Lady Buffs power past Texas A&M-Kingsville, clinch NCAA South Central Super Regional berth

The West Texas A&M Lady Buffs are headed back to familiar territory in emphatic fashion. On Saturday at Schaeffer Park in Canyon, WT powered past the Texas A&M–Kingsville Javelinas 13–5 to clinch a spot in the program’s sixth NCAA Division II South Central Super Regional while also rewriting the Lone Star Conference record books.

Early pressure sets the tone

WT wasted little time establishing control. In the opening inning, the Lady Buffs capitalized on a defensive miscue during a fielder’s choice to bring home Lily Mulder, then added another run on a sacrifice fly by Heaven Moreno that scored Cadence Colborn, giving WT a 2–0 cushion.

The momentum continued in the third inning. Colborn delivered again with a key two-out double to left center that brought in Jordyn De Los Santos, extending the lead to 3–0. The Javelinas responded in the bottom half with an RBI single from Alaunah Almaraz, trimming the deficit to 3–1, but it would be as close as they got.

Power surge blows game open

The turning point came in the fourth inning when Bella Holland launched a three-run home run to left center, pushing WT firmly in control at 6–1. From there, the Lady Buffs’ offense continued to stack pressure inning after inning.

By the sixth, WT had fully broken the game open. De Los Santos added a sacrifice fly to bring in Moreno, followed by RBI singles from Abby Howell and Trinity Kuntz. With the bases loaded, Maddie Hight drew a walk to bring in another run, stretching the lead to 10–2.

That same sacrifice fly from De Los Santos also marked a historic milestone, setting a new program single-season RBI record with 91.

Record-breaking power display

Even with Kingsville briefly extending the game in the bottom of the sixth on a pinch-hit two-run single by Ayla Gonzales, WT delivered the final blows in the seventh.

Holland struck again, this time with an inside-the-park home run after driving a ball off the left-field wall. Moments later, Howell crushed a two-run homer to center field, officially setting a new West Texas A&M and Lone Star Conference single-season team home run record at 106.

Pitching steadies the pace

In the circle, Laci Peskey anchored the effort, earning the win and moving to 21–4 on the season. She worked 5.2 innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on seven hits while striking out three.

What’s next

With the win, the Lady Buffs advance to the NCAA Division II South Central Super Regional, where they will host the Oklahoma Christian Eagles in a best-of-three series beginning Thursday at Schaeffer Park.

A historic offense, a record-breaking season, and a postseason berth on home turf—WT enters the next round with momentum firmly on its side.