Currently a member school of the Lone Star Conference, Tarleton State will officially join the WAC on July 1, 2020, competing in Division I athletic for the first time beginning with the 2020-21 season. A four-year reclassification process will prohibit the school from D1 postseason play until the 2024-25 season.
During the reclassification process, however, the Texans will be immediately eligible to win regular season championships in all sports, including softball. Non-NCAA postseason tournaments – such as the National Invitational Softball Championship – are also not subject to that rule during the four-year period.
Lone Star Conference members since 1994, the Texans own thirty-six league championships across all sports. Located in Stephenville, Texas – a town of roughly 21,000, per the 2018 US Census – the school is part of the Texas A&M University system.
The Texans’ softball team finished the 2019 season with an overall record of 40-15, including a 20-10 mark in Lone Star Conference play. The Texans received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament for the third consecutive season, ending the year in the Regional round. Former Howard Payne University baseball pitcher Mark Cumpian is in his fourth year as the Texans’ head coach, and has been a member of the team’s coaching staff since 2010.
Upon joining the WAC in 2020, Tarleton State will become the seventh conference team to sponsor softball. The Texans will be additionally joined by Dixie State in reclassifying to D1 and joining the WAC in 2020.
