suns (6-6) team that started the season ranked 11^th in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Poll, but has faced some elite competition to bring their record to right at .500. The program is coming off of a record of 49-11 in which they produced a pitching staff that placed 8^th nationally in team ERA. That staff will be headlined once again by senior Jalissa Gum, last year's GAC Pitcher of the Year recipient and consensus All-American.

Gum has gotten off to a much slower start on the mound this year beginning the season with a 1-3 record, but currently leads the Golden Suns in batting average with a .385 mark. Arkansas Tech has two other batters that have managed at least a .300 average against some of the top pitching in the country during their first 12 games in Cara Tolar and Sydnie Henson, who will enter the series with averages of .368 and .367 respectively.

The home series will begin on Friday afternoon with a double-header beginning at 2 p.m., followed with another double-header on Saturday afternoon beginning at noon.