CANYON, Texas (Apr. 30) – The TWU softball team suffered a 9-3 loss to the host West Texas A&M in the 2016 Lone Star Conference Championship game on Saturday afternoon at Schaeffer Park in Canyon, TX.
 
The Pioneers were led by senior Laura Mabary and junior Katy Stephens.  Both went 2-for-3 with a run.
 
West Texas A&M jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning with a pair of home runs.  After a scoreless second inning, the Lady Buffs added five more runs on two more home runs to take an 8-0 lead.
 
The Pioneers put together a rally in the top of the fourth inning and scored three runs to make it 8-3.  After an error and a one-out single, junior Katy Stephens singled to pitcher and advanced to third on a throwing error.  Both runners on base scored on the error.  Stephens scored the third run on a RBI ground out by freshman Lindy Kennedy.
 
WTAMU added its final run in the bottom fifth inning.
 
Mabary, Stephens and juniors Katie Hickey and Nicole Nordie were are selected to the All-Tournament team.  Nordie earned the honor for the second straight season.
 
"We made some mistakes and they hit it far," said TWU head coach Genny Stidham.  "We did not give up after falling behind by eight runs and rallied in fourth to get on the scoreboard.  We battled to the last out.  I am proud of the girls that earned all-tournament honors."
 
The Pioneers will now wait for 2016 NCAA South Central Regional Tournament selections, which will be announced on Monday morning, May 2. The top-eight teams in the region will advance to the NCAA tournament. TWU was ranked third in this week's regional rankings released on Wednesday, April 26.
 
TWU Athletics will host a NCAA Regional Selection Show Watch Party on Monday morning from 8:30-9:30 a.m. The party will take place in the lobby of the Athletics offices in Pioneer Hall, Suite 220. The regional selection show will begin at 9:00 a.m. All fans and friends of TWU softball are invited to the watch party.