TUCSON, Arizona – The #2 Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M started slow but rebounded with a pair of wins on Day 1 of the Cactus Classic at Lincoln Park in Tucson, Arizona with wins over the University of Mary and Lincoln Memorial. The Lady Buffs remain unbeaten as they move to 13-0.
 
The Lady Buffs are scheduled to take on Academy of Art (10:30 a.m. CT) and #23 Dixie State (12:30 p.m. CT) on Day 2 of the Cactus Classic on Saturday in Tucson at Lincoln Park.
 
#2 West Texas A&M 11, University of Mary 8
The Marauders started off the scoring in the top of the first inning as an infield single and stolen base were followed by base hits to left for a pair of runs on four hits as UMary took a 2-0 lead into the home half of the frame. Kourtney Coveney walked with one out followed by an Ashley Hardin double to the right center field gap before another WT out, Allie Smith reached on an error with two outs to score a run followed by a wild pitch to tie the game before a Maddie Green RBI single to right for the 3-2 lead.
 
A walk and a base hit put Marauders on first and second with no outs in the top of the third followed by a bloop single to left center to load the bases and knock Shayne Starkey from the circle, Alexis Alfonso entered and forced an RBI groundout to the circle for the first out followed by a slow roller to Shea Ibrahim at third and a strikeout by the Tucson and Pima product to end the inning tied at 3-3.
 
Ibrahim layed down a bunt single with one out in the third followed by a Marauder error to put runners on first and second with one out, Green singled up the middle to load the bases before a WT strikeout and a long fly ball to the warning track down the left field line to end the frame, 3-3. Brittany Cruz walked to start the home half of the fourth followed by a pair of fielder's choices to get the lead runner followed by a Hardin double to right field but a groundout ended the inning still tied at 3-3.
 
UMary singled up the middle on the first pitch of the fifth followed by a full count walk to put runners on first and second with no outs, a single thru the right side loaded the bases followed by a sac fly to center field and an RBI groundout to third to give the Marauders the 5-3 lead. Green doubled off of the center field fence with one out in the fifth followed by a Kylee Moore single to center and an Alfonso single to right to load the bases, UMary's Kylie Alto made a diving grab in the hole for the second out followed by a groundout to strand the bases loaded.
 
The Marauders put two runners on to start the sixth inning followed by a WT throwing error that scored another run and an RBI single to left center at 7-3 to knock Fonz from the game, Kami Merrill entered and got an out with a sacrifice bunt followed by an RBI groundout and a popup to first as UMary took a 8-3 lead into the home half of the sixth.
 
Coveney started off the sixth with a ground rule double down the right field line followed by a Hardin two-run blast to left field to cut the lead to 8-5 with no outs, Ibrahim walked on a full count followed by a popup and a Green single thru the right side with one out. Moore tied the game with a monster three-run shot to right center field to knock UMary's starter from the game before an infield popup to end the sixth tied at 8-8. A leadoff single by the Marauders knocked Merrill from the game as LSC Preseason Pitcher of the Year Kilee Halbert entered and gave up a sac bunt to move a runner up 60 feet into scoring position, the second out came on a soft liner back to the circle followed by a popup to second base to head to the home half of the seventh.
 
McBroom singled to left to leadoff the bottom of the seventh followed by a Coveney full-count walk to put runners on first and second with no outs, Hardin flied out down the left field line in foul territory to move the runners up 60 feet before Ibrahim ended the game with a walkoff three-run bomb the other way for the 11-8 win. Halbert picked up the win (5-0) for the Lady Buffs, giving up no runs on no hits with no walks and no strikeouts in the final 0.2 of the game.
 
#2 West Texas A&M 1, Lincoln Memorial 0
The Lady Buffs started off the scoring in the home half of the first inning as Hardin doubled to the left center field gap to score Coveney from first base as WT took an early 1-0 lead. WT looked to add to their lead in the second as Smith and Starkey singled with two outs followed by a failed pickoff attempt at first to move the runners up 60 feet to second and third but a strikeout ended the frame with WT leading 1-0.
 
The Lady Railsplitters looked to cut into the lead in the top of the fifth inning as a leadoff HBP and a sac bunt put a runner on second with one out, Halbert forced a groundout to Ibrahim for the second out as the runner moved up to third followed by a strikeout to end the inning with WT leading 1-0.
 
Hunter Ervin started off the home half of the fifth with a double to center field before LMU forced a popup in the infield and a lineout to right field and a fly ball in foul territory in left to end the inning. The teams traded zeros again in the sixth as WT headed to the field needing just three outs for a win, Halbert registered her ninth strikeout followed by a grounder to Moore at first and a grounder to end the game, 1-0.
 
Halbert picked up her second win of the day (6-0) as the junior gave up no runs on three hits with no walks and nine strikeouts in the complete game shutout.