STEPHENVILLE, Texas  – The No. 21 West Texas A&M baseball team opened the second half of the 2016 Lone Star Conference slate with a 10-6 victory at Tarleton State Friday afternoon.  With the win, the Buffs improved to 25-10 on the year and 14-7 in Lone Star Conference play.  Tarleton State fell to 14-20 overall and 8-13 in league play.  The teams are slated for doubleheader Saturday beginning at 1 p.m.

WT moved back into a first place tie in the league standings with the win and an 11-1 loss by Texas A&M-Kingsville at Cameron.  Angelo State plays Eastern New Mexico later this evening and, with a win, could also move into a tie for first at 14-7 in league play.  TAMUK entered the weekend with a one game lead over both WT and ASU.

Following a scoreless top of the first for the Buffs, Tarleton State used a one out double to right center from Alec Humphreys off WT senior starter Brooks Trujillo.  Trujillo got a ground out for the second out on reigning LSC Player of the Week Jake Hasbrouck.  Trujillo then fanned Hunter Seales to get out of the jam, leaving Humphreys stranded in scoring position.

Landon Thompson began the bottom of the second with a solo home run for the Texans on the first pitch he saw.  It was fourth round-tripper of the season and the second allowed by Trujillo this season. 

It marked the first home run allowed by the Buffs since the second game against Eastern New Mexico (Mar. 25) for a span of six games.  WT has allowed just four home runs in conference play with three now against Tarleton State.  TSU then loaded the bases with two out on two singles and a hit batsman, but Humphreys grounded out to second to end the threat.

WT got its first hit of the game in the top of the third as junior Roberto Carrasco singled to left on the first pitch from TSU hurler Jacob French.  Redshirt freshman Blake Weaver put down a great bunt single and moved Carrasco to second for two on with nobody out.  French, however, got out of the inning unscathed capped by a ground out as the Buffs left three stranded through three innings.

In the top of the fourth, junior John Baiada was plunked by the French offering and senior Jake Fuller singled to right advancing Baiada to third.  From there, redshirt freshman Christian Loya hit a RBI sacrifice fly to center, plating Baiada to even the score at 1-1. 

In the sixth, the Buffs broke through as Baiada singled to center and stole second with one out.  From there, Henderson plated Baiada with a RBI single down the left field line, followed by a RBI double from Fuller for a 3-1 lead.  A single to left put runners at the corners by Loya as French was chased from the game in favor of Calloway Kirkpatrick.  Carrasco reached on a fielder's choice RBI for a 4-1 lead as Loya advanced to second and Fuller scored.  Kirkpatrick got out of the inning without any further damage.  French finished his start going 5.1 innings, allowing seven hits, four earned runs, no walks and he fanned four. 

Tarleton State plated two runs in the bottom of the sixth courtesy of two WT miscues as Hasbrouck singled to center to begin the frame and an error put him at second and Seales at first.  Seales and Hasbrouck used a double steal and an error plated Hasbrouck.  From there, Landon Merka hit a RBI sacrifice fly cutting the deficit to 4-3.

Singles by Chapman and senior Mason Shiflett put two on with nobody out in the top of the seventh for the Buffs.  It was Shiflett's ninth-straight game with a hit and 12^th-straight of reaching base as he was plunked by a pitch in the first inning.  Both are current team-highs for WT.  A sacrifice bunt from Baiada moved the runners into scoring position.  Henderson came up with a two run RBI single to center field for a 6-3 lead on a 1-2 count as Kirkpatrick was replaced by Austin Drolette.  Kirkpatrick went one inning, allowing three hits and two earned runs. 

Zach Fleet began the bottom of the seventh with a double to left for the Texans.  Forrest Perron singled to left for runners at the corners with one out.  Humphreys hit a RBI single for his second hit of the game and a 6-4 score.  WT senior closer Kyle Tinius relieved Trujillo following the RBI single.  A double steal put Perron and Humphreys at second and third and a walk loaded the bases.  Tinius got the second out with a pop up to second and fanned Thompson to end the threat as TSU left the bags full.  Trujillo went 6.1 innings, allowing eight hits, four runs – two earned, no walks and he fanned three. 

A leadoff single from Merka began the bottom of the eighth for the Texans.  Peter McMahon moved Merka to second with a sacrifice bunt.   A wild pitch moved Merka to third, but Tinius came back with the strikeout for the second out.  Following a walk, Tinius fanned Perron for third out to end the inning and left two stranded sending the game to the ninth.

Chapman began the top of the ninth with a solo home run to left on the first pitch and a 7-4 WT lead and his second round-tripper of the season.  Shiflett then singled to left for his second hit of the game.  Zach Freeman relieved Drolette following the single.  Henderson tallied his third hit of the day (3 of 4) advancing Shiflett to second.  Fuller hit a RBI single for another insurance run as Shiflett scored on Fuller's third hit of the day and an 8-4 score.  Carrasco became the sixth Buff with two hits or more on a two RBI single to left for a 10-4 score as the Buffs plated four in the top of the ninth. 

Humphreys began the bottom of the ninth with a double down the right field line.  With one out, Seales hit a two run home run to left for a 10-6 score, followed by a ground out to second by Thompson.   It was Seales' third home run of the season.  Tinius fanned Merka to end the game.

Trujillo improved to 6-3 on the year, while French fell to 3-3.  Tinius pitched the final 2.2 innings, allowing three hits, two earned runs, two walks and he fanned five.  Offensively, the Buffs belted 16 hits with two errors, while TSU had 11 hits and no errors.

Henderson was 3 of 4 with three RBI and one run scored to pace the Buffs.  Fuller was 3 for 5 with two runs scored and two RBI, while Carrasco went 2 for 5 with three RBI.  Humphreyes led the way for the Texans going 3 for 5 with a RBI and a run scored.