Tournament Notes in PDF Format

WT Coaches Show

Vanderburg Media Interview

CANYON, Texas  – Fresh off its third consecutive 30-plus win season, second straight trip to the NCAA postseason, first Lone Star Conference co-regular season championship and best conference record in school history (23-12) the West Texas A&M baseball team opens the 2016 season Friday at 12:30 p.m. at Wilder Park against Colorado Mines.
 
WEST TEXAS A&M TOURNAMENT

• The West Texas A&M Buffalo baseball team opens the 2015 season hosting the West Texas A&M Tournament Feb. 5-7 at Wilder Park.
• The tournament features West Texas A&M, of the Lone Star Conference, #11 St. Edward's of the Heartland Conference, Colorado Mines of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and Southwestern Oklahoma State of the Great America Conference.
• The Buffs will face St. Edward's Saturday at 3:30 p.m. and Southwestern Oklahoma Sunday at 3:30 p.m. in the round-robin event.  There will be a neutral site 12:30 p.m. game both Saturday and Sunday.

 
HOW TO CATCH THE GAMES

• Fans can access live stats (for all games) and for streaming links (for WT games) by logging on to the official www.gobuffsgo.com and clicking on the baseball schedule page.
• You can also get live updates via the West Texas A&M Twitter account and Facebook pages. Follow the team @wtathletics or Twitter.com/wtathletics, as well as the new baseball twitter account.

 
The Buffs Last season

• The Buffs finished 36-20 last season with their second-straight NCAA South Central Regional appearance.
• WT won a share of its first Lone Star Conference regular season title in program history with a school-best 23-12 record in league play
• Head Coach Matt Vanderburg was named LSC Coach of the Year for the first time
• The 36 wins marked the seventh time winning 30 or more games since 1994 and the third-straight and fourth under Vanderburg
• WT had ten earn All-Conference honors last season with five first team selections and five second
• The Buffs had then-senior closer Paul Lujan earn NCBWA first team All-America honors, while earning honorable mention Daktronics All-America accolades.
• Two returning Buffs earned all-region honors last season as Matt Cole was a second team Daktronics selection and Josh Day earned NCBWA honorable mention honors.

 
STAFF CHANGES In 2016

• Former Vanderburg assistant Cory Hall returns after a two-year hiatus from baseball to be Vanderburg's assistant in 2016.  Hall was an assistant for the Buffs from 2008-2013.  He worked with the likes of Dylan James who earned All-America honors and now is pitching in the Houston Astros organization.  Vanderburg also hired Kevin Frady who came to WT from Maryville University in St. Louis, Mo.  Frady brings a wealth of experience to the Buffs.

 
ABOUT COLORADO MINES

• The Orediggers are coming off a 19-25 overall record and a 13-23 mark in RMAC play in 2015, but return one of the best players in the region in senior Nate Olinger as he was named RMAC Preseason Player of the Year, NCBWA Preseason All-America as he is a two-way player as a threat on the mound and in the batter's box.
• The Orediggers went 1-3 in a four game series at WT in 2013 and Olinger hit .464 in four games with six hits and two doubles.  He also pitched 0.2 innings earning the save in CSM's lone win.
• Colorado Mines was picked fourth in the preseason RMAC Coaches Poll. Along with Olinger, junior second baseman Logan Smith also was named to the league's preseason team.  Smith hit .341 with 10 doubles, four home runs and 21 RBI last season.
• Head coach Jerod Goodale begins his fifth season at the helm of the Orediggers as he is 82-105 there.  In 2014, he set a new school-record for conference wins (22) and a 24-23 record overall which was the third winning season since 1993.

 
INSIDE THE SERIES WITH COLORADO MINES

• The Buffs lead the all-time series with Colorado Mines 7-1.  WT went 3-1 in four games against the Orediggers in Canyon in 2013. WT hosted again in 2012 going 3-0 also in Canyon. 
• Prior to 2012, the teams hadn't played since 1997 with a pair of WT wins on Mar. 18, including an 8-7 thriller in extra-innings.

 
ABOUT ST. EDWARD'S

• The Hilltoppers are 2-1 on the year after finishing 2015 with a 40-13 record and their fourth-straight trip to the NCAA postseason. 
• Head coach Rob Penders is in his 10th season at the helm of SEU and lost just five seniors from last season.  SEU brings back 80 percent of its offense from last season.
• The Hilltoppers played at Harding (Ark.) last weekend and Dylan Watts led the team in hitting with a .571 average on 4 of 7 with two runs scored.  Wesley Harris was 4 for 9 (.444) with one double and three RBI, while Nick Lerick had a home run with two RBI.
• On the mound Collin Sherrod and Cameron Stanton each went 1-0 with a combo shutout as they combined for 10 strikeouts and four walks in 13.1 innings of work and held Harding to a .190 average.  Juan Cortina had a save in the series.
• The Hilltoppers return a wealth of experience from last season including infielder J.D. Arrowood was selected in the 40th round of the MLB Draft last season.  Arrowood earned All-America, all-region and 2015 Heartland Conference First Team honors.
• In the outfield, Nate Turner returns for his senior year and Sam Houston State transfer Romeo Cortina already has made an impact going 4 for 10 with two run scored, a triple and a RBI last weekend.
• On the bump, Sherrod has a ABCA Gold Glove and all-region selection Bryce Davis returns, along with Stanton who earned all-conference honors last season.  Second team all-conference closer Cam Hatch returns, too.

 
INSIDE THE SERIES WITH ST. EDWARD'S

• The Hilltoppers own an 8-1 record in the series dating back to Apr. 1, 2003.  WT won its first game in the series in the first game of the 2015 NCAA South Central Regional in Grand Junction, Colo., last year 5-0. 
• It marked the first shutout in the series.  SEU is 4-0 in Canyon and 4-0 in Austin.  The Hilltoppers won the last meeting in Canyon Mar. 10, 2013.
• Vanderburg is 0-3 against SEU, while Penders is 3-0 against the Buffs.

 
ABOUT SOUTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA STATE

• The Bulldogs were picked eighth in the preseason Great American Conference poll voted on by the league coaches.
• SWOSU finished 2015 with a 19-27 record and a 12-18 league record.
• The Bulldogs are led by First Team All-Conference selection in pitcher John Chidester who is one of 15 seniors on the roster in 2016.
• Chidester went 5-5 with a 2.51 ERA in 2015 in 75.1 innings of work.  He allowed 63 hits, 31 runs-21 earned, with 31 walks and 63 strikeouts as teams hit .230 against him.
• Head coach Zack Saunders is in his fifth year at the helm of the Bulldogs.  He is 102-85 in Weatherford.  Saunders is 1-6 against the Buffs in his career.

 
 
 
INSIDE THE SERIES WITHSW OKLAHOMA STATE

• The Bulldogs lead the all-time series 23-16, but the Buffs have won six-straight in the series.  During the streak, WT is 4-0 in Canyon and 2-0 on the road. 
• WT has won the last three games by one run, including a 9-8, extra-inning win at SWOSU on Feb. 10, 2015.  WT is 6-16 in Weatherford, 1-0 in neutral site games and 9-7 in Canyon.

 
ABOUT WEST TEXAS A&M

• The Buffs are coming off a 36-20 season in 2015 and a school-best 23-12 record in Lone Star Conference play earning a share of their first regular season conference title.
• WT returns 12 letterwinners and six starters from last season.  The Buffs return five pitchers who saw significant action in senior Brooks Trujillo, senior Kyle Tinius, junior Justin McAllister, junior Eliot King and senior Luke Wiechec.
• Trujillo went 2-3 with a 3.65 ERA in 79 innings of work to lead the team.  He fanned 59 and walked 26 as teams hit just .242 against him.  Trujillo was named LSC Co-Preseason Pitcher of the Year for 2016.
• Tinius went 5-2 with a 2.08 ERA, while McAllister logged 52.0 innings.  King and Wiechec combined for 21.1 innings. 
• Offensively, Cole, the team's returning leading hitter at a .317 clip with 64 hits, 16 doubles, three triples and one home run returns, while Day hit .315 with 62 hits, 11 doubles, six triples and a team-high five home runs.  In all, six bats return from last season.
• Also returning is redshirt senior Nick Chapman who received a medical redshirt in 2015 after a stellar 2014 hitting .383 and led the team with 85 hits and 14 doubles.  He earned first team all-conference in 2014 and his 85 hits were 13th nationally and tops in the LSC.

 
WEST TEXAS A&M PICKED FIRST

• The Buffs are picked first in the LSC Preseason poll which was released late January.  WT garnered nine of 18 first place votes and 94 total points, edging Texas A&M-Kingsville by four points. Angelo State was picked third.

 
WT SIXTH IN PRESEASON NCBWA REGION POLL

• The Buffs were picked sixth in the preseason NCBWA South Central Region Poll.  WT will face St. Edward's this weekend which was picked second in the poll and Colorado Mines who is receiving votes.
• WT is scheduled to face seven of the other 13 teams either ranked or receiving votes in the poll.

 
THREE BUFFS NAMED TO PRESEASON team

• Day, Cole and Trujillo were named to the NCBWA Preseason All-Region Second Team.
• Day, a native of Albuquerque, N.M., started all 56 games for the Buffs in the outfield last season.  He was second in average at a .315 clip, while leading the team with 46 runs scored.  He had 62 hits, 11 doubles and led the league in triples with six which ranked 23rd nationally and belted a team-high five home runs.  He earned NCBWA honorable mention all-region honors and first team all-conference accolades.
• Cole, a native of Grants Pass, Ore., earned second team Daktronics honors last season.  He led the team with a .317 average in 54 starts.  Cole tied for the team-lead with 64 hits, while finishing third in runs scored with 36.  He had a team-high 16 doubles which was second in the LSC, while recording three triples, one home run and drove in 35 earning second team all-conference honors.
• Trujillo, a Parker, Colo., native, earned second team all-conference honors last season went 2-3 with a 3.65 ERA in 15 starts and 79 innings.  He allowed 70 hits with 32 runs and 26 earned runs.  Trujillo fanned 59 and walked 26, while allowing teams to hit just .242 against him.

 
THE FRIENDLY CONFINES

• The Buffs went 17-3 last season at home which is the fewest home losses since baseball was brought back as a sport in 1994 and the best home winning percentage (.850).
• This season, the Buffs are scheduled to have 27 home games.

 
FOR OPENERS

• The Buffs are 10-12 all-time in season-openers and are 7-0 under Vanderburg.
• The Buffs have opened at home just five times (1994, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015) and are 4-1 in those games.