THE RUNDOWN
WICHITA FALLS – The MSU Texas softball team was swept by 15th-ranked West Texas A&M in its doubleheader on Saturday, dropping game one 17-0 and game two 5-1. Midwestern State slips to 11-14 overall and 6-12 in Lone Star Conference play.
 
West Texas A&M hit two grand slams in the first game, plating 17 runs on 16 hits. Starting pitcher Shayne Starkey helped her own cause, going 2-for-4 with two runs and three RBI, including a two-run homer in the bottom of the first while holding the Mustangs to one hit and one walk on the afternoon.
 
In the nightcap, starting pitcher Abbie Lancaster held WT to six hits and one earned run in the complete game effort, but a trio of miscues and a pair of wild pitches allowed the Lady Buffs to grab the lead.
 
WT grabbed the lead in the top of the first. Kourtney Coveney and Kylee Moore logged back-to-back one out singles before Lancaster misfired on a pair of offerings to Suka Van Gurp to break the scoring seal.
 
Just like the first game of the day, sophomore outfielder opened the home half of the first with a base hit, launching a towering solo shot to center. The Whitewright product's second home run of the season tied up the contest and gave MSU its first home run since March 3 in the series finale against Eastern New Mexico.
 
After two quick outs in the top of the second, the Mustangs looked poised to get back in the dugout for a chance to take the lead. A two out single from A Cordell extended the inning before Ashley Hardin deposited a double down the right field line. Coveney lined a hot-shot off the glove of first baseman Taylor Brintzenhoff. An errant throw back to the bag allowed WT to plate its second run of the night. Moore put a two-run single into right, giving the Lady Buffs a 4-1 lead.
 
Lancaster found her rhythm after the second, hanging four-straight zeroes on the board and held WT to one hit from the third through sixth innings.
 
The Mustangs squandered a run-scoring opportunity in the home half of the fourth, putting runners on second and third with no outs, but failed to score. Junior second baseman Samantha Loos opened the inning with a single up the middle, followed by sophomore outfielder Lauren Lindgren's fifth hit of the series on a single to right-center before advancing 60-feet on the throw back to the infield. The bottom of the lineup for MSU had three groundouts to get WT out of the jam.
 
Lindgren finished the series going 6-for-9 with a double, two runs and two RBI.
 
GAME NOTES
- Midwestern State surrendered a season-high 17 runs in a five inning setback to 15^th-ranked West Texas A&M in game one on Saturday. The 17 runs were the most allowed by MSU since giving up 18 to Central Oklahoma on April 21, 2015.
- Sophomore outfielder Tucker Caraway recorded the lone hit for the Mustangs, matching the fewest hits in a game for MSU this season.
- Junior second baseman Samantha Loos saw her streak of 20-consecutive games of reaching base snapped, going 0-for-2.
- Sophomore outfielder Tucker Caraway led off both games with hits, including her second home run of the season. It was the first home run hit by the Maroon and Gold since March 3 against Eastern New Mexico.
- Sophomore outfielder Lauren Lindgren finished the series 6-for-9 against the Lady Buffs, logging a double, two runs and two RBI.
 
UP NEXT
Midwestern State is back on the diamond Thursday, March 29, for a four-game series with Western New Mexico. First pitch for the first doubleheader of the series is slated for 1 p.m. in Silver City.