The Lady Buffs officially opened the new Lady Buffs yard on Feb. 18-19, when they hosted the first WTAMU Triangular of the season against Western New Mexico and Oklahoma Panhandle State.
In the first game of the day the Lady Mustangs held the Lady Buffs at bay for most of the contest. WT broke the deadlock in the bottom of the fourth when freshman Alyssa Lemos hit a sacrifice fly to score the first run of the game at 1-0. History was made in the bottom of the fifth when sophomore Meghan Slattery hit the first ever homerun with a grand slam off the left field foul pole, capping off a six run inning and giving the Lady Buffs a 7-0 lead. WNM got a consolation run but it wasn’t enough as the Lady Buffs won 7-1. Junior Marci Womack picked up the victory (3-0) striking out six in getting the complete game victory.
“We expect teams to bring their best effort when they play us,” Head Coach Kevin Blaskowski said. “Their pitcher did a good job of keeping us off the scoreboard but we made some adjustments and Megan Slattery blew the game open with her grand slam.
Sophomores Meghan Slattery and Christie Russell each had four and two RBI’s respectively against the Lady Mustangs.
Before the start of the second game, the opening festivities officially took place with WTAMU Student body president Tim Vela, throwing out the first pitch and sophomore infielder Brooke Webster singing the national anthem.
WT got out to an early lead and had built a 5-1 lead after three innings of play. OPSU simply couldn’t keep the Lady Buffs bats quiet as the Lady Aggies fell in six innings by the score of 10-1 thanks to a walk-off two run homer from senior Christie Russell.
“This group is playing very confident softball right now,” Blaskowski said. “Our offense is our strength and Shelby only gave up three hits. What a way to end it with Christie Russell a walk off two run home run, with a full count and two outs. ”
Junior Shelby Cockrell picked up the victory for the Lady Buffs (2-1) giving up one run on three hits while striking out seven and pitching six innings. Sophomore Christie Russell led the offense for the Lady Buffs with two RBI.
On day two, the Lady Buffs took an 8-0 lead after the first inning against WNM. By the end of the second inning it was 10-0. Although the Lady Mustangs managed to plate three runs in the top of the third, it wasn’t enough to overcome the Lady Buffs. For the second day in a row, it was sophomore Meghan Slattery with a grand slam. This time it came in the bottom of the sixth inning and ended the contest with WT winning 15-5.
Senior infielder Kaitlyn Witte and sophomore infielder Brooke Webster each had two RBI in the contest against WNM. Junior Marci Womack picked up the victory (4-0) giving up five runs on six hits while striking out two batters in four innings of work.
WT completed the weekend sweep with a 10-2 run rule victory over the Lady Aggies in the final game of the series.
Junior outfielder Kim LeComte led the offense for the Lady Buffs with three RBI followed by freshman catcher Mallory Wyatt with two RBI.
Junior Shelby Cockrell got her second win of the weekend (3-1) giving up two runs on four hits while striking out nine in the complete game victory.
WT’s overall record now stands at 7-1 on the season. The Lady Buffs will now travel to Las Vegas, NM for a double header against New Mexico Highlands on Feb. 22. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
