West Texas A&M University Athletics

CANYON, TEXAS – The #6 Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M kept their season alive on Saturday night with three homeruns in the top of the ninth inning to outlast the #5 Missouri Southern State Lions, 6-3 in an elimination game at the NCAA Division II College World Series in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
 
The Lady Buff got on the board in the top of the first inning on a Trinity Kuntz bloop base hit down the right field line that just stayed fair to score Jordyn De Los Santos for the 1-0 lead. 
 
WT added to their lead in the top of the third inning as Bella Holland took a fastball deep over the left field wall with one out followed later in the inning by a Trinity Kuntz RBI double to the gap in right center that scored De Los Santos for the 3-0 advantage.
 
Missouri Southern pushed across their first run of the game in the home half of the fifth inning with a Maddie Rolfs leadoff homerun to left center followed later in the inning by a Katie Gray two-run single to right with two outs that tied the game at 3-3.
 
The Lady Buffs looked to retake the momentum in the top of the sixth inning with a Cadence Colborn leadoff walk followed by a catcher's interference with no outs, Emily Liskai layed down a bunt single in front of the plate to load the bases but a line drive double play and a groundout ended the threat with the game tied at 3-3.
 
WT went to extra innings for the second time in three days as the Lions put runners on first and second with consecutive base hits to left field with one out before Reagan Sucher ended the threat by forcing a double-play ball to De Los Santos at second to keep it 3-3.
 
The Lady Buffs showed their power in the top of the ninth inning as Avery Cannon started the frame with a solo shot over the left center field wall followed two batters later with a Holland bomb off the scoreboard in center field, WT wasn't done yet as De Los Santos went the other way for her 27^th homerun of the season for the 6-3 lead.
 
Sucher claimed the win (6-0) for the Lady Buffs, allowing no runs on three hits with a strikeout in her 4.1 innings of relief.
 
The Lady Buffs will now take on the top-seeded Saint Leo Lions on Sunday morning with first pitch scheduled for 10:00 a.m. CT. West Texas A&M needs a win to force an "if necessary" contests later on Sunday afternoon with a spot in the National Finals on the line.