CANYON, Texas – West Texas A&M junior first baseman Kylee Moore wrapped up Opening Day with some fireworks on Thursday night with a walkoff grand slam to left field as the #13 Lady Buffs used a pair of walkoff wins to sweep a doubleheader from the Vikings of Augustana at Schaeffer Park in Canyon.
 
THE BASICS:
 - Game 1 Score: #13 West Texas A&M 9, Augustana 8
-  Game 2 Score: #13 West Texas A&M 5, Augustana 1
-  Records: WT (2-0) / AU (0-2)
 - Location: Canyon, Texas
 - Venue: Schaeffer Park
 - Series (Streak): WT Leads 3-0 (W3)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED (GAME 1):
The Vikings started off the scoring in the top of the first inning as Kylie Rome singled to left field with one out and a runner on third base for the early 1-0 lead. The Lady Buffs looked to respond in the bottom of the second inning as they loaded the bases with no outs before Ashley Mickschl responded with three straight outs to end the threat.
 
Augie added to their lead in the top of the third inning with an RBI single by Maggie Dunnett to go along with a Lady Buff throwing error to run the lead to 3-0, an RBI groundout added to the Viking lead to stretch the score to 4-0. The Lady Buffs loaded the bases again with one out in the home half of the third before Shayne Starkey drove in WT's first run of the season with an RBI single to right field but Augie registered an out at the plate on a great relay throw, Augie got out of the inning with a ground ball to take a 4-1 lead to the fourth.
 
WT responded in the bottom of the fifth inning as Stevie McLemore drove in a pair with a hot shot down the third base line to drive in Kylee Moore and Starkey with two outs to cut the lead to 4-3. Alyx Cordell reached on an error to leadoff the sixth inning before Suka Van Gurp launched a two-run blast to center field to give the Lady Buffs a 5-4 lead.
 
Augie wouldn't go down without a fight as their first two batters of the seventh inning reached with infield singles followed by a Rome RBI single to left center to tie the game, an RBI groundout gave the Vikings the lead again followed by a two-run homerun to left by Shannon Peterson for the 8-5 lead.  WT loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the seventh, WT plated two runs on a Viking error followed by a Kourtney Coveney squeeze bunt to tie the game at 8-8. Ashley Hardin came up with the big swing as the senior singled to third base to score Van Gurp for the walkoff 9-8 win.
 
Halbert picked up the win (1-0) in the circle for the Lady Buffs as the senior allowed eight runs (five earned) on 10 hits with five strikeouts and two walks in the complete game victory.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED (GAME 2):
Augustana took an early lead in the nightcap with a Rome RBI single to right field with one out and a runner on second for the 1-0 lead. The Vikings looked to add to their lead in the top of the fourth as a leadoff double put a runner in scoring position before Hardin gunned down a would-be run at the plate on a single up the middle followed by a pair of outs to end the threat with AU leading 1-0.
 
The Lady Buffs finally got on the board in the home half of the sixth inning as Kylee Moore connected on a solo blast to left center to leadoff the frame to tie the game at 1-1. Augie registered a leadoff single to start the seventh followed by a groundout to move the runner into scoring position but Shanna McBroom snagged an attempted bunt attempt behind the plate for the second out to end the threat.
 
Cordell singled off the left field wall to start the bottom of the seventh inning followed by a Van Gurp infield single to put runners on first and second with no outs, Coveney lined out to right to move Cordell to third followed by a Hardin walk to load the bases before Moore launched a walkoff grand slam to left field for the 5-1 win.
 
McLemore picked up the win (1-0) in the circle, giving up one run on 11 hits with one walk in the complete game victory.

UP NEXT:
The WT Invitational continues tomorrow afternoon as Augustana and Regis face off at 12 p.m. followed by a pair of Lady Buff contests against Augustana (2 p.m.) and Regis (4 p.m.) at Schaeffer Park in Canyon.