CANYON, Texas – The #2 Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M tossed a pair of shutouts and hit four homeruns on Tuesday afternoon as they ran their win streak to 15 games with a non-conference doubleheader sweep over the visiting Lady Eagles of Oklahoma Christian in front of over 200 fans at Schaeffer Park in Canyon, Texas. The Lady Buffs move to 39-6 overall with the wins while OCU falls to 22-16 on the season.
The Lady Buffs will take a break from action as they have their Lone Star Conference off-weekend before hosting the Falcons of UT-Permian Basin next Tuesday at Schaeffer Park with first pitch against UTPB set for 1 p.m. in Canyon. The Lady Buffs have already clinched atleast a share of the 2015 LSC Title as they await results of this weekend's contests, WT will need just one win in the final series of the regular season against Texas Woman's during Alumni Weekend to clinch the outright league title for the second straight season.
Game #1#2 West Texas A&M 5, Oklahoma Christian 0
The first game saw two of the best pitchers in the South Central Region matchup as
Rita Hokianga and Shea Coats went in order thru the first inning before
Lacey Taylor tallied the first hit of the game in the bottom of the second inning with a single to left field but she would be stranded on first with two strikeouts. The Lady Eagles had their first base runner of the game in the top of the third inning with a hit-by-pitch with two outs but Hokianga responded as she forced a popup to
Allie Cranfill at first base to end the inning with the teams tied 0-0.
The Lady Buffs gained the momentum with two outs in the home half of the third inning as
Stacey Ramirez and
Brittany Gehle singled as Gehle stretched her hitting streak to 14 games followed three pitches later by a
Renee Erwin three run blast to the deepest part of the park in right center on an 0-2 offering for the 3-0 lead. Hokianga used that momentum in the next half inning as she forced a ground ball to
Kaisha Dacosin at third base followed by a pair of infield popups as WT held the 3-0 lead.
WT used the long ball to their advantage again in the home half of the fourth inning as
Allie Smith continued her monster freshman season at the plate as the Flower Mount native launched a solo homerun over the black monster in left field with one out to extend the Lady Buffs lead to 4-0 after four innings of play. The WT defense kept the momentum on their side in the top of the fifth inning as a hit-by-pitch and OCU's first hit of the game before Hokianga forced an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play as Gehle flipped to Ramirez who stepped on the bag and fired across the diamond to end the inning with the Lady Buffs leading 4-0. The Lady Buffs weren't done yet as they used another big two-out hit as Dacosin doubled to the right center field gap to score Erwin from first base to take the 5-0 lead after five innings.
The Lady Eagles threatened in the top of the sixth inning as a walk and a single to center field knocked Hokianga from the game to a great ovation from the crowd,
Tori Bayer entered and forced a groundout to Dacosin who took the out on the lead runner followed by a full-count strikeout looking for the second out. OCU singled to right field to load the bases followed by another strikeout to end the inning with WT leading 5-0. The lead would be all that Bayer would need as the Division II saves leader registered two strikeouts followed by a flyout to
Ashley Hardin in center field to end the game, 5-0.
Hokianga picked up the win (17-4) in the circle for the Lady Buffs, giving up no runs on two hits with one walk and five strikeouts in her 5.0 innings of work while Bayer closes the final two frames to allow just one hit with four strikeouts.
Game #2#2 West Texas A&M 5, Oklahoma Christian 0
The Lady Buffs wasted no time taking the lead in the home half of the first inning as Erwin continued her historic streak with her 60
th career homerun, this time a two run blast to straight away center field to score to score Ramirez followed two batters later by a Taylor two run monster blast down the right field line onto WTAMU Drive as the Lady Buffs took the early 3-0 lead after one inning of play. Erwin's 60
th long ball of her storied career moved the senior from Anna into a tie for 7
th in NCAA Division II history with Ashley Brooks (Clark Atlanta, 2009-12).
WT wasn't done yet as Dacosin doubled to the left center field gap in the bottom of the third inning to score Erwin from first base followed by a Gehle sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth with the bases loaded and one out to score Hardin from third base to give the Lady Buffs the 5-0 lead.
Hannah Newcomb had another strong outing in the circle for WT as the junior tallied five strikeouts in the first four innings of play while allowing just three hits. OCU threatened in the top of the sixth inning with a one-out double to left center field before Newcomb forced a groundout to Ramirez at shortstop followed by the junior's sixth strikeout of the game to end the inning.
The Lady Buffs would send freshman
Kilee Halbert to the circle in the seventh inning and the Dalhart native worked around a pair of hit-by-pitches to end the game with a strikeout for the 5-0 win. Newcomb moved to 10-1 on the season, giving up no runs on four hits with no walks and six strikeouts in her 6.0 innings of work.
