CANYON, Texas – The #9 Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M wrapped-up their homestand in style on Tuesday afternoon as they swept the NAIA's defending National Champion and top ranked Oklahoma City Stars to hand OCU consecutive losses for the first time since April 15, 2014 with a Tuesday afternoon doubleheader sweep at Schaeffer Park in Canyon.
 
The Lady Buffs return to Lone Star Conference action this weekend as they head to Silver City, New Mexico for a four-game series with Western New Mexico starting on Friday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. CT as the first three games of that series will count toward the LSC standings.
 
THE BASICS:
- Game 1 Score: #9 West Texas A&M 9, #1 Oklahoma City 5
- Game 2 Score: #9 West Texas A&M 5, #1 Oklahoma City 2
- Records: WT (13-3, 2-1 LSC) / OCU (10-1, 0-0 SAC)
- Location: Canyon, Texas
- Venue: Schaeffer Park
 
HOW IT HAPPENENED (GAME 1):
The Lady Buffs looked to open up the scoring in the home half of the third inning as a Shayne Starkey single to right along with an OCU fielding error put runners on second and third with no outs, a fly ball to left gave the Stars the first out of the frame while Julianne Abeloe gunned down Stevie McLemore at the plate to end the threat and keep the game scoreless.
 
The Stars led off the top of the fourth with a pair of singles before Starkey fielded a bunt and fired to third to get the lead out, a Lady Buff fielding error loaded the bases before OCU took the lead with an RBI single to center followed by a two-run single thru the left side for the 3-0 lead.
 
Kylee Moore, Suka Van Gurp and Shanna McBroom led off the home half of the inning with singles to load the bases followed by an Alyx Cordell RBI groundout to put WT on the board, Kinzie Jones reached on a fielding error to score another to make it 3-2. Singles by Ashley Hardin and Kourtney Coveney started the bottom of the fifth before Georgia Wall forced a lineout to second for the first out, Van Gurp lifted a three-run bomb to right field to give the Lady Buffs the 5-3 lead.
 
The Lady Buffs broke the game open in the bottom of the sixth inning as they plated four runs on three hits to go along with one OCU error to take 9-3 lead into the seventh inning. The Stars wouldn't go down without a fight as Abeloe tripled down the right field line to drive in a run followed by another OCU score at 9-5.
 
Starkey picked up the win in the circle (6-0) for the Lady Buffs as the junior lefty allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits with no walks and four strikeouts in her 6.0 innings of work.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED (GAME 2):
The Stars started off the scoring in the nightcap as Kennedy Jackson doubled to center field with two outs for the early 1-0 lead. Hardin led off the home half of the inning with a double off of the left field wall followed later in the inning by a McBroom RBI single thru the right side followed by an Allie Smith RBI double to left center and an OCU error to plate another as WT took a 3-1 lead.
 
The Stars started the fourth inning with an infield single to short followed by a grounder to Indian Holland at third as Bailey Whitmore advanced into scoring position, Kilee Halbert responded as the senior registered a pair of outs to strand the runner on second as WT took a 3-1 lead into the home half.
 
OCU was in position to try and tie the game in the top of the fifth inning as they used a sacrifice bunt to move runners to second and third with one out before Holland made a big play at the hot corner to fire over to Moore for the second out followed by Halbert's sixth strikeout of the afternoon to keep the 3-1 lead.
 
Moore led off the home half of the fifth with a triple to left center followed two batters later by a Smith RBI single to center field to make it 4-1. WT added to their lead in the sixth as Starkey and Hardin registered back-to-back triples with one out to extend the Lady Buff lead to 5-1. OCU wouldn't go down quietly as they drove in an RBI with a single down the right field line with two outs
 
Halbert went the distance as the senior right-hander improved to 8-2 in the circle, allowing two runs on five hits with one walk and seven strikeouts in her eighth complete game of the season.