Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 CANYON – Tarleton State struggled at the plate Friday night as the TexAnns saw their four-game winning streak come to a halt by dropping the series-opening twin bill against No. 1 West Texas A&M.
   
In the series opener, Tarleton left six runners on base – including a two-on, no-out situation in the first inning – en route to dropping the series opener 9-0 in five innings Friday afternoon.
 
Melody Mayse and Mikayla Stogsdill got the TexAnns started right away with a single and a four-pitch walk to lead off the game. However, Tarleton couldn't capitalize on the situation as a fly out and a pair of strikeouts ended the opening-frame threat for Tarleton.
 
Meanwhile, the Lady Buffs took a 2-0 lead on a two-run homer in the bottom of the first and never looked back. West Texas A&M put four runs up in the third and three in the fourth to get the 9-0 advantage.
 
Mayse and Stogsdill made some noise again in the fifth, reaching with back-to-back singles to try and extend the game, but a swinging strikeout ended the game.
 
Randi Fentress took the loss, pitching all four innings allowing nine runs – six earned – on eight hits and six walks.
 
Mayse and Stogsdill were the entire Tarleton offense as the two singles from Mayse and the one from Stogsdill accounted for all three of the Tarleton hits for the game. Stogsdill, Katelyn Conlee and Kendra Mendoza each worked walks in the game.
   
In the night cap, Tarleton kept things tight over the first three and a half innings, but the Lady Buffs exploded for a seven-run fourth en route to winning the game 11-1 and securing the day one sweep.
 
A pair of RBI doubles in the first and a 2-RBI single in the second gave West Texas A&M an early 4-0 lead, but the TexAnns answered with their first run of the series in the top of the third to cut into the deficit.
 
Singles from Rylie Chappell, Mayse and Katelyn Conlee – surrounding a fielder's choice that replaced Chappell with Lauren Grisham on the bases – plated the first Tarleton run when Conlee singled home Grisham from second base for a 4-1 game after the top of the third.
 
Tarleton shut down WT in the third and had two on in the fourth, but still went into the bottom of the fourth trailing 4-1. The Lady Buffs pulled away with seven runs on six hits and an error to make it an 11-1 game after four.
 
The TexAnns got a fifth-inning single from Conlee but couldn't keep the game alive.
 
Brenna Hennan took the loss for Tarleton, allowing 11 runs – 10 earned – on 10 hits and eight walks while striking out five. She pitched all four innings for Tarleton.
 
Conlee was a perfect 3-3 at the plate while Chappell recorded her first multi-hit game as a TexAnn, going 2-2. Mayse and Eryn Freitas had the other two Tarleton hits for the game.
 
The TexAnns and the Lady Buffs will wrap up the series Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. from Schaeffer Park in Canyon.