April 24, 2008

CANYON, Texas - The West Texas A&M Lady Buffs will finish up their regular season at home this weekend as they welcome in UT-Permian Basin at 1 p.m. on Friday for a doubleheader and Abilene Christian for a three game series played over Saturday and Sunday. The back drop for Friday's game is Staff Appreciation Day.

WT enters this weekend's action with a record of 22-29 and a conference mark of 5-10. Every game is a must win, as the Lady Buffs currently sit fifth in the Lone Star Conference South Division.

UT-Permian Basin will come into Lady Buff Yard with a record of 9-25.

At 1 p.m. on Saturday the Lady Buffs will play LSC foe ACU in a scheduled double-header. The Wildcats boast a record of 26-22 overall and 10-5 in LSC action in addition to sitting third in the LSC South Division standings.

Sunday's game against ACU will start at 1:30 p.m. Prior to the game senior pitcher Andrea Renteria will be honored as the lone senior on the WT softball team.

On the year the Lady Buffs have been led by the team's young talented roster. Key players in WT's youth movement are freshman first baseman/ designated player Kaitlyn Witte, sophomore shortstop Amber Farr and freshman pitcher Shannon O'Dea.

Witte leads the team in home runs with a school-record nine long balls on the year to go with her .336 batting average and 33 RBI.

The catalyst for the team's offense is Farr, hitting .347, with an on base percentage of .370. Farr has been relentless on the base paths as she has swiped 23 bases while leading the team in hits with 61.

Logging a lions share of the innings for the Lady Buffs is O'Dea. She has been a work horse for WT in the circle with 145.1 innings pitched and leads the team in wins (9), complete games (18) and strikeouts (89).

This years softball team has surpassed all previous win totals since the programs revival in '06 and with a strong young cast of players will look to build upon that number in upcoming seasons.