COMMERCE, Texas – The #13 Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M struggled at the plate in the opener as they failed to register a hit before junior Shayne Starkey hit a first-inning homerun and tossed a gem in the nightcap as WT split a Sunday afternoon Lone Star Conference doubleheader to snap a 16-game win streak by the #6 Lions of Texas A&M-Commerce at the John Cain Family Softball Complex in Commerce, Texas.
 
The Lady Buffs and Lions wrap-up their LSC series tomorrow afternoon in Commerce with the deciding game of the series as the first pitch is schedule for 1 p.m. Tuesday night's regional matchup against Lubbock Christian at Schaeffer Park has been cancelled due to this weekend's series being pushed back to Sunday/Monday.
 
THE BASICS:
- Game 1 Score: #6 Texas A&M-Commerce 6, #13 West Texas A&M 0
- Game 2 Score: #13 West Texas A&M 8, #6 Texas A&M-Commerce 2
- Records: WT (30-6, 13-4 LSC) / TAMUC (32-4, 17-3 LSC)
- Location: Commerce, Texas
- Venue: John Cain Family Softball Complex
 
HOW IT HAPPENENED (GAME 1):
The first three innings were a classic pitcher's duel as Kilee Halbert and Emily Otto sent the teams into the home half of the fourth inning scoreless, Commerce got on the board in that frame as Baylea Higgs doubled to left field with the bases loaded to drive in three runs followed by a Mariah Jameyson RBI double to right to run the TAMUC lead to 4-0.
 
The Lions added to their lead in the bottom of the sixth inning as Kinsie Hebler singled to left to drive in a run followed by a hit-by-pitch to Bri Sims with the bases loaded to run the lead to 6-0. That's all that Otto would need as the freshman tossed the first no-hitter against the Lady Buffs since April 13, 2013 as St. Edward's Sarah Debrow tossed a run-rule gem against WT in Austin.
 
Halbert picked up the loss (14-5) in the circle for the Lady Buffs, giving up six runs on 12 hits with three walks and one strikeout in her 5.0 innings of work.
 
HOW IT HAPPENENED (GAME 2):
The Lady Buffs got on the board early in the nightcap as Shayne Starkey hit a two-run homerun to right field that fell out of the glove of a TAMUC defender over the wall with two outs in the top of the first inning for the early 2-0 lead. WT used the long ball to add to their lead in the top of the third inning as Shanna McBroom lifted the ninth pitch of her at-bat down the left field line with two outs to run the lead to 3-0.
 
WT added to their lead in the top of the fourth inning as Mari Ruiz doubled to left center with no outs to score Hailey Ward and Alyx Cordell followed later in the inning by a Kylee Moore RBI single with two outs to run the Lady Buff lead to 6-0.
 
The Lions wouldn't go down without a fight as Jameyson singled up the middle with two outs in the home half of the fifth to score Bayley Higgs before Starkey continued to roll in the circle to end the inning with WT leading 6-1. Alyx Cordell led off the sixth with a double to right field followed by a wild pitch to move the Canyon product to third with no outs, Ruiz drove in another RBI with a groundout to second base followed by an Ashley Hardin solo homerun to left center for the senior's 71^st career long ball to make it 8-1.
 
 
Ciera Nunez tripled down the right field line to start the bottom of the seventh followed by a ground ball to the circle Hebler flied out to right field to score Nunez from third base for the second out of the frame followed by a grounder to second to end the game as WT snapped TAMUC's 16-game win streak.
 
Starkey continued to remain perfect (12-0) in the circle for the Lady Buffs, giving up two runs on seven hits with three walks and three strikeouts in the complete game victory.