CANYON, Texas – The #1 Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M opened up Lone Star Conference play in style on Friday night as they plated 29 runs on 30 hits in a doubleheader sweep of rival Midwestern State as senior left hander Rita Hokianga allowed just one hit in the opener in front of over 250 fans at Schaeffer Park during White Out Cancer Weekend in Canyon.
 
"What a night, we've talked all week about coming out and defending our home turf and the league title against a very good MSU team and our kids took that to heart" said WT head coach Kevin Blaskowski "Rita is a big game pitcher and she proved that tonight, not facing an opposing batter for two weeks and throwing that well against an offensive team like MSU was fun to watch. Offensively we were disciplined at the plate and stayed in a rhythm up-and-down our lineup, now we have to find a way to match that intensity and heart in tomorrow's doubleheader."
 
The Lady Buffs return to action tomorrow afternoon as they wrap-up the Lone Star Conference series against Midwestern State with a doubleheader set for 1 p.m. at Schaeffer Park during White Out Cancer Weekend presented by Buffalo Wild Wings.
 
Game #1
#1 West Texas A&M 10, Midwestern State 1 (F/5 Innings)
 
The Lady Buffs wasted no time taking the momentum in the opener as Rita Hokianga forced a groundout on the first pitch of the game followed by a strikeout and a popup, WT would take the lead in the bottom of the frame as Tyler Wilkinson registered a leadoff walk followed by a Stacey Ramirez sacrafice drag bunt to move the senior up 60 feet. Renee Erwin did the rest as the senior drove in Wilkinson with an RBI double off of the center field wall to take the early 1-0 lead.


Allie Smith started the bottom of the second inning with a double off of the right center followed by an Allie Cranfill walk to put runners on first and second with no outs, a passed ball moved the runners up a base followed by an Ashley Hardin RBI single thru the left side to drive in Smith. Wikinson extended the lead with an RBI single thru the left side followed by a Ramirez RBI single to left center. Kaisha Dacosin drove in two more runs during her at-bat with a single to right field and an MSU error that allowed another run to cross and Dacosin to get to third base, Lacey Taylor reached via another Mustangs error as Dacosin scored from third followed by singles by Smith and Cranfill to run the WT lead to 8-0 after two innings of play.
 
Hokianga continued to roll in the circle as the senior left hander remained perfect thru four innings of play as the only distraction in her vision was a 3-0 count with two outs in the fourth before she battled back to forced a groundball to Ramirez at short to end the inning. The Lady Buffs continued to swing the bat well at the dish to start the bottom of the fourth inning as Dacosin and Taylor went back-to-back with solo homeruns, Hardin reached with two outs via a single to left field and advanced to third on a wild pitch and errant MSU throw before a groundout ended the inning with WT leading 10-0.
 
Hokianga's perfect game came to an end in the top of the fifth inning as Midwestern State's Kelley Schaefer launched a solo homerun to right field to leadoff the inning but Hokianga responded with three straight out to move to 6-2 on the season with the complete game win as the Hawke's Bay, New Zealand native gave up one run on one hit with no walks and three strikeouts.
 
Game #2
#1 West Texas A&M 19, Midwestern State 2 (F/5 Innings)
 
The Lady Buffs continued to click at the plate in the nightcap as they plated four runs on five hits highlighted by RBI's from Dacosin, Taylor, Smith and Hardin for the early 4-0 lead. The Mustangs threatened in the top of the second inning with runners on first and second with one out before Hannah Newcomb responded with a strikeout before an MSU single loaded the bases with two outs. Newcomb ended the inning as the junior forced a fielder's choice groundout to Brittany Gehle at second base to keep the WT lead at 4-0.
 
WT added to their lead in the bottom of the second inning as Ramirez led off the frame with an infield single to shortstop followed by an Erwin sacrifice, Dacosin continued to stay hot at the plate with an RBI single up the middle followed by a Smith RBI single to make it 6-0 with runners on first and second with one out. Cranfill walked to load the bases, Hardin walked to drive in a run followed by a two run double by Gehle and an RBI infield single by Wilkinson to make the score 10-0. The Lady Buffs weren't done yet as they used an Erwin RBI single thru the left side with two outs to stretch their lead to 11-0 headed to the top of the third inning.
 
The Lady Buffs exploded for eight runs on seven hits in the bottom of the third inning highlighted by two run triple off of the black monster in left field by Taylor and a Dacosin two run double to stretch the WT lead to 19-0. The Mustangs responded in the top of the fourth inning with a pair of runs on an RBI groundout to Gehle at second base and a sacrifice fly to Hardin in left before Newcomb forced a groundout to Ramirez at short to end the inning to cut the lead to 19-2.
 
MSU looked to add to their lead in the bottom of the fifth inning with runners on first and second with no outs before the Mustangs lined a ball to Erwin in right and a throw to third on a runner trying to advance for the second out of the play followed by Newcomb's third strikeout of the game for the 19-2 win. Newcomb picked up the win (4-0) in the circle for the Lady Buffs, giving up two runs on eight hits with one walk and three strikeouts in the complete game victory.