CANYON, Texas – The #1 Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M struggled early but responded as they swept a doubleheader from the Jets of Newman University to wrap-up the Lady Buff Invite at Schaeffer Park in Canyon, Texas. The Lady Buffs move to 13-2 overall while Newman falls to 2-9.
 
The Lady Buffs begin the defense of their Lone Star Conference Championship next weekend as they travel to Stephenville, Texas for a four-game league series with the TexAnns of Tarleton State starting on Friday night with first pitch scheduled for 5 p.m. followed by doubleheader action on Saturday at 1 p.m. Fans unable to attend the games can follow live stats and a webstream, those links can be found on the softball schedule page at GoBuffsGo.com.
 
Game #1
#1 West Texas A&M 5, Newman 4
 
The Jets threatened in the top of the first inning as a pair of WT fielding errors put runners on the corners with one out before Rita Hokianga got herself out of the jam with a groundball back to the circle as she threw to Lacey Taylor at the plate for the second out followed by a tag-out play at second base by Moran Harrison for the inning ending double play. Tyler Wilkinson led off the bottom of the frame with a five pitch walk before stealing second with one out, Renee Erwin walked on a full count followed by a passed ball to move the runners up 60 feet before Kaisha Dacosin singled thru the left side to plate both runs with one out to take the early 2-0 lead.
 
WT looked to add to their lead in the bottom of the second inning as Ashley Hardin drew a full-count walk with one out and stole second to move in scoring position followed by a Wilkinson single thru the left side to put runners on the corners, Wilkinson stole second immediately followed by a Stacey Ramirez bunt single to load the bases. The Jets responded as their starter, Katie Ingles registered a pair of strikeouts in the heart of the Lady Buff lineup to end the threat and the inning with WT leading 2-0.
 
The Jets tied the game up in the top of the fourth inning as a Lady Buff fielding error with one out put a Newman runner on second base before Hokianga responded with a strikeout for the second out, the Jets tied the game the next batter as Missy Swanson laced a ball off of the center field wall that rolled around the outfield for an inside-the-park homerun to tie the game at 2-2 headed to the bottom of the fourth inning. Newman threatened again in the top of the fifth inning as a leadoff single followed by a stolen base and sacrifice bunt put a runner on third with one out before Allie Cranfill made a great play on her knees at first to gun down the runner at home, the Jets poked a single thru the right side to put runners on first and second before Hokianga forced a ground ball to Harrison at second to end the inning tied at 2-2.
 
The Lady Buffs used the long ball to retake the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning as Taylor continued to stay hot at the plate with a leadoff solo homerun off of the net protecting the scoreboard in straight away center field, WT wasn't done yet as Hardin launched her second homerun of the season to left center field with two outs to score Hannah Limmer to stretch the WT lead to 5-2. Newman responded in the top of the sixth inning as Swanson struck again with two outs with a triple off of the left center field wall with two outs followed by an RBI single up the middle to cut the lead to 5-3.
 
Newman wouldn't go down without a fight as they used a pair of singles to put runners on first and second with one out followed by an RBI single up the middle to cut the score to 5-4 and knock Hokianga out of the game, Tori Bayer entered the game and forced a popup in foul territory to Dacosin at third base followed by a strikeout to end the game, 5-4.
 
Hokianga picked up the win (5-2) for the Lady Buffs, giving up four runs (three earned) on nine hits with no walks and seven strikeouts in her 6.1 innings of work while Bayer grabbed her first save of the season, registering the final two outs of the game.
 
 
Game #2
#1 West Texas A&M 9, Newman 3
 
The Lady Buffs started off the scoring in the bottom of the first inning as Erwin reached base via a fielder's choice with one two outs followed by a Dacosin single thru the right side, Erwin rounded second and headed to third and eventually scored on a wide throw to the bag behind the base runner for the early 1-0 lead. The Jets responded in the top of the second with a solo homerun down the left field line to leadoff the inning, Bayer got herself into a jam with a pair of hits and a walk to load the bases with one out followed by a double to right field to give Newman the 3-1 lead.
 
WT threatened in the bottom of the second inning as Cranfill and Brittany Gehle reached base with one outs followed by a Wilkinson single to left field to load the bases, Ramirez drove in a run with a single thru the left side but the Jets got out of  the jam without any more damage as they registered a strikeout and forced a fielder's choice in the heart of the WT lineup to get out of the inning with a 3-2 lead.
 
The Lady Buffs had another hot start to an inning in the third as Taylor and Allie Smith started the frame with hits to put runners on second and third with no outs, Newman forced a groundout to short for the first out of the inning before Hardin tied the game with a single thru the left side to plate Taylor. It looked like the Lady Buffs would waste runners in scoring position again but Wilkinson came up big with two outs and runners on second and third as the senior chopped a single over the shortstop's head to drive in a pair of runs, Wilkinson moved up 60 feet with a stolen base but Newman would get out of the inning with a groundout back to the circle with the Lady Buffs leading 5-3.
 
WT added to their lead in the bottom of the fourth inning as Taylor continued her hot start to the season at the plate as the junior laced an RBI double to the left center field gap to plate Erwin from second base, Smith registered another opposite field hit to move Andrea Sitter, the WT pinch runner, to third base to put runners on the corners with one out. Smith moved up 60 feet on a wild pitch followed two pitches later by a Cranfill sacrifice fly to right to score Sitter. WT would add to their lead in the bottom of the fifth inning as Erwin took the first pitch she saw over the right field fence for the two run bomb for the 9-3 lead heading into the sixth inning.
 
Bayer picked up the win (4-0) in the circle for the Lady Buffs, giving up three runs on five hits with three walks and one strikeout while Kilee Halbert finished off the final three innings, allowing no runs on three hits with one walk and three strikeouts.