SAN ANGELO, Texas – The top ranked Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M used a two run homerun by freshman Allie Smith in the fifth inning of game three before stranding nine base runners in the finale to snap a 10 game win streak as WT split doubleheader action against the rival #6 Belles of Angelo State at Mayer Field in San Angelo to take 3-of-4 in the Lone Star Conference weekend series. The Lady Buffs move to 20-3 (7-1 LSC) while the Belles are now 21-5 (6-4 LSC) on the season.
 
"Really proud of our effort all weekend, this is one of the toughest places to play in the country and the final three games of the series were classic WT/ASU rivalry games" said WT head coach Kevin Blaskowski "Our pitching staff was strong all weekend, Rita loves the big-game situations and she proved that. Offensively we started out really well last night and slowly lost a little confidence at the plate and you can't expect to win a Top-10 matchup on the road when you strand nine, now we've got a road trip to reflect and get ready for a good Texas A&M-Commerce team next weekend at home."
 
The Lady Buffs return to the friendly confines of Schaeffer Park in Lone Star Conference action next weekend as they Lions of Texas A&M-Commerce come to Canyon for the first time as a program for a four-game series starting on Friday night with doubleheader action set for 5 p.m. followed by the final two games of the series on Saturday afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m.
 
Game #1
#1 West Texas A&M 4, #6 Angelo State 2
 
The Lady Buffs wasted no time starting off the scoring in the top of the first inning as Renee Erwin walked with two outs for WT's first base runner followed by a Kaisha Dacosin RBI double to left field to drive in Erwin all the way from first base to take the early 1-0 lead after a half inning of play. The Belles showed their first life off of Rita Hokianga in the series as Micherie Koria singled to left field with one out in the top of the first for ASU's first hit off of the senior left hander, Koria would steal second base but Hokianga responded with a pair of outs to end the inning with a 1-0 lead.
 
Angelo led off the bottom of the third inning with a single to center field with a WT error to put a runner on second with no outs, the Belles used the sacrifice bunt to move the runner up 60 feet with one out before Hokianga used her glove in the circle to get the second out on a grounder back to her as she tossed to Lacey Taylor who applied the tag at the plate. Hokianga would end the inning with another ground ball, this time to Stacey Ramirez at shortstop to end the inning with the Lady Buffs leading 1-0.
 
ASU looked to take the lead in the home half of the fourth inning as a walk and single to center field with two outs put runners on first and second before Hokianga answered yet again as she forced a fielder's choice groundout to Brittany Gehle at second base who flipped to Ramirez at shortstop for the out to end the inning with WT leading 1-0. The Lady Buffs added to their lead in the top of the fifth inning as Gehle singled thru the right side with two outs followed by a Tyler Wilkinson full-count RBI single to right field as Gehle came around to score, stretching the WT lead to 2-0 headed to the bottom of the fifth.
 
The Belles responded in the bottom of the fifth inning as Madison Greenwell singled to left field with one out followed by a Koria RBI triple that snuck inside the left field line to cut the led to 2-1, Hokianga got out of the jam again as she forced a groundout to Dacosin at third base that held the runner followed by the lefty's fourth strikeout of the game as the Lady Buffs took the 2-1 lead into the sixth inning. The Lady Buffs picked-up two huge insurance runs in the top of the sixth inning via the long ball as freshman designated player Allie Smith smashed her second career homerun to left center field to drive in Dacosin with two outs to give WT the 4-1 lead headed to the home half of the sixth.
 
Angelo used the long ball to their advantage in the bottom of the sixth inning as Kenedy Urbany helped out her own cause with a leadoff solo homerun to left field to cut the lead to 4-2 followed by a stand-up double down the right field line by Tina Cisneros to knock Hokianga from the game. Tori Bayer entered the circle and struck out the first batter that she faced for the first out followed one pitch later by a dribbler back to the circle as the runner moved up 60 feet to third base with two outs, the junior right hander got out of the inning as she forced a popup to end the frame with WT leading 4-2.
 
Bayer would force a groundout to Dacosin at third base for the first out of the seventh inning followed by a line drive to Gehle at second base for out number two, the junior would end the game with a flyout to Hardin in left field to give the Lady Buffs the 4-2 victory. Hokianga picked up the win (9-2) in the circle for the Lady Buffs, giving up two runs on seven hits with two walks and four strikeouts in 5.0 innings of work while Bayer registered her second save of the season as the Floresville native gave up no hits and struck out one ASU batter in the final two innings.
 
Game #2
#6 Angelo State 1, #1 West Texas A&M 0
 
The Belles took their first lead of the series in the home half of the first inning as Urbany singled up the middle with runners on second and third with two outs, a Lady Buff error earlier in the inning led to the run but the WT defense made a play when it counted as Dacosin got into a rundown with the trail runner on the play for the final out as ASU took the early 1-0 lead after one complete inning of play. ASU threatened again in the bottom of the second inning as they had runners on the corners with one out before Hannah Newcomb got out of the jam with a grounder to Dacosin at third followed by a dribbler back to the circle to end the inning with the Belles leading 1-0.
 
The Lady Buffs stranded six base runners throughout the first four innings but Newcomb threw well in the circle as ASU took a 1-0 lead into the fourth, Bayer entered the game for WT to start the bottom of the fourth and she continued where she left off in the opener as ASU stranded a runner on second to take a 1-0 lead into the fifth inning. The teams traded zeroes in the fifth as both pitchers continued to dominate the game, ASU's Brandi Marlett tossed a great game in the circle to carry a 1-0 lead into the seventh inning.
 
The freshman right hander struck out Hardin to leadoff the frame for her 10^th K of the contest followed by a four-pitch walk to Gehle to put a runner on first with one out, Wilkinson reached on an infield single as Gehle moved to second before ASU forced a fielder's choice groundout to the third base bag for the second out with runners on first and second. The game ended the next batter as Marlett registered her 11^th strikeout of the game as the Belles took the series finale, 1-0. Newcomb picked up the loss (5-1) in the circle for WT, giving up one run (unearned) on three hits with two walks in her 3.0 innings while Bayer tossed the final four frames for the Lady Buffs, giving up no runs on two hits with no walks and one strikeout.