Every year the Lone Star Conference puts together a crossover tournament to pit the North division against the South division in a weekend of competitive softball. The 2011 edition promised to be one of the best ever with multiple ranked teams such as #2 ranked Angelo State and the #18 WTAMU Lady Buffs. WT took part in the event on April 1-3 on the campus of Angelo State in San Angelo, TX.
Central Oklahoma provided the first opposition for the Lady Buffs. Junior Meghan Brown laid down a squeeze bunt in the bottom of the fourth inning which allowed fellow junior Kimberly LeComte to make the score 1-0 WT.
RBI singles by junior Kristina Myles and freshman Alyssa Lemos in the bottom of the sixth inning increased the lead to 3-0. UCO struck back in the top of the seventh to tie the game at 3-3. Myles knocked in senior Kaitlyn Witte on an RBI single for the game winning run to give the Lady Buffs a 4-3 victory.
Junior Shelbey Cockrell got the victory on the mound for WT (14-5) giving up no runs on no hits in 0.1 innings of work.
Luck was not on the side of the Lady Buffs in their second game of the tournament against Cameron. WT took the lead late in the bottom of the sixth on a fielding error which scored LeComte. Cameron however, had other ideas as they scored two runs in the top of the seventh to snatch the 2-1 victory.
Cockrell was tagged with the loss in the contest (14-6) giving up two runs on eight hits with seven strikeouts in the complete game effort.
Game three featured the #3 ranked Midwestern State Lady Mustangs and ace Brittany Tanner. The game more than lived up to the hype as WT starter junior Marci Womack went pitch for pitch against the MSU standout. Unfortunately, it was the Lady Mustangs who ultimately found the breakthrough and plated two runs to claim the 2-0 victory.
Womack was credited with the loss (12-4) giving up two runs on six hits with two strikeouts in 5.2 innings of work.
Tanner gave up no runs on two hits with 11 strikeouts in the complete game effort.
WT’s overall record now stands at 26-10 overall. The Lady Buffs were scheduled to finish the tournament with games against Southeastern Oklahoma and East Central. WT will stay on the road for an LSC south division series against Texas A&M Kingsville which will take place on April 8-9. First pitch from Kingsville is set for 5 p.m.
