March 28, 2008

Box Score

DURANT, Okla. - Lifted by two solid pitching performances and a four RBI day from freshman Kaitlyn Witte, the West Texas A&M softball team collected a pair of victories on the opening day of the 2008 Lone Star Conference Crossover Tournament in Durant, Okla.

The Lady Buffs, who improved to 17-21 on the season, are back in action at the event on Saturday when they take the field for three games at Durant Multi-Sport Complex, beginning at 11 a.m. against Midwestern State. WT will continue later in the day with a match-up against Cameron at 1 p.m. and conclude the day at 7 p.m. against Southeastern Oklahoma.

Game #1 Recap - (West Texas A&M 6, Southwestern Oklahoma State 1)
After senior pitcher Andrea Renteria worked out of a jam in the top of the inning, the Lady Buff bats went to work in the bottom of the first. Back-to-back walks to Rachel Cavallero and Amber Farr put the first two runners on base and both were able to score on consecutive RBI singles from Witte and Audrey Wallace. Dani Couger's two-run double stretched the lead to 4-0 with no outs in the frame and chased SWOSU starter Kaci Carpenter.

Junior second baseman Erin Hartigan made it 6-0 in the home half of the third when she connected on her third home run of the season with a runner on base.

The Bulldogs got on the board in the top of the fifth, but that would be all the damage Rentieria allowed. The Yuma, Ariz., native improved her record on the season to 6-7, by limiting SWOSU to only one run on five hits, while striking out six.

Game #2 Recap - (West Texas A&M 3, East Central 2)
Witte slammed a pair of home runs and drove in all three Lady Buffs runs during the day's nightcap as WT downed East Central 3-2.

Just as they did in the day's opening contest, the Lady Buffs made an impression on the scoreboard early in the contest as Witte put WT up 2-0 with a home run in the bottom of the first inning.

East Central countered with a run of its own in the top of the second off Lady Buff starter Shannon O'Dea. The freshman would remain tough in the circle for the Lady Buffs, as O'Dea yielded only one more run, an unearned tally in the fourth, en route to picking up her seventh win of the season.

The stalemate continued until the bottom of the sixth, when Witte connected on a breaking ball and drove the pitch over the wall in left field for the game winning score.

Cavallaro preserved the win in the top of the seventh as she gunned down the potential game-tying run with a spectacular throw from centerfield.