Game Flyer

CANYON, Texas – The West Texas A&M baseball team returns home for a midweek game against Lubbock Christian scheduled for Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Wilder Park to begin a four game home stand.  The Buffs are 25-14 on the year and 16-10 in Lone Star Conference play, while LCU is 20-18 and 7-8 in Heartland Conference play.
 
Live stats and streaming links for the game can be found at www.gobuffsgo.com by clicking on the baseball schedule page. 
 
The Buffs continue at home and host Angelo State in a key LSC series this weekend with a single game Friday at 7 p.m., followed by a doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m. at Wilder Park. WT and ASU split a four game series in San Angelo earlier this season.  ASU sits one game behind WT in the league standings as the Buffs are two games behind league-leader Texas A&M-Kingsville sitting in second place with three conference series' remaining (nine conference games).  TAMUK has the hosting advantage (LSC Baseball Championship) at this point over WT as it went 4-3 against WT this season in head-to-head games.
 
WT is coming off of a 3-1 week with a 21-17 victory at Lubbock Christian last Tuesday.  The Buffs went 2-1 at Eastern New Mexico over the weekend.  For the week, WT hit .329 with 48 hits, including six doubles, two triples and three home runs while driving in 33 and scoring 35 runs.  The team slugged .459 and reached base at a .434 clip. 
 
Junior Josh Day and senior Max Brennen each hit .500 for the week as Day was 10 of 20 with eight runs scored, two home runs and 10 RBI.  Brennen belted his first career triple scoring two runs and gave WT a 9-8 lead in the top of the seventh in the Buffs' 10-8 victory at ENMU.  Senior Johnny Gaines also hit a RBI single in the inning for the 10-8 margin.  The interesting thing is both hits came on 3-2 counts with two out.
 
On the mound, senior Tyler Gibson went six innings, allowing three hits, one unearned run, two walks and six strikeouts in a 2-1, come-from-behind victory at Eastern New Mexico Friday.  Senior closer Paul Lujan earned a win and two saves for the week in 3.2 innings of work, allowing one hit, one walk and he fanned three. 
 
WT carried a 6.55 ERA for the week and improved to 8-9 in one run games this season with the 2-1 win Friday.  All three wins for the Buffs this week were in come-from-behind fashion as the two wins at ENMU, WT won in its final at bat. 
 
The 21 runs were a season-high for the Buffs against LCU and Day hit two home runs in the contest, while tying the school-record for RBIs in a game with eight.  The teams combined for 38 runs and 40 hits.  WT hit .438 for the game.  In the game the teams hit a combined seven home runs and had a combined 14 extra-base hits with each hitting seven.  Lujan earned the save for his then-eighth of the season and tied his own school-record with his ninth Friday evening in the 2-1 win over ENMU.
 
For the season, the Buffs are led by Brennen who leads the team hitting .329.  He has 23 hits, three doubles, one triple and 14 RBI while driving in 16 runs in 25 games.  Senior Ryan March is one of two Buffs to play and start all 39 games and he is second in average at a .326 clip.  March Leads the team with 46 hits, six doubles, three triples and 17 RBI while scoring 27 runs.  Junior Matt Cole also has a .326 average and is second in hits with 44, while leading the team in doubles with nine.  Day leads the team in runs scored (32) and RBI (26), while senior Jacob Caples leads the team with four home runs.
 
As a team, the Buffs are hitting .281 on the year with 348 hits, including 67 doubles, 14 triples and 14 home runs, while driving in 198 and scoring 216 runs.  The Buffs are slugging .392 and reaching base at a .358 clip.  WT has committed 64 errors (.955 fielding percentage) leading to 37 unearned runs. 
 
On the mound, Lujan leads the team with a 0.43 ERA and is 3-1 on the year in 17 appearances with nine saves in 21 innings.  Junior Kyle Tinius is 4-1 on the year in 15 appearances and 31 innings, while Gibson leads the team among starters with a 2.10 ERA and a 4-2 record in 11 appearances with 10 starts, two complete games, one shutout, one save and a team-high 68.2 innings pitched.  He leads the team with 64 strikeouts as teams are hitting .199 against him.  Junior Brooks Trujillo has a 3.23 ERA in 53 innings of work, while senior Justin Disbro has a 4.11 ERA in 50.1 innings of action and is second in strikeouts with 42.
 
As a staff, WT has a 3.52 ERA in 39 games with 13 saves in 309.1 innings pitched.  The Buffs have allowed 301 hits, 158 runs – 121 earned, walked 94 and fanned 268 as teams are hitting .257 against them.
 
LCU split a doubleheader over the weekend at Texas A&M-International and the final game of the series was rained out on Saturday.  The Chaps are led by Hunter McFall who leads the team with a .382 average.  He has a team-high 58 hits, with 11 doubles, two triples and two home runs while driving in 38 and scoring 34 runs.  McFall is slugging .520 and reaching base at a .422 clip.  Brett Wilhelm is second in average at a .338 clip.  He has 45 hits, with a team-high 40 runs scored, along with four doubles, two triples and three home runs while driving in 28.  Shane Crawford leads the team with four home runs.
 
As a team, the Chaps are hitting .305 for the year with 398 hits, 81 doubles, 13 triples and 27 home runs while driving in 270 runs and scoring 301.  The team is slugging .449 and reaching base at a .383 average.  LCU is 23 of 31 in stolen bases and have committed 74 errors (.948 fielding %) leading to 68 unearned runs.
 
On the bump, the Chaps are led by Glen Warrick who has a 3-0 record and a 3.04 ERA in 14 appearances with one save.  Brig Gerlich is 5-5 with a 4.30 ERA in 11 starts with five complete games and a team-high 67 innings pitched.  He leads the team with 47 strikeouts.  Guillaume Blanchette is 4-3 with a 4.30 ERA in 11 starts.  He is second in innings pitched at 60.2.  Dalton Silva has two saves on the year as does Elfego Torres. 
 
As a staff, LCU has a 5.32 ERA in 311 innings of work.  The Chaps have allowed 252 runs – 184 earned, on 372 hits as teams are hitting .293 against LCU.  The Chaps have walked 126 and fanned 249. 
 
WT's win last Tuesday snapped a four-game skid against LCU and was just the second win in the past 11 meetings between the two teams.  It was WT head coach Matt Vanderburg's first win against LCU as head coach of the Buffs (1-4).  LCU leads the all-time series 35-13.  WT's last win at home against the Chaps came with a 9-5 victory on Apr. 20, 2004.  LCU has won the past two games in Canyon and is 14-5 there all-time.  Vanderburg is 194-147 at WT in his seventh season.