TUCSON, Ariz. – Playing against the No. 1-ranked and defending NCAA Division II champions West Texas A&M University, Western Oregon University's softball team put up a valiant effort against the Lady Buffs before falling by the final score of 5-1 Saturday at the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division II Leadoff Classic played at Lincoln Park North Complex.

Western Oregon (1-2) would get hits from three different Wolves – senior Amanda Evola, sophomore Lexi Jennings, and sophomore Kelsie Gardner – with Evola driving in WOU's lone run of the game. Junior Alyson Boytz got the start for Western Oregon in the circle allowing four earned runs on four hits with six strikeouts over the opening 5.2 innings before turning the ball over to fellow junior Stephanie Morgan for the final 1.1 innings, as she allowed one earned run on two hits for the Wolves.

For West Texas A&M (2-0), Kaisha Dacosin led the Lady Buffs with a 2-for-4 performance at the plate with a game-high three RBIs that included a two-run home run in the top of the fourth inning that turned out to be the game-winning runs. In the circle, Rita Hokianga nearly pitched a complete game allowing one unearned run on three hits over 6.2 innings with a game-high seven strikeouts before Tori Bayer got the game's final out for West Texas A&M en route to preserving the victory.

Western Oregon would get on the board in its opening at-bat in the bottom of the first inning when Gardner led off with a leadoff single before moving to second on freshman Amy Anderson's walk. After a pass ball moved both runners up sixty feet, Evola drove home Gardner with a single to center field that handed the Wolves an early 1-0 lead over the top-ranked team in the country.

Neither team would score again until the top of the fourth inning when Dacosin belted a two-run home run over the center field fence that also scored Renee Erwin after a leadoff walk, as the Lady Buffs grabbed a 2-1 lead.

Two innings later, West Texas A&M added two more runs to the scoreboard when Allie Cranfill singled home Morgan Harrison with Lacey Taylor providing the Lady Buffs' fourth run via a RBI single up the middle that handed the designated visiting team a 4-1 lead.

West Texas A&M added its fifth and final run in the top of the seventh inning via Dacosin's third RBI of the game on a single to right center field that scored Erwin for the final tally of 5-1 in favor of the national's top-ranked team.

Western Oregon will now move onto the Silver Championship Bracket as the No. 9 seed against Fort Lewis College later today – Saturday, February 7 – at 7 p.m. at Lincoln Park North Complex's Field 5 in Tucson, Arizona.