CANYON, Texas- The #3 Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M claimed their second Lone Star Conference Tournament Championship on Saturday afternoon as they topped the Pioneers of Texas Woman's, 9-6 in front of almost 500 fans at Schaeffer Park in Canyon, Texas. The Lady Buffs were led by Tournament MVP Kaisha Dacosin as WT moves to 44-9 on the season while the Pioneers fall to 28-19-2.
 
WT claims their first LSC Tournament Title since 2011 and becomes the second team since the league combined their two divisions prior to the 2012 season to claim the regular season and tournament championship in the same season. The win gives the Lady Buffs the LSC's automatic bid into the NCAA Postseason and WT will likely host the South Central Regional Tournament next weekend, the complete 64-team field will be announced on Monday morning at 9:00 a.m. via an online selection show on NCAA.com.
 
The Lady Buffs started off the scoring in the bottom of the first inning as Brittany Gehle got things started with a push-bunt single to first base followed by walks to Renee Erwin and Kaisha Dacosin, TWU looked to end the threat as Allie Smith was down 0-2 before working the count back to full and walking to score the first run of the game to take the 1-0 lead. The WT defense came up big in the top of the second as they worked around a leadoff walk as Lacey Taylor gunned down a would be base stealer by a mile followed by a pair of groundouts to end the frame.
 
The Pioneers used the long ball to tie the game in the top of the third inning as Alexis Elizondo connected on her first homerun of the season, this time a leadoff solo homerun off of the protective netting on the scoreboard to tie the game at 1-1. TWU took the lead with a Laura Mabary RBI single thru the left side with no outs to knock Hannah Newcomb from the game, Kendra Sancet layed down a squeeze bunt to score another run before Kilee Halbert forced a pair of groundouts as the Pioneers took the 3-1 lead.
 
The Lady Buffs used the long ball to their advantage in the home half of the third as Dacosin continued her hot streak at the plate with a two run shot to left center field to score Gehle from third base to tie the game at 3-3 and knock TWU starter Tori Bice from the circle, the inning looked to be over as Allie Smith popped up to second base as Katy Stephens made a great play to battle the wind followed by a throw to first base that pulled Sancet off of the bag to extend the inning. The Lady Buffs took advantage of the opportunity as Allie Cranfill connected on a monster two run shot to the deepest part of the park in right center field that rolled across WTAMU Drive for the 5-3 lead after three complete. TWU looked to cut into the lead in the top of the fourth inning but Taylor had other plans as the junior threw out her second would-be base stealer of the game to end the half inning with WT leading 5-3.
 
WT added to their lead in the bottom of the fourth inning as Hannah Limmer walked to leadoff the frame followed by a bunt single by Stacey Ramirez, Gehle moved the runners up 60 feet with a sacrifice bunt. TWU's Bailey Wortham forced a groundout to third base before the Pioneers decided to walk Dacosin on four pitches to load the bases with two outs, Taylor walked on four pitches to walk in a run to extend the Lady Buffs lead to 6-3. TWU looked to cut into the lead in the top of the fifth inning as they loaded the bases with one out but Halbert responded as the freshman forced a pair of fielder's choice groundouts to end the threat with the Lady Buffs leading 6-3.
 
Cranfill was hit by the fourth pitch of the bottom of the fifth inning to bring Brice back into the circle for the Pioneers but Ashley Hardin would welcome the UNT transfer back to the game in style with a first-pitch two run blast to straight away center field for the 8-3 lead. TWU cut into the lead in the top of the sixth inning as Tealey Farquar singled to left field with two outs to drive in a runner from third base before Limmer made an amazing diving play in left field on what looked to be atleast a double that ended the inning with the Lady Buffs leading 8-4. WT used that momentum in the bottom of the sixth inning as Cranfill singled to left field to score Morgan Harrison from third base to stretch the lead to 9-4. TWU wouldn't go down without a fight as designated player Tylia Sylstine launched a two run blast to left center with two outs in the top of the seventh inning before Halbert forced a ground ball to third base to end the game, 9-6.
 
Halbert picked up the win (8-0) for the Lady Buffs, as the freshman tossed five strong innings as the Dalhart native gave up three runs (two earned) on six hits with no walks and one strikeout while Newcomb gave up three runs (all earned) on three hits with two walks and a strikeout in the first 2.0 innings.

All-Tournament Team
Allie Cranfill, WT
Macy McKay, CU
Alexis Elizondo, TWU
Nicole Nordie, TW
Nyka Wood, TSU
Sarah Wittenburg, TWU
Lacey Taylor, WT
Tealey Farquar, TWU
Tara Martini, CU
Renee Erwin, WT
Ashley Hardin, WT
Rita Hokianga, WT
MVP – Kaisha Dacosin, WT