CANYON, Texas – The West Texas A&M softball team moved on to the 2024 Lone Star Conference Championship, defeating the St. Mary's Rattlers 5-1 in five innings on Friday night. The Lady Buffs improve their record to 47-6 overall on the season with the win.
 
Despite allowing a one-out single, WT starter Emilee Boyer settled in quickly as the sophomore right hander ended the inning with a pair of strikeouts. In the home half of the first inning, Boyer helped her own effort while at the plate. With two outs, Boyer connected with a 2-0 pitch, blasting the ball over the stands in left field for a home run.
 
St. Mary's tied the game in the top of the fourth as a leadoff walk moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt. The Rattlers brought the run in as Mackenzie Dugi chopped a ball to Heaven Moreno, but the sophomore infielder couldn't gather the chance cleanly. After the ball rolled away from Moreno, St. Mary's Jamison Holder rounded third, scoring without a throw.
 
The Lady Buffs didn't let the game stay tied for long as Diana Murtha started the inning with a single. A sacrifice bunt moved Murtha into scoring position where a pair of errors plated the senior and put runners on first and second for Megan Guericke. Guericke extended the lead with a double down the line to score Gabriella Valforte from second. Pinch-hitter Braeland Booth brought home another run as Booth reached on a fielder's choice to short.  After the lineup flipped over, Lauren Granger grounded a ball to short where the Rattlers looked to turn an inning-ending double play. As Granger approached first, the throw to the base skipped in and rolled away. The errant throw allowed Guericke to come around from second and score, pushing the WT lead to 5-1.
 
In the fifth inning, the Lady Buffs sealed out the win and punched their ticket to Saturday's championship. WT sparked its scoring as a Murtha single followed by a walk from Boyer put runners on base. After St. Mary's recorded a pair of outs, Moreno powered her second home run of the season over the left-field wall for a three-run blast. Now in position to end the game early, Guericke doubled to the gap in left to bring up Emily Liskai. Before Liskai stepped in the box, the Rattlers answered with a pitching change. Liskai fell behind in the count early before lining a single into center field, allowing Guericke to score and end the game.
 
The top two seeds in the tournament face off at Schaeffer Park tomorrow afternoon as the top-seeded Lady Buffs face off against No. 2 seed UT Tyler at 2 p.m.