LAWTON, Oklahoma – The #2 Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M used the power of nine homeruns including four by senior outfielder Renee Erwin in two games and a strong finale performance in the circle by freshman Kilee Halbert as they swept doubleheader action and took the Lone Star Conference weekend series from the #25 Aggies of Cameron in front of over 450 fans at McMahon Field in Lawton, Oklahoma. The Lady Buffs move into first place in the league with a record of 27-6 (13-3 LSC) while the Aggies fall to 25-6 (8-4 LSC) on the season.
 
"Really proud of how we made adjustments in all phases of the game after a team meeting last night and that we had a good mindset all afternoon, Cameron is a good team and Lawton is always a tough place to play" said WT head coach Kevin Blaskowski "Offensively we had a plan at the plate and Renee was locked-in, I thought Kilee was great in the circle in game four and we found ways to limit damage all day. Now we've got to refocus and get ready for a good LCU team on Tuesday at home."
 
The Lady Buffs return to action on Tuesday afternoon as they host the Heartland Conference leading Lady Chaps of Lubbock Christian at Schaeffer Park in Canyon, Texas with first pitch of a doubleheader set for 4 p.m. WT and LCU played two great games last weekend in Lubbock as they teams split the midweek non-conference doubleheader with 4-3 scores in both games.
 
Game #1
#2 West Texas A&M 11, #25 Cameron 7
 
The Lady Buffs threatened in the top of the first inning as Brittany Gehle walked with one out followed by Renee Erwin being hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second, Kaisha Dacosin walked on a full count to load the bases with one out before CU's Kelsey Watson registered the first strikeout of the game followed by a lineout to right field to end the inning with the teams tied at 0-0 as WT left the bases loaded in the opening game of the afternoon for the second straight day.
 
The Aggies registered a leadoff walk followed two batters later by a single up the middle to put runners on first and second with one out in the home half of the first, a full count walk loaded the bases before Hannah Newcomb ended the inning herself as the junior right hander forced a ground ball back to the circle as she started the 1-2-3 double play to end the first still scoreless.
 
The Aggies used a double and a single to start off the bottom of the second inning followed by an RBI groundout by Macy McKay for the first run of the contest, CU's Carly Allerheiligen singled up the middle and stole second to put runners on second and third followed by a Misty Dooley RBI single to make the score 2-0 with one out. Cameron traded a run for an out with a groundout to Ramirez at shortstop followed by Newcomb forcing a groundout to short to end the inning with Cameron taking the 3-0 lead.
 
The Lady Buffs responded in the top of the third inning as Gehle connected on her first homerun of the season with a solo shot to left field with one out followed by an Erwin monster blast to straight away center field for the back-to-back dingers to match Watson's homerun total allowed for the season with two. Dacosin singled to shortstop followed three pitches later by a Lacey Taylor two run moon shot to center field to give WT the 4-3 lead with one out, the Aggies got the second out of the inning on a popup behind the plate followed by an Allie Cranfill walk before another strikeout ended the inning as the Lady Buffs took the 4-3 lead.
 
The Aggies would tie the game in the bottom of the third inning as a walk and single knocked Newcomb from the game as Rita Hokianga entered from the bullpen, the senior left hander forced a popup and a flyout for the first two outs of the frame but CU would capitalize on a hit-by-pitch followed by an RBI walk with the bases loaded by Allerheiligen before a strikeout ended the inning with the teams tied at 4-4 headed to the fourth inning. The Lady Buffs used the long ball to their advantage again in the top of the fourth as Dacosin sent a 1-2 Watson offering to deep left center field with the bases loaded and one out for the 8-4 lead.
 
Cameron would threated again in the home half of the fourth inning as they used a walk and a hit-by-pitch followed by a Lauren Renneker single off of the left field wall to load the bases with one out, Hokianga would force a lineout to Erwin in right field for the second out followed by a groundout to Gehle to get out of the jam with the Lady Buffs leading 8-4 after four innings of play. Watson, who tossed a one hit shutout in yesterday's opener, was pulled from the game to start the fifth as Katelyn Craker entered from the bullpen with Cranfill welcoming her with a leadoff single thru the left side. Craker forced a flyout to right for the first out of the frame followed by a Tyler Wilkinson walk on a full-count offering to head back to the top of the WT lineup, Ramirez struck out on a full count followed by a great diving grab in foul territory by Tara Martini in left to end the inning with WT leading 8-4.
 
Hokianga got two quick outs in the bottom of the fifth before a walk and a single to center field that knocked the senior from the circle as Tori Bayer entered, Martini singled to right field to cut the WT lead to 8-5 before Dacosin squeezed a popup at third base to end the inning with the Lady Buffs leading 8-5. The Lady Buffs used the long ball for the fifth time in the game to leadoff the sixth inning as Erwin connected on her second solo shot of the game, this time a towering bomb into the parking lot beyond the left field fence for the 9-5 lead. WT wasn't done yet as Dacosin walked on four pitches followed two batters later by an Allie Smith walk to put runners on first and second with one out, Cranfill walked on a full-count offering to load the bases followed by an RBI groundout to shortstop by Ashley Hardin. Wilkinson walked to load the bases on a full count followed five pitches later by a Ramirez RBI single up the middle to run the lead to 11-5 headed to the bottom of the sixth inning.
 
The home half of the seventh saw the Aggies put a runner on first via a leadoff single to shallow right field before Bayer forced a popup to Gehle at second base, Martini cut into the lead as she crushed a two run homerun to right field to make the score 11-7 with one out. Bayer responded with a strikeout on three straight pitches followed by a fly ball to Erwin in right center to end the game, 11-7. Hokianga (11-4) picked up the win in the circle, giving up one run (earned) on three hits with with two walks and two strikeouts in her 2.2 innings of relief while Bayer grabbed her fourth save of the season, giving up two runs (both earned) on four hits with one walk and one strikeout in the final 2.1 innings of play.
 
Game #2
#2 West Texas A&M 13, #25 Cameron 5 (5 Innings)
 
The Lady Buffs continued to stay hot at the plate as Erwin connected on her third homerun in four at-bats with a two run shot to right field with one out in the top of the first inning followed by a Dacosin walk on five pitches, Taylor singled up the middle but Cameron responded with a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning with the Lady Buffs leading 2-0. The Aggies cut into the lead in the bottom of the second inning as McKay laced a double to the right field wall with two outs to score a runner that reached earlier in the inning on a WT error but Halbert forced a flyout in foul territory to Hardin to end the inning with WT leading 2-1.
 
Dacosin added to the WT lead in the top of the third inning as she launched her second homerun of the day to left center field to drive in Erwin who was hit by a pitch earlier in the inning as the Lady Buffs took the 4-1 lead into the home half of the third inning. The Aggies used another WT error to cut into the lead in the bottom of the third inning as Martini doubled off of the left field wall with one out to drive in a run followed two batters later by a Renneker two run bomb to left field with two outs to tie the game at 4-4.
 
Wilkinson led off the fourth inning with a full count walk to turn-over the WT lineup as Ramirez walked on a full count to put runners on first and second with no outs, Gehle gave herself up with a sacrifice bunt to move the runners up 60 feet followed by an Erwin walk to load the bases to knock CU's Sonora Zukerman from the circle and bring in Watson from the bullpen. Watson struck out Dacosin on a full count fastball up in the zone before Taylor drew an RBI on a full-count offering to take the 5-4 lead, WT wasn't done yet as Smith doubled to right center field to drive in a pair of runs followed by a Cranfill walk to load the bases again followed by Hardin's first career grand slam as a Lady Buff with a full count over the right center field fence for the 11-4 lead.
 
Erwin continued her career day at the plate in the top of the fifth inning as the senior outfielder from Anna, Texas connected on her fourth homerun of the afternoon in her five official at-bats with a two run shot to left center field to extend the WT lead to 13-4 headed to the bottom of the fifth inning. Erwin went 4-for-5 at the plate on the day with four homeruns and six RBI while being hit by a pitch three times and walking once with her only out of the day coming in the first game with a fly ball to the center field wall in the top of the seventh inning. The Aggies wouldn't go down without a fight as Martini led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a solo homerun to left field followed by another Halbert strikeout, Cameron drew a walk on four pitches followed by a groundout to Dacosin at third base for the second out before the game ended on a grounder to Gehle at second to end the game, 13-5.
 
Halbert picked up the win (3-0) for the Lady Buffs in the circle, registering her first career complete game win as the freshman from Dalhart gave up five runs (one earned) on five hits with three walks and three strikeouts to clinch the series for WT.