TUCSON, Arizona – West Texas A&M used a seven strikeout performance by Rita Hokianga while fellow senior Kaisha Dacosin drove in three runs to lead the #1 Lady Buffs past Western Oregon, 5-1 on Saturday afternoon at the NFCA DII Leadoff Classic in Tucson, Arizona. The Lady Buffs move to 2-0 overall while the Wolves fall to 1-2.
 
The Wolves started off the scoring in the bottom of the first inning as they used a leadoff single followed by a walk to put runners on first and second with no outs, a passed ball moved the runners up 60 feet followed by an RBI single to centerfield by WOU's Amanda Evola. Hokianga responded with her first strikeout of the game followed by a popup to Dacosin at third base, the Wolves loaded the bases with a hit-by-pitch on a full count before the lefty forced a popup into foul territory down the third base line to end the inning.
 
The Lady Buffs had their first base runners in the top of the third inning as Brittany Gehle was hit by a pitch with two outs on a 1-0 count followed by a stolen base to move to second, Tyler Wilkinson walked to put runners on first and second with two outs before Stacey Ramirez had a long-at bat ended by a popout to third base as WOU held the 1-0 lead headed to the bottom of the third inning.
 
Renee Erwin led off the top of the fourth inning with an eight pitch walk followed two pitches later by a Dacosin two run monster shot to straight-away center field for WT's first hit of the afternoon for the 2-1 lead. Hokianga continued to find her rhythm in the bottom of the frame as the senior left hander forced a popup to Allie Cranfill at first followed by her fifth strikeout of the game before a fielder's choice groundout to Gehle at second ended the frame with WT leading 2-1.
 
The Lady Buffs added to their lead in the top of the sixth inning as Allie Smith laced a ball to the right center field gap with two outs that found its way under the temporary fence for a ground-rule double followed by a Cranfill RBI single to left center that scored pinch-runner Morgan Harrison. WT wasn't done yet as Lacey Taylor singled up the middle on a full-count offering to drive in Cranfill from second to stretch the lead to 4-1 headed to the bottom of the sixth inning. WT added to their lead again in the top of the seventh inning as Erwin walked and stole second base with two outs followed by a Dacosin bloop single to right center to run the Lady Buff lead to 5-1.
 
Hokianga picked up the win (2-0) in the circle for the Lady Buffs, giving up one run (unearned) on three hits with two walks and seven strikeouts in her 6.2 innings of work. Tori Bayer made her first appearance of the season in the seventh, forcing a groundout to the circle on her first pitch to end the game.
 
With the win, the Lady Buffs win Pool #6 and advance to the NFCA DII Leadoff Classic Gold Championship Bracket. WT will wait to find out there opponent following the final round of pool play games taking place at Lincoln Park, first round of bracket play is set for 5:30 p.m. CT. Stay tuned to GoBuffsGo.com for more information.