CANYON, Texas- West Texas A&M freshman outfielder Ashley Hardin continued her hot streak at the plate on Friday night as the Flower Mound native drove in five RBI including a three run blast to center field as the #3 Lady Buffs topped Cameron, 10-3 in the Lone Star Conference Semifinals in front of over 500 fans at Schaeffer Park in Canyon. The Lady Buffs move to 43-9 overall while the Aggies fall to 39-16.
 
The Aggies looked to start off the scoring in the top of the first inning as Macy McKay doubled to center field on the second pitch of the game before Rita Hokianga responded with three straight outs including a strikeout to end the frame with the teams tied at 0-0. The Lady Buffs took the momentum in the bottom of the first as Renee Erwin took a 2-2 Kelsey Watson offering deep to right center field onto WTAMU Drive as the LSC Player of the Year launched her 23^rd homerun of the season followed later in the inning by a Cameron fielding error with two outs that led to two more WT runs to give the Lady Buffs the early 3-0 lead.
 
Cameron threatened again in the top of the second inning as Hokianga registered two quick outs with strikeouts before an infield single and a walk put Aggies on first and second with two outs before the senior left hander forced a popup to Stacey Ramirez in shallow center field to end the half inning with WT leading 3-0. WT used the long ball to add to their lead in the home half of the third inning as Kaisha Dacosin launched a leadoff solo bomb over the black monster in left field followed later in the inning by an Allie Smith walk and Allie Cranfill double before Ashley Hardin continued her tear at the plate with a three run shot to center field for her 18^th homerun of the year to give the Lady Buffs the 7-0 lead after three complete innings.
 
The Lady Buffs got out of another jam in the top of the fourth inning as they put runners on second and third with one out before Hokianga took the momentum right back as the senior left hander registered back-to-back strikeouts to run her game total to five as the Lady Buffs held onto the 7-0 lead. WT took the momentum into the bottom of the fourth inning as they loaded the bases with no outs before CU forced two outs, Cranfill single to left field to score Erwin from third base followed by Hardin driving in two more runs with a single to right field to give the Lady Buffs the 10-0 lead.
 
Cameron scored their first runs of the game in the top of the fifth inning as they fended off the run rule with a three run linedrive homerun by LSC Newcomer of the Year Lauren Renneker to left center field with one out, Hokianga responded as she forced a line out to Dacosin at the hot corner followed by a groundout to Ramirez at shortstop as WT took the 10-3 lead to the home half of the fifth. The Lady Buffs looked to end the game in the bottom of the fifth as they loaded the bases with two outs as CU elected to intentionally walk Erwin with the no one on and two outs followed by a Dacosin single up the middle and a Lacey Taylor walk before a flyout to right ended the inning with WT holding the 10-3 lead.
 
The Aggies tried to cut into the lead once again in the top of the sixth inning as they had runners on second and third with one out before Hokianga came thru in the clutch again with her seventh strikeout of the night followed by a great defensive play by Brittany Gehle on a sliding catch near the first base line to end the half inning with the Lady Buffs leading 10-3. The seven run lead would be more than enough for Hokianga as the 1^st Team All-LSC selection moved to 19-5 on the season, giving up three runs on eight hits with four walks and nine strikeouts in the complete game win.
 
The Lady Buffs advance to the Lone Star Conference Championship game for the third straight season and fourth time overall as they will take on the second seeded Pioneers of Texas Woman's in a battle for the tournament title with first pitch schedule for 2:00 p.m. in Canyon. The Pioneers made short work of Tarleton State in the other semifinal as TWU scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning for a 9-1 run-rule victory over the TexAnns in five innings.