LSC SOFTBALL 🥎

[WT_TKW]

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – After five weeks at the No. 2 spot, the West Texas A&M softball team claimed a share of the No. 1 ranking in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Top 25 Poll. It is the first time the Lady Buffs have been ranked No. 1 since the final poll of the 2021 season and first in the regular season since May 3, 2016.

[Buffalo/Islander Alum]

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – After five weeks at the No. 2 spot, the West Texas A&M softball team claimed a share of the No. 1 ranking in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Top 25 Poll. It is the first time the Lady Buffs have been ranked No. 1 since the final poll of the 2021 season and first in the regular season since May 3, 2016.

Nice!! Hope WT can bring home 2 national championships soon!!

[WT_TKW]

Tori Bayer was just selected to the WT Hall of Champions. She is probably my favorite pitcher.


Tori Bayer
Bayer registered one of the best statistical seasons in the circle for a pitcher in Division II history in 2016 as the senior went a perfect 17-0 with a 1.54 ERA for the Lady Buffs in her 34 appearances while registering four complete games and three shutouts. She was named a Third Team All-American by the D2CCA for her efforts on the diamond.

In her career, Bayer went 34-3 in the circle for the Lady Buffs with a 1.97 ERA which sets a new program record for lowest career ERA. She made 81 appearances in Maroon & White with 20 starts as she tossed 10 complete games and five shutouts in her 241.1 innings of work. She was a member of two Lady Buff squads that advanced to the Division II College World Series including the program's first National Championship in 2014.

The Floresville, Texas native finished with an LSC record 12 saves as a senior, her 17 career saves also set a new Lady Buff Softball record. Bayer also excelled in the classroom as she was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America Team while earning a postgraduate scholarship by the NCAA. Following her time in Canyon she earned a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from Incarnate Word, Tori currently resided in Magnolia, Arkansas with her husband Jacob, a former WT baseball player, and their daughter Elliot.

[Rockofwesties]

Tori Bayer was just selected to the WT Hall of Champions. She is probably my favorite pitcher.


Tori Bayer
Bayer registered one of the best statistical seasons in the circle for a pitcher in Division II history in 2016 as the senior went a perfect 17-0 with a 1.54 ERA for the Lady Buffs in her 34 appearances while registering four complete games and three shutouts. She was named a Third Team All-American by the D2CCA for her efforts on the diamond.

In her career, Bayer went 34-3 in the circle for the Lady Buffs with a 1.97 ERA which sets a new program record for lowest career ERA. She made 81 appearances in Maroon & White with 20 starts as she tossed 10 complete games and five shutouts in her 241.1 innings of work. She was a member of two Lady Buff squads that advanced to the Division II College World Series including the program's first National Championship in 2014.

The Floresville, Texas native finished with an LSC record 12 saves as a senior, her 17 career saves also set a new Lady Buff Softball record. Bayer also excelled in the classroom as she was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America Team while earning a postgraduate scholarship by the NCAA. Following her time in Canyon she earned a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from Incarnate Word, Tori currently resided in Magnolia, Arkansas with her husband Jacob, a former WT baseball player, and their daughter Elliot.

Nice story. Thanks for posting

[Great White Buffalo]

A pair of solo home runs and a complete-game shutout from Ashley Mandell lifted the West Texas A&M softball team to a 2-0 victory over the St. Edward's Hilltoppers. The win completed the series sweep of St. Edward's and improved the Lady Buffs' record to 38-4 overall and 30-3 in Lone Star Conference action.


After a scoreless top of the first, Lauren Granger started the home half of the inning with a bang. The sophomore cranked a 2-1 pitch to the opposite field, clearing the fence and giving WT a 1-0 lead. Following the home run, the Lady Buffs held St. Edward's quiet until the top of the fourth when the Hilltoppers created traffic on the bases. In the inning, St. Edward's used a single and fielder's choice to put runners on first and second with one out. Mandell escaped the inning as a line drive to first deflected off the glove of Gabriella Valforte to Heaven Moreno. Moreno completed the catch before tossing the ball to Valforte at first for the double play.

The Hilltoppers threatened to score once again in the top of the fifth as back-to-back singles with one out put pressure on the WT defense. After a strikeout from Mandell in the circle, St. Edward's loaded the bases with another infield single. With two outs in the inning, Emily Liskai made a diving catch in right to keep the lead intact. The two teams went scoreless in their next at-bat, sending the game to the bottom of the sixth with a 1-0 score line.

In the bottom of the sixth, Diana Murtha broke the scoreless streak when the senior infielder blasted a 0-1 pitch over the fence in center field. Mandell went back out for the final inning, needing three outs to complete the sweep. The freshman right-hander struck out the first hitter before forcing a groundout. St. Edward's made things interesting as the Hilltoppers put runners on the bases after a single and fielding error by WT. Mandell didn't let the pressure rattle her, forcing a flyout to Rufus in center to end the game.

The Lady Buffs hit the road this weekend to take on Texas A&M International in Laredo, Texas. The series is scheduled for a doubleheader on Saturday starting at noon followed by a single game on Sunday at noon.

[BuffaloChip]

Nice sweep this weekend down in Laredo. Lady Buffs beat TAMIU, 2-1, 1-0, 4-0. TAMI pitched well.

#1 Lady Buffs now 41-4.

[WT_TKW]

I'm glad WT is winning but their competition is not very good. Both St Edwards and TAMUI have won less than 1/3 of their games. WT struggles to hit against sub .500 pitchers. This is not the mark of championship teams.

This Friday the Lady Buffs head to Oklahoma to play Cameron, which is always a wildcard. After that it's Angelo State, which is also a very tough, well coached team. WT needs to get the Eye of the Tiger if they are going to last very long in the playoffs,

Here's the link to the LSC softball page. Both the above mentioned teams have better records in the LSC than outside the conference, which tells me this is a down year for the LSC.

https://lonestarconference.org/stand...?path=softball

Here's a nice story about Boyer:

https://www.newschannel10.com/2024/0...ound-plate-wt/

[Great White Buffalo]

I'm glad WT is winning but their competition is not very good. Both St Edwards and TAMUI have won less than 1/3 of their games. WT struggles to hit against sub .500 pitchers. This is not the mark of championship teams.

This Friday the Lady Buffs head to Oklahoma to play Cameron, which is always a wildcard. After that it's Angelo State, which is also a very tough, well coached team. WT needs to get the Eye of the Tiger if they are going to last very long in the playoffs,

Here's the link to the LSC softball page. Both the above mentioned teams have better records in the LSC than outside the conference, which tells me this is a down year for the LSC.

https://lonestarconference.org/stand...?path=softball

Here's a nice story about Boyer:

https://www.newschannel10.com/2024/0...ound-plate-wt/

Interesting take, with 4 teams in the top 25 it appears the LSC is more balanced than before. Also, when you are #1 you get everyone's best shot.

[WT_TKW]

The Lady Buffs and Tyler are the co-champions of the LSC. This happened when WT committed 4 errors which resulted in 6 unearned runs and a loss against Angelo on Saturday. To be fair, Angelo also gave up some unearned runs.

Tyler on the other hand is riding a 19 game winning streak; their last loss was on March 23rd to ENMU. They are currently playing ENMU in Canyon, while WT will be playing Kingsville at 6:30 this afternoon.

Can WT go deep into the playoffs? Yes, if they stop making errors.

Congratulations to Coach Mook on winning LSC Coach of the Year!

[BuffaloChip]

The Lady Buffs and Tyler are the co-champions of the LSC. This happened when WT committed 4 errors which resulted in 6 unearned runs and a loss against Angelo on Saturday. To be fair, Angelo also gave up some unearned runs.

Tyler on the other hand is riding a 19 game winning streak; their last loss was on March 23rd to ENMU. They are currently playing ENMU in Canyon, while WT will be playing Kingsville at 6:30 this afternoon.

Can WT go deep into the playoffs? Yes, if they stop making errors.

Congratulations to Coach Mook on winning LSC Coach of the Year!

It appears Tyler's pitching is also at a higher level right now. We'll see. Boyer had a pretty good outing last night, 3 hitter 2 ERs.

[WT_TKW]

WT blew out a good St. Mary's team last night, which put them in the conference title game against Tyler. I was hoping Mook would start Heidi because Tyler blew us out last year and hit Boyer hard in the process.

However for the third straight game Mook started Boyer and she was the right choice. Though she did load the bases twice, amazing defense by Diana Murtha prevented any runs from scoring.

Mook had the Lady Buffs focused and basically unstoppable, which resulted in an 8-0 run rule victory against an excellent Tyler team in 6 innings. Boyer not only got the win but was the MVP.

I expect we will see Tyler again in the playoffs again this year, but WT takes the conference tournament championship title.

[BuffaloChip]

Well, Mook started Boyer again and she came up with a 3 hit shutout of UT-Tyle, 8-0, to win the LSC Championship and the right to host the regionals. Murtha made 2 spectacular stops at 3rd base and the Lady Buffs had some timely hits spread throughout the game.

[Great White Buffalo]

In a battle of two top teams in the country, No. 2 West Texas A&M softball defended its home field on Saturday afternoon to defeat the No. 3 UT Tyler Patriots 8-0 in six innings. The win improved the Lady Buffs' record to 48-6 and secured the program's sixth Lone Star Conference Tournament title.

Following the conclusion of the tournament, Emilee Boyer, Megan Guericke, Emily Liskai, and Diana Murtha earned All-Tournament honors with Boyer receiving the tournament's Most Valuable Player honor.

WT manufactured a run early as Lauren Granger started the home half of the first with a single. After a Brittni Rufus walk, Emilee Boyer advanced the runners with a groundout to short. The extra base proved to be crucial as Diana Murtha lifted a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring pinch-runner Kiley Avery.

The Lady Buffs added to their lead in the bottom of the third as a leadoff walk from Granger and a single from Rufus advanced once again on a Boyer groundout to short. With two on and one out, Murtha reached on a four-pitch walk to load the bases for Madison Johnson. On the first pitch of her at bat, Johnson stood in the box and took the pitch off her elbow to plate a run. After the run crossed, UT Tyler brought Genesis Armendariz into the circle. Armendariz looked to have the Patriots in position to escape the inning as the pitcher forced a groundout right back to the circle off the bat of Gabriella Valforte. After recording an out at home, the throw to first tipped off the glove at first and rolled away to bring in Murtha from second. Armendariz limited the damage after the error to end the inning on a strikeout.

Trailing by three, UT Tyler attempted to mount a comeback in the fourth as the Patriots loaded the bases with two outs in the fifth. On what looked to be a grounder into left, Johnson made a terrific backhand stop before flipping to Murtha at third for the third out.

The defensive stop turned into offensive momentum in the bottom of the inning as a two-out double from Johnson brought home pinch-runner Halie Stoneking from first. A Valforte walk added traffic to the bases where Heaven Moreno doubled into the gap to bring home Johnson and extend the lead to 5-0. Megan Guericke followed the double with a bases-clearing single to right, putting the Lady Buffs in position to end the game with one swing of the bat. The celebration had to wait for another inning as the Patriots ended the fifth and stranded two WT runners on the bases.

UT Tyler wouldn't go down without a fight as the Patriots loaded the bases once again in the sixth inning. With UT Tyler threatening to score, Boyer induced another groundball into the 5-6 hole where Johnson replicated her success once again, backhanding the ball and flipping to Murtha to quiet the Patriots' rally.

The Lady Buffs ended the game in the bottom of the sixth as a walk from Murtha advanced to second on a Johnson single. With two outs in the inning, Valforte chopped a ball down to third where UT Tyler looked to escape the jam. The throw across the diamond hit Valforte and rolled to the fence, bringing in Murtha to score and end the game.

WT earns the Lone Star Conference's automatic qualifier bid to the 2024 NCAA Tournament and will await its opponent with the NCAA Selection Show on Monday, May 6 at 9 a.m.

[WT_TKW]

I looked back at the Tyler season records this morning. In the 11 years I looked back, I did not see any other games where they were run ruled. I was not surprised to see they always made a good showing in the postseason, but was surprised to see they had only one national championship, and that was when they were in D3 (there may have been more before 2014).

Losing their amazing 42-0 pitcher from last year was tough, especially since it was unexpected. However the Tyler pitcher who took the loss yesterday had been 15-0. Another one of the pitchers we faced yesterday was 10-0.

WT had only defeated Tyler one other time since we started playing, but defeated them all 4 games this year.

Tyler hurt their own cause yesterday, giving up 2 unearned runs on 2 errors. WT also had 2 errors, but gave up no runs.

[Great White Buffalo]

As you know, it all begins and ends with the girl in the circle. As long as Emilee is pitching like she was Saturday, Wt will be hard to beat. Wt's other NC's were won on the back of
their #1 starter and great defense. We will see how far this team can go. They are very hard to beat at home.
We should host the regional and earn a spot in the super regional. If Wt hosts the super-regional, making the national tournament is not out of the question.