DENTON, Texas (Apr. 23) – Playing without their ace pitcher Tori Bice for the second straight day, the TWU softball team dropped the doubleheader to No. 1 West Texas A&M Saturday afternoon.
 
TWU honored seniors Tealey Farquhar and Laura Mabary and sophomore Sydney Hester between the doubleheader.  The trio played their final games at Pioneer Field on Saturday.  Hester will forgo her final two years of eligibility to concentrate on her nursing degree.
 
The Pioneers gave the top seeded WTAMU all it could handle for the second straight day as they dropped the first game in eight innings, 11-5, and the second game, 8-7.
 
In game one junior pitcher Katie Hickey pitched 7.2 innings and allowed just two earned runs while striking out a career-high eight batters.  Farquhar went 3-for-4 while junior Katie Stephens and freshman Lindy Kennedy recorded two hits each.
 
The Lady Buffs scored three runs in the top of the first inning to take an early 3-0 lead.  TWU got one back in the fifth before WTAMU made it 5-1 in the sixth.  The Pioneers responded in the bottom of the sixth with three runs to make it 5-4 and tied the game in the bottom of the seventh.  The Lady Buffs scored six times in the eight to capture the win.
 
In game two WTAMU scored a run in the first and a run in the second to take a 2-0 lead.  The Pioneers cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the second and took a 3-2 lead in the third with two runs.  The Lady Buffs regained the lead with a two-run home run in the fourth but TWU sophomore Alexis Elizondo hit a solo home run to tie the game in the bottom of the fourth.  West Texas A&M scored four times in the fifth to take a 8-4 lead.  The Pioneers got two back in the sixth and then scored a run in the seventh before the tying run was thrown out at the home plate to end the game.
 
Farquhar and Mabary both recorded three hits each while Mabary drove in three runs.  Farquhar finished the regular season with a Lone Star Conference best .464 batting average, 65 runs and 84 hits.
 
"Katie pitched lights out in the first game," said TWU head coach Genny Stidham.  "We gave up too many walks and they took advantage of that.  We had opportunity to win all four games but we didn't come through.  At the end the four losses didn't change the outcome of the LSC standings.  They were good games but we were on the wrong end of all of them.  When we go to the postseason we need to rise to occasion and not let it happen again."
 
The Pioneers will return to action when they head to Canyon, TX, to play in the 2016 Lone Star Conference Championship on April 29-30. TWU, the second seed in the tournament, will receive a bye in the opening round and will face the winner of Cameron and Midwestern State in the semifinals on Friday, April 29, at 4:00 p.m. at Schaeffer Park.