CANYON, Texas – The #9 Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M used a pair of big homeruns and another complete game win by Kilee Halbert to top the visiting Lions of Texas A&M-Commerce, 8-2 on Friday night to open up a three-game Lone Star Conference series in front of over 400 fans at Schaeffer Park in Canyon. The Lady Buffs claim their eighth straight win to move to 30-6 (15-4 LSC) on the season while the Lions fall to 26-13 (11-8 LSC) overall.
 
The teams went hitless thru the first two inning as both student-athletes in the circle held the other offense scoreless along with a few great defensive plays, Jordyn Sharp registered the game's first hit with a leadoff single in the third but she was called out for leaving early for the first out followed later in the frame by a great play on the run at short by Alyx Cordell to end the threat.
 
Cordell kept the momentum on the home side with a double to the left center field gap with one out followed by an RBI double to straight away center by Shea Ibrahim, Kourtney Coveney drove in a run with a single to right field to knock Kinsie Hebler from the game and Ashley Hardin welcomed Katie Dean to the game with a first pitch two-run bomb on top of the black monster in left field for the 4-0 lead for the Flower Mound native's 50th career homerun in Maroon & White.
 
The Lions got on the board in the top of the fourth inning as Hebler doubled to right center to start the inning followed by a groundout to the circle before a WT throwing error allowed a run to score but a Kylee Moore unassisted out ended the frame with WT leading 4-1. Cordell proved to be one of the best shorststops in the LSC as the Canyon product made three incredible plays in the top of the fifth inning to strand a runner in scoring position at 4-1.
 
The Lady Buffs added to their lead in the home half of the fifth inning with an RBI single to right field by Moore to score pinch-runner Kami Merrill from second base with two outs, Maddie Green doubled to right field to drive in Moore all the way from first base for the 6-1 lead. TAMUC cut into the lead again in the top of the sixth inning as Precious Thompson layed down a squeeze bunt to score a run at 6-2.
 
WT used the long ball again in the bottom of the sixth as Ibrahim connected on a two-run blast the other way to left center to score Cordell to extend the WT lead to 8-2. That's all the lead that Kilee Halbert would need as the junior picked up the win (16-3) for the Lady Buffs, giving up two runs (no earned) on four hits with four walks and three strikeouts in the Dalhart native's 15^th complete game of the season.
 
The Lady Buffs and Lions conclude Military Appreciation Weekend tomorrow afternoon with first pitch of a doubleheader scheduled for 2 p.m. in Canyon. Fans are encouraged to get to Schaeffer Park early as there will be a silent auction for one-of-a-kind Military uniforms honoring the fallen heroes of the Texas Panhandle along with numerous other special activities.