SAN ANGELO, Texas – West Texas A&M senior right hander Kilee Halbert tossed a three-hit shutout as the #10 Lady Buffs rolled past the Cameron Aggies on Thursday afternoon in the opening game of the NCAA Division II South Central Regional Tournament at Mayer Field in San Angelo, Texas. WT reaches the 40-win plateau for the sixth straight and eight overall time in program history.
 
The Lady Buffs advance to the winner's side of the bracket as they will take on the winner of Angelo State/Colorado Christian tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. with a spot in Saturday's regional finals on the line. With the loss, Cameron will now play in an elimination game against the loser of the ASU/CCU contest tomorrow afternoon at 4:30 p.m. in San Angelo.
 
THE BASICS:
- Score: #10 West Texas A&M 4, Cameron 0
- Records: WT (40-11) / CU (30-19)
- Location: San Angelo, Texas
- Venue: Mayer Field
- Series (Streak): Lady Buffs lead 33-9 (W7)
 
HOW IT HAPPENENED:
Ashley Hardin started off the home half of the first with a double to left field followed by a grounder to move Hardin to third with one out, Kylee Moore capped off a nine-pitch at bat with a sac fly to the warning track in right center as Hardin scored to make it 1-0.
 
WT added to their lead in the bottom of the fourth inning as they loaded the bases with one out followed by an Allie Smith sac fly to center to score Suka Van Gurp from third for the 2-0 lead. The Aggies would struggle at the plate all afternoon as Halbert was locked-in, the senior didn't allow a hit until the top of the fourth inning.
 
The Lady Buffs added some insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth inning as Moore, Van Gurp and Shayne Starkey reached base with no outs before a Shanna McBroom two-run single to left center with the bases loaded to run the lead to 4-0.
 
That was all that Halbert needed as the senior picked up the win (22-7) in the circle, giving up no runs on three hits with no walks and five strikeouts in the complete game shutout.