LAS VEGAS, Nevada – The #4 Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M continued their offensive explosion on Saturday afternoon as they stayed unbeaten with wins over New Mexico Highlands and Augustana at the 2017 Desert Stinger Invite at Majestic Park in Las Vegas, Nevada.
 
The Lady Buffs conclude the Desert Stinger Invite tomorrow morning as they take on the Cougars of Sioux Falls with first pitch set for 1:30 p.m. CT at Majestic Park in Las Vegas.
 
#4 West Texas A&M 11, New Mexico Highlands 1 (6 Innings)
The Cowgirls started off the scoring in the top of the first inning as Katelyn Bates took a 2-2 offering deep to right field with two outs for the early 1-0 lead. Kourtney Coveney started the WT offense with a single to right followed two batters later by a Shea Ibrahim walk and a Cowgirl error to put runners on the corners with two outs before an Allie Smith RBI infield single to tie the game at 1-1.
 
A pair of Lady Buff errors put runners on the corners with no outs before Shanna McBroom gunned down a run at the plate followed by a popup to Ibrahim and a grounder to McBroom to end the inning. Coveney singled and Ashley Hardin walked with one out in the third before the Cowgirls forced a ground ball to the circle but Smith struck again with a two run single down the left field line to give WT the 3-1 lead.
 
WT added to their lead in the home half of the fourth with a McBroom sac fly to left field followed by a Coveney RBI single thru the right side to run the lead to 5-1. Ibrahim started off the fifth with a walk followed by another Smith base hit before a lineout to center with runners on first and second with one out, Kylee Moore launched a solo bomb to straight away center field followed by infield singles from Emilee Baker and McBroom and a walk to Coveney to load the bases but the Cowgirls ended the frame with WT leading 8-1. 
 
The Lady Buffs ended the game in the bottom of the sixth inning as Alyx Cordell was hit by a pitch and Moore walked with one out, a wild pitch moved the runners up 60 feet and Brittany Cruz launched a three run walkoff bomb down the left field line for the 11-1 win. Alexis Alfonso picked up the win (1-0) as the senior right hander allowed one run on four hits with one walk and one strikeout in the complete game win.
 
#4 West Texas A&M 7, Augustana 6
The Vikings looked to get on the board first in the top of the first inning as they loaded the bases with one out but All-American Kilee Halbert responded with a popup to Cordell at short and a grounder to the bag at first to stop the threat and send the Lady Buffs to the plate.
 
McBroom started the home half of the first with a leadoff walk followed by a perfectly placed push bunt for a hit by Coveney, the runners moved up 60 feet on a wild pitch followed by a two run double to the left center field gap by Hardin. WT wasn't done yet as Smith continued her hot start to the season with an RBI single up the middle followed by an Ibrahim bunt single before a wild pitch and a Cruz walk to load the bases, Augie responded with a double play ground ball to first followed by a strikeout as the Lady Buffs took the 3-0 lead into the second inning.
 
The Lady Buffs looked to add to their lead in the second as McBroom walked and Coveney reached on a bunt single followed by a Hardin single to left center to load the bases with one out, Smith drove in another run with an RBI groundout to short to stretch the WT lead to 4-0.
 
Augie looked to respond in the top of the third as their first two runners reached followed by a fielder's choice to put runners on the corners with one out, Maggie Kadrlik drove in the first Viking run with an RBI double to left center followed by an RBI single by Christina Pickett but Cruz showed off her arm as the sophomore gunned down a run at the plate followed two batters later by a Halbert strikeout to end the inning with WT leading 4-2.
 
The Vikings led off the fifth inning with a double down the left field line off of Starkey followed by a single in the gap to put runners on the corners with no outs, the sophomore left hander forced a grounder to Ibrahim at third followed by a sac fly to center and a grounder to short as the Lady Buffs took the 4-3 lead into the home half of the fifth. WT looked to add to their lead in the bottom of the fifth as Starkey and Cordell singled with one out followed by a McBroom infield single to load the bases, a Augie error scored a Lady Buff run followed by a Hardin RBI walk and a Smith groundout to plate another run to extend the lead to 7-3.
 
Augie cut into the lead with an RBI single up the middle followed by a sacrifice fly to center and an infield single before Starkey forced a ground ball back to the circle as WT took a 7-6 lead into the bottom of the sixth inning. Starkey closed out her first career save with three straight outs in the seventh and Halbert (2-0) picked up the win as the junior allowed two runs on six hits with one walk and three strikeouts in her four innings of work.