CANYON, Texas – Top-seeded West Texas A&M softball used big innings and strong defense to defeat No. 8-seeded Texas A&M-Kingsville 8-2 on Thursday night. With the win, the Lady Buffs advance to 46-6 overall on the season and move on to the semifinal round of the Lone Star Conference tournament.
 
The Lady Buffs started the scoring in the bottom of the second after Diana Murtha started the inning with a walk. Madison Johnson followed with a single up the middle, setting up a pair of base runners with no outs. After Kiley Avery replaced Murtha on the bases, WT executed a double steal, moving the runners up for Gabriella Valforte. Valforte lifted a ball deep into the right-center corner where the right fielder made the catch where Avery scored easily. Now with a runner on third and one out, Heaven Moreno laid down a sacrifice bunt to bring home pinch-runner Halie Stoneking from third.
 
In the third, WT added to its lead as Brittni Rufus singled with one out. During Emilee Boyer's at bat, Rufus stole second before advancing to third on an errant throw from the catcher. With Rufus on third, Boyer reached first on an infield single where she was replaced by Riley Stiner. Stiner promptly stole second where Murth doubled to the gap, scoring Rufus and advancing Stiner to third. Valforte recorded her second RBI of the game as the senior singled down the line. With two outs, Valforte and Murtha perfected a double steal to score another run.
 
The Lady Buffs continued to add to their lead in the fourth inning as Emily Liskai tripled into the gap with one out. On a 1-0 count, Lauren Granger hit a hard groundball to second where the Javelina defender gathered and threw out Granger as Liskai crossed the plate. WT threatened to score after the RBI ground out but couldn't come up with more runs.
 
Texas A&M-Kingsville broke up the shutout in the top of the fifth when a single and walk put runners on the base paths. After a line out to short, Kayla Gonzales singled off the wall in center field to clear the bases and score two. In the bottom of the sixth, the Lady Buffs put the game away with a pair of runs. With one out in the inning, Liskai singled and Granger walked to put two on. With Rufus at the plate, the pair completed a double steal. Rufus took advantage of the situation as the senior singled off the pitcher's glove to score Liskai. After Rufus stole second, Boyer grounded out to third to score WT's final run of the game.
 
The Lady Buffs advance to the semifinal round where they will take on the winner of No. 4 Oklahoma Christian and No. 5 St. Mary's at 6:30 p.m.