DENTON, Texas – The top ranked Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M ran their win streak to 14 games on Saturday afternoon as they pulled off another extra inning win in the opener before a big defensive play ended the finale as WT swept the Lone Star Conference series from Texas Woman's at Pioneer Field in Denton, Texas.
 
WT finishes the regular season with an overall record of 50-2 to mark the second time in program history (2014, 50-4) that WT has reached the 50-win plateau in the regular season while setting a new LSC mark for conference wins in a season with 30, the Pioneers fall to 31-21 (19-13 LSC) and will be the second seed in next weekend's LSC Tournament.
 
The Lady Buffs will now turn their attention to the defense of their Lone Star Conference Tournament Championship next weekend as they host the 2016 LSC Championships at Schaeffer Park in Canyon. WT will have a bye in the Quarterfinal round and face-off with the Texas A&M-Commerce/Angelo State winner on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. with the LSC Title game taking place on Saturday at 2 p.m.
 
GAME #1
The Lady Buffs wasted no time getting on the board in the opener as Brittany Gehle walked on a full count followed by a TWU error to put runner on the corners, a strikeout was followed by a wild pitch and a walk to load the bases with one out before Ashley Hardin lifted a ball to right center for a sac fly to score Gehle to make it 1-0. Lacey Taylor moved into scoring position on another wild pitch followed by a two-run single up the middle to stretch the WT lead to 3-0.
 
TWU plated their first run of the game in the bottom of the fifth inning with an RBI single to cut the lead to 3-1. WT added to their lead in the top of the seventh inning as Andrea Sitter stretched her hitting streak to 12 games with a ball to the left center field wall as the senior raced all the way around to score with a phantom error call for an RBI triple to run the score to 5-1. The Pioneers responded in the home half of the frame with an RBI double to right center to knock Kilee Halbert from the game, the Pioneers continued to cut into the lead with a pair of RBI singles up the middle with the bases loaded off of Chelsea Skipper to force the freshman out of the game with one out. Tori Bayer, Division II's saves leader, entered and put out the fire as the senior right hander registered a pair of strikeouts to end the inning at 5-4.
 
The Pioneers wouldn't go down without a fight as they tied the game in the home half of the seventh inning with an sac fly to center with runners on second and third with no outs to tie the game at 5-5. Shayne Starkey started off the eighth with a single to left center followed by a Brittany Cruz single thru the left side with no outs, Gehle layed down a sac bunt but an errand TWU throw allowed Starkey to score and put runners on the corners with no outs. Sitter beat out an infield single to load the bases followed by a Briana Garza pinch-hit walk to drive in another run, Taylor continued the onslaught as the senior singled up the middle to drive in a pair followed by a pair of outs before Kylee Moore laced a two run pinch-hit double to center field to run the lead to 12-5. That was more than enough for Bayer as the senior picked up the win (14-0) for the Lady Buffs, giving up one run on two hits with one walk and three strikeouts in the final 2.2 innings of play. 
 
GAME #2
The Lady Buffs took an early lead in the finale as Gehle started off the game with a walk and eventually scored on a passed ball for the early 1-0 lead, WT added to their lead in the second as Cruz lifted a fly ball to left center with the bases loaded for a sac fly to run the lead to 2-0. The Pioneers responded in the home half of the second as they scored their first run on a wild pitch followed by two more runs in the third to take a 3-2 lead. 
 
WT used the long ball to retake the lead in the top of the fourth on a Cruz two-run bomb to left field before TWU answered with an Alexis Elizondo solo shot to left center at 4-4. The Lady Buffs broke the game open in the fifth with four runs as Hardin crushed a ball to left field for a two-run blast followed by a Gehle two run double to run the lead to 8-4.
 
TWU wouldn't go down without a fight as they scored a pair of runs with the bases loaded and two outs to knock Alexis Alfonso for the game, Bayer entered in a familiar situation as the senior forced a groundout to the circle to end the inning at 8-6. The Pioneers made it exciting in the home half of the seventh as they loaded the bases with one out followed by a fielder's choice out at the dish for the second out, the game ended in excitement as Logan Polasek singled up the middle to score but TWU sent the would-be tying run and Hardin gunned down the runner at the plate to end the game, 8-7.
 
Alfonso picked up the win (10-0) for the Lady Buffs, giving up two runs on four hits with with one walk and one strikeout in her 2.0 innings of relief while Bayer registered her 10th save, giving up one run (unearned) on one hit with one walk in the final 1.1 innings of play.
 
Field Set for the Lone Star Conference Softball Championship
West Texas A&M, Texas Woman's, Cameron, Texas A&M-Commerce, Angelo State, and Midwestern State qualified for the single-elimination event. WT is the top seed and host after winning the LSC Championship for the third straight year and fourth time overall.  TWU is No. 2 followed by CU, A&M-C, ASU and MSU.
 
Tournament play will begin on Friday, April 29, with four games scheduled to be played at 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 4 p.m., and 6:30 p.m. The tournament championship will be decided on Saturday, April 30, at 2 p.m.
 
All seven games will be streamed live free of charge through the LSC's GameCentral portal (http://portal.stretchinternet.com/lonestar).  In addition to supporting desktop and laptop computers, GameCentral's responsive design will support mobile devices as well (iPad, iPhones, Android).
 
2016 LONE STAR CONFERENCE SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT
Schaeffer Park, Canyon, Texas
Friday, April 29
No. 3 Cameron vs. No. 6 Midwestern State, 11 a.m.
No. 4 Texas A&M-Commerce vs. No. 5 Angelo State, 1:30 p.m.
No. 2 Texas Woman's vs. 3-6 winner, 4 p.m.
No. 1 West Texas A&M vs. 4-5 winner, 6:30 p.m.
 
Saturday, April 30
Championship, 2 p.m.