The #1 ranked West Texas A&M Lady Buffs fell to San Angelo Belles 2-1 in a three game series in San Angelo, Tex. on Thursday and Friday. The Lady Buffs fall to 27-4 overall but 9-3 in conference play.
The Lady Buffs outlasted the Belles in the first matchup of the series. After the Belles jumped to an early 3-1 lead, the Lady Buffs scored two runs off of a double by junior infielder Alyssa Lemos allowing seniors Mercedes Garcia and Lacey Seidl to score, making the score 4-3. At the bottom of the fourth inning Angelo State scored two runs, in which WT answered at the top of the fifth inning. The Lady Buffs scored three runs in the inning, off of a single by Garcia, Lemos, and an unearned run by Garcia. Lemos led the team with three RBIs in that matchup with sophomore outfield Renee Erwin having two RBIs of her own in the 9-6 victory.
“Offensively, we continued to score a lot of runs in game two,” head coach Kevin Blaskowski said.
“We missed on some big scoring opportunities in game three, but we still out hit ASU in that game. I am happy with our offense to this point.”
The Lady Buffs scored as many runs in games two and three as they did in game one, but in game three their defense was improved. The best inning for the Lady Buffs in game two came in the bottom of the sixth. Sophomore Allie Cranfill hit a home run that allowed Cranfill and Erwin to come into home. Cranfill was the star of game two with three RBIs. Sophomore infield Rachel Moore and junior outfielder Morgan Spearman from Angelo State University were too much for the Lady Buffs as they each had three RBI’s in the 8-6 win over the Lady Buffs.
“We did not pitch well enough to win,” Blaskowski said. “We took the lead in both games and our offense gave us an opportunity to win and our pitchers were unable to keep ASU from scoring.”
In game three the Lady Buffs did hold the Belles to four runs, but were only able to muster up three of their own in that game.
“We talked about it after both games Sat. and we have talked about it since the start of LSC (Lone Star Conference) play,” Blaskowski said. “It is time for the talking to stop and for us to see better results in the circle for the rest of the season. Because, if we do not, we will struggle to win the big games we need to win to be successful.”
The Lady Buffs have five straight games at home, three of which are in LSC play. Before they get a shot at Abilene Christian University, the Lady Buffs return to the diamond to host Southern Nazarene on Tuesday in a double header starting at 1 p.m. Coach Blaskowski is not even thinking about Abilene Christian, though, and he doesn’t want the Lady Buffs to either.
“The games with Southern Nazarene are big in-region games for us. We need to focus on them and prepare to play well in those games,” Blaskowski said. “We are not even talking about Abilene Christian until after the games against Southern Nazarene. We do not consider any one game against any LSC opponent to be more important than any other. We do not get caught up in rivalries.”
