West Texas A&M University Athletics

CANYON, TEXAS – The #4 Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M reached the century mark in homeruns on their way to a 7-5 victory over the Texas Woman's Pioneers on Thursday night during the quarterfinal round of the Lone Star Conference Softball Championships at Schaeffer Park in Canyon.
 
The Pioneers struck first in the quarterfinal nightcap as Marissa Espinoza doubled to center field with two outs in the third as Zaryah Williams scored for the 1-0 lead. The Lady Buffs responded in the bottom of the frame with an RBI double by Bella Holland to score Avery Cannon followed by a Jordyn De Los Santos single for the 2-1 advantage.
 
The Lady Buffs broke the game open in the home half of the fourth inning as Trinity Kuntz, Cadence Coborn and Brooke Janning went back-to-back-to-back for the 5-2 lead. Holland added to the WT lead in the bottom of the fifth with a solo shot to left center as the 100^th long ball of the season for the Lady Buffs followed by an Abby Howell RBI single to make it 7-2.
 
TWU used the long ball to cut into the lead in the top of the sixth with a solo shot down the left field line by Elizabeth Smith followed later in the frame by an Espinoza sac fly to make it 7-4. The Pioneers wouldn't go down without a fight as they plated another run in the seventh on a Madison Altman single to center before a groundball ended the game, 7-5.
 
Janning claimed the win (22-2) in the circle, allowing five earned runs on 10 hits with a walk and three strikeouts in the complete game win.
 
The Lady Buffs advance to Friday night's semifinal round as they will take on Texas A&M-Kingsville with first pitch scheduled for 5:00 p.m. The Javelinas knocked off #21 Oklahoma Christian, 6-1 on Thursday evening to advance to their first semifinal since 2022.