CANYON, Texas – The top ranked Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M dropped the opener of a doubleheader 7-5 against the visiting Hilltoppers of St. Edward's but responded in the nightcap as junior catcher Lacey Taylor drove in five runs highlighted by a first inning grand slam to lift WT past St. Ed's 11-3 in five innings during the Lady Buff Invite at Schaeffer Park in Canyon, Texas. The Lady Buffs move to 11-2 on the season while the Hilltoppers are now 9-6 overall.
 
The Lady Buffs return to action tomorrow as they host the Jets of Newman University in doubleheader action with first pitch at Schaeffer Park scheduled for 11:00 a.m. LSC member Eastern New Mexico and St. Edward's will face-off at the same time at the Buffalo Sports Park.
 
Game #1
St. Edward's 7, #1 West Texas A&M 5
 
The Hilltoppers threatened in the top of the second inning as a pair of singles followed by a hit-batter loaded the bases with one out followed by an RBI single up the middle by Cydney Ervin before Rita Hokianga forced a popup in foul territory to Kaisha Dacosin, St. Ed's plated another run with a hit-by-pitch RBI for Alex Mayfield followed by a two run single up the middle by Kaci Olson. Another hit-by-pitch knocked Hokianga from the game as Tori Bayer entered and allowed a two run double off of the left field wall by Faith Roberts to give SEU the 6-0 lead.
 
The Lady Buffs finally showed some life in the bottom of the third inning as Tyler Wilkinson doubled to left center with one out followed by a Stacey Ramirez single to put runners on the corners, Renee Erwin singled thru the left side to score Wilkinson but WT wasted a big chance to cut into the lead with the bases loaded and two outs as Sarah Debrow registered a strikeout to end the inning with the Hilltoppers leading 6-1.
 
WT cut into the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning as Allie Smith led off the frame with a double followed by an Ashley Hardin single to put runners on the corners with no outs, Debrow forced a popup in foul territory for the first out before Wilkinson being hit by a pitch to load the bases. Debrow got the second out of the inning at the plate via a strikeout followed by an Erwin hit-by-pitch RBI before Dacosin lined a ball to the right center field gap but Ervin came up with the big play on the run to end the inning with St. Edward's leading 6-2. The Hilltoppers added to their lead in the top of the sixth inning with an RBI groundout by Caitie Carney with one out to stretch the lead to 7-2.
 
The Lady Buffs wouldn't go down without a fight as they plated two runs to start the bottom of the seventh inning on a two-run Erwin homerun the opposite way to right field with no outs, Debrow registered the first out of the inning with a strikeout followed by a groundout before Allie Cranfill tallied her first homerun of the season with a solo blast over the black monster in left field to make it 7-5 with two outs. The Hilltoppers ended the game with a groundout to third base to take the 7-5 victory. Hokianga was saddled with the loss (4-2) for the Lady Buffs, giving up six runs on four hits with no walks and a strikeout in her 1.2 innings while Bayer finished the game, giving up one run on six hits with no walks and two strikeouts in the final 5.1.
 
Game #2
#1 West Texas A&M 11, St. Edward's 3 (5 Innings)
 
The Hilltoppers continued their hot streak at the plate to start the nightcap as they used a squeeze bunt with runners on the corners with one out to plate the first run of the game followed three batters later by a Morgan Dufour RBI single to center field before Hannah Newcomb forced a fielder's choice ground ball to Ramirez at short followed by a strikeout to end the top of the frame with St. Ed's leading 2-0.
 
The Lady Buffs responded immediately in the bottom of the inning as Wilkinson led off the frame with an infield single followed by a Ramirez fielder's choice, Erwin walked on a full count offering followed by a double steal to move the runners into scoring position before Dacosin walked on five pitches to load the bases. Lacey Taylor made St. Ed's pay on a pitch down the middle as the junior launched a grand slam down the right field line for the 4-2 lead. WT added to their lead in the bottom of the third inning as they used an errant throw by the Hilltoppers on a double steal with two outs followed by a Morgan Harrison RBI single to left field to run the lead to 6-2.
 
WT was forced to make a pitching change to start the fourth inning as Newcomb was struck by a line drive on the last play of the top of the third inning but the junior got to her feet under her own power but Tori Bayer entered the game to start the fourth inning, the junior right hander got into a jam with runners on first and second with one out but Bayer forced a fielder's choice groundout to get the lead runner at third before an infield RBI single by St. Ed's cut the WT lead to 6-3 headed to the bottom of the fourth.
 
The Lady Buffs added to their lead in the bottom of the fourth inning as WT used small-ball to plate another run as Dacosin executed the squeeze bunt perfectly to score Wilkinson from third base with one out followed by Taylor's fifth RBI of the night with a single thru the right side to stretch the lead to 8-3 after four complete innings. WT ended the game in the bottom of the fifth inning as a pair of Hilltopper errors led to two runs followed by a walkoff double to the right center field gap by Erwin to give the Lady Buffs the 11-3 win.
 
Bayer was awarded the win (4-0) in the nightcap, allowing one run on three hits with no walks and one strikeout in her two innings of work while Newcomb allowed two runs on six hits with no walks and a strikeout in the first three innings.