CANYON, Texas – Coming off of a series sweep of Tarleton State, the West Texas A&M baseball team puts its five game winning streak on the line as it returns to the road this weekend in a Lone Star Conference series at Cameron University. The Buffs are 18-10 on the year and 10-6 in LSC play, while Cameron is 12-14 overall and 6-9 in league play.
The series is set for a single game Friday at 3 p.m., followed by a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. and a single game Sunday at 1 p.m. to conclude the series. This is the final four-game series of the conference season for the Buffs and wraps up the first half of the conference slate. WT will face each of the teams in the LSC again at the opposite site for a three-game series beginning next week.
WT currently is second in the league standings behind Texas A&M-Kingsville who is 12-3 in league play and 18-9 overall. Angelo State sits right behind the Buffs with a 9-6 record (19-7 overall) and Cameron is fourth in the standings. WT hosts Texas A&M-Kingsville Apr. 3-4 in Canyon for a three-game series.
Fans can access live stats and video of the games by logging on to
www.gobuffsgo.com and clicking on the baseball schedule page.
The Buffs are coming off of a four-game sweep of Tarleton State last weekend where it probably played some of the best baseball of the season. For the series, WT hit .322 for the highest batting average in a conference series this season. The Buffs had 38 hits with five doubles and six triples, while slugging .466 and reached base at a .373 clip. WT drove in 19 runs and scored 20 for the weekend.
Defensively, the Buffs held TSU to a .205 average on 23 hits with three doubles and two home runs. The Texans slugged .286 and reached base at a .264 clip. WT used solid pitching with a 1.69 ERA (TSU ERA was 6.43) in 32 innings of work, allowing seven runs – six earned, with just four walks and the Buffs fanned 30. Each team committed three miscues leading to one unearned run for the Buffs and no unearned runs for the Texans.
WT seniors
Aaron Blair and
Ryan March led the way offensively with six hits each. Blair had two doubles and a triple while driving in three and scoring two runs hitting .462. March hit .429 with one triple, four RBI and three runs scored. WT closer
Paul Lujan earned two saves in 2.1 innings, while senior
Tyler Gibson pitched a complete game, five-hitter allowing one earned run and fanning 10. Senior
Justin Disbro also was strong with a complete game allowing three hits, one earned run with two walks and nine strikeouts.
For the season, the Buffs are hitting .263 with 227 hits, including 43 doubles, 12 triples and seven home runs. The Buffs have driven in 130 and scored 141 runs, while slugging .365 and reaching base at a .336 clip. WT has committed 42 errors on the year for a .957 fielding percentage. Junior
Matt Cole leads the team with a .322 average. He is tied with March for the team-lead in hits with 29. Cole has six doubles, two triples and one home run while driving in 12 and scoring 13 runs. March is second with a .305 average. He is second in runs scored (15) and leads the team with 13 RBI. Blair and senior
Jacob Caples lead the team with two home runs each, while junior
Josh Day leads the team with three triples.
The Buffs have been solid on the mound all season as the team carries a 3.41 ERA in 219.1 innings of work. WT has allowed 200 hits, with 101 runs – 83 earned, walked 66 and fanned 199. The opposition is hitting .247 against the Buffs this season. Lujan leads the team with six saves, while senior
Sean Michel has two saves. Gibson is 3-2 on the year with a 2.79 ERA and has a team-high 47 strikeouts. Junior
Brooks Trujillo (2-2) is second in innings pitched to Gibson (48.1) with 45.2 and is second in strikeouts with 35. Disbro is third in strikeouts with 34.
The Aggies are hitting .256 on the year and holding teams to a .250 average. Cameron has 197 hits with 37 doubles, nine triples and six home runs while driving in 100 and scoring 119 runs. The team is slugging .351 and reaching base at a .366 clip. The Aggies are 23 of 34 in stolen bases this season and have left 204 on base and turned six double plays. CU has committed 40 errors (.953 fielding percentage) leading to 30 unearned runs.
Offensively, the Aggies are led by Tyler Cook who is hitting a team-best .308. He has 20 hits with three doubles and one triple, while driving in 10 and scoring seven runs. Jonathan Reyes is second in average at .306 and leads the team with 26 hits, 18 runs scored, while collecting four doubles, two triples, one home run and driving in 11.
On the bump, Cody Upton leads the team with 42.2 innings pitched. He is 3-0 on the year with a 4.22 ERA in seven appearances with six starts. Upton has 23 strikeouts on the year for third on the team. Dirk Masters leads the starting rotation with a 2.84 ERA. He is 3-4 on the year in seven starts with two complete games and a shutout. Masters has 45 strikeouts to 17 walks on the year, while allowing 18 runs with 12 earned runs.
As a staff, the Aggies have a 3.80 ERA in 199 innings of work. Cameron has allowed 192 hits, 114 runs with 84 earned runs, 83 walks and 154 strikeouts. The opposition has a 3.84 ERA.
Cameron leads the all-time series 29-27 over the Buffs. CU has won six of the past 10 and won the series 4-3 last season, as the teams split the four game series in Canyon and the Aggies won 2 of 3 in Lawton the final weekend of the regular season.
