CANYON, Texas – West Texas A&M softball split its Lone Star Conference doubleheader with the Texas Woman's Pioneers on Sunday. The Lady Buffs dominated the Pioneers 10-0 in five innings in game one before TWU stunned WT in game two, 4-0.
 
WT's record moves to 20-2 on the season with a 10-2 mark in Lone Star Conference play while TWU moves to 10-6 overall and 6-6 in conference action.
 
The Lady Buffs hit the road for a South Texas road trip. The away stretch starts at Texas A&M-Kingsville on Friday, March 7 before going to Laredo on Sunday, March 9.
 
THE BASICS
Game 1 Score: #7 West Texas A&M 10, Texas Woman's 0 (5 inn.)
Pitching: (W) Emilee Boyer (10-1); (L) Randi Crawford (4-2)
The Lady Buffs started the scoring early as a back-to-back singles from Lauren Granger and Kiley Avery put runners on. The pair moved up a base when Abby Howell laid down a sacrifice bunt. With one out, Emilee Boyer connected on her eighth home run of the season, blasting a no-doubter out of the park. WT added another run on the next batter when Cadence Colborn powered a ball over the wall in left field.
 
In the second inning, the Lady Buffs would add a pair on the board. A leadoff walk from Avery Cannon came around to score on Granger's one-out double to center field. Granger advanced to third on a wild pitch before coming in to score on a wild pitch at the end of Kiley Avery's walk.
 
WT brought the run-rule into play in the bottom of the fourth when the Lady Buffs plated four runs. Granger started the inning with a triple to right followed by a walk from Avery. A sacrifice fly from Howell followed by a single from Boyer scored two. Heaven Moreno doubled to left center bringing in Boyer before a pinch-hit RBI single from Riley Stiner capped the scoring.
 
Game 2 Score: Texas Woman's 4, #7 West Texas A&M 0
Pitching: (W) Allison Gonzalez (5-3); (L) Heidi Vortherms (9-1)
The Pioneers jumped out to an early lead in the top of the first as a pair of singles to start the game put runners on the bases. A popout gave WT its first out of the inning where another single loaded the bases. The Lady Buffs looked to have a force at the plate to record the second out, but an errant throw went to the backstop and brought two runs in. TWU added to its lead on the next batter with an RBI single, taking a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the first.
 
At the plate, WT struggled against Pioneer starter Allison Gonzalez, recording one hit through the first four innings. The Lady Buffs looked to mount a comeback in the bottom of the fifth when Emily Liskai legged out a two-out triple. With Liskai on third, Gonzalez settled down and struck out the next batter.
 
The Lady Buffs created another scoring chance an inning later when Howell doubled to center field followed by a Boyer single to center. Gonzalez limited the traffic with the runners in scoring position, using three pitches to record the next two outs.
 
TWU added to its lead in the top of the seventh on a solo home run, sending the game to the bottom of the seventh with a 4-0 score. Needing four to tie or five to win, Trinity Kuntz reached on an error, giving the Lady Buffs a runner to start the frame. A fielder's choice recorded the first out of the inning, but Liskai doubled to center to keep WT's comeback hopes alive. The Pioneers would upset the Lady Buffs as Gonzalez retired the final two batters.