LAS VEGAS, N.M. – Trailing for the first time this season in the fifth, the West Texas A&M baseball team plated five unanswered runs with the equalizer in the fifth, three in the sixth and one in the ninth for a 9-5 victory at New Mexico Highlands Sunday afternoon.  The Buffs swept the series outscoring the Cowboys 39-8 in the three-game set.

The Buffs came out with their sweep hats, which debuted last year and, unlike the first two games of the series, the scoring began in the first inning as the Buffs (3-0) plated two runs in their first at bat.  A walk, error and stolen base put runners on first and second with nobody out.  Junior Adam Adkins singled up the middle plating the two runs for a 2-0 lead.

NMHU (0-3) came right back in the bottom of the inning with a one out double, followed by a two run home run from Jeremy McCarty of WT senior starter Justin McAllister for a 2-2 score.  WT answered with two runs in the top of the second with a pair of walks and a junior Bodie Bryan two RBI double to right field for a 4-2 lead.

The Cowboys took their first lead of the series in the third as McCarty belted his second home run in as many at bats plating two and a Frankie Silva RBI double for a 5-4 NMHU lead.  It was the first time WT trailed in the series, 5-4. 

McAllister went three innings, allowing seven hits, five earned runs with two walks and one strikeout.  Senior Tommy Garland replaced McAllister in the fourth.  In the fourth, Garland plunked his first batter and a walk put two on for the Cowboys with nobody out.  A sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third with one away.  Another hit batsman loaded the bases as WT made its second call to the bullpen as junior Phillip Muldrow replaced Garland.  Muldrow fanned Silva for the second out and fanned McCarty to get out the jam as NMHU left the bases full. 

WT tied the game in the top of the fifth helped out by the third miscue by the Cowboys of the game as Bryan walked and sophomore Blake Weaver reached on an error and stole second.  After a strikeout, senior Hunter Henderson plated Weaver for a 5-5 score.  WT loaded the bases, but was unable to get anything more in the inning. 

Following a three-up-three-down bottom half of the fifth for Muldrow, WT put runners at first and third with nobody out in the sixth courtesy of a walk and a single to right.  Bryan plated a run as WT regained the lead with a single to left.  Following a pitching change by the Cowboys, a sacrifice bunt by Weaver moved the runners to second and third with one away.  A RBI single from Adkins and a sacrifice fly plated two more runs for an 8-5 lead. 

Two walks began the top of the eighth for the Buffs as NMHU went to the bullpen once again.  A double play followed and a ground out got the Cowboys out of the inning without any further damage.  Junior lefty Eli Fultz relieved Muldrow for the bottom of the eighth as Muldrow went 3.2 innings, walking one and fanning two.

Fultz gave up a leadoff single and sophomore Dominic Yearego relieved Fultz. A wild pitch moved Danny O'Keefe to second as he ran for Brian Chaparro.  Yearego got a ground out to short as O'Keefe advanced to third.  The second out came on a ground out to short and Yearego got out of the inning with a fly out to left.

The fourth miscue by the Cowboys and a junior Luis Amaro single down the right field line put runners at first and third for the Buffs in the top of the ninth.  Senior Chad Brown hit a RBI single to short for a 9-5 lead.  Junior Jimmy Cubillos singled to load the bases with one away.  NMHU fanned the next two batters as the Buffs left the bags full for the second time in the game.

Redshirt junior Tate Huebner relieved Yearego for the ninth.  Huebner plunked Codie Simmons to begin the frame.  Silva grounded out to second as Simmons moved into scoring position with one away.  Huebner bested McCarty for two out with a strikeout and Huebner fanned Eduardo Perez to end the game.

Muldrow (1-0) earned the win as WT earned the sweep in the series winning the game 9-5.  The Buffs belted 11 hits in the game and had their first game of no errors on the year.  NMHU had five runs on eight hits with four errors.

Bryan went two for three with three RBI, two runs scored and walked three times, while Adkins went two for five with three RBI as both had doubles.  McCarty paced the Cowboys going two for five with two runs scored, four RBI and two home runs.  Silva was two for four with two runs scored, two doubles and one RBI.  Max Siedlecki (0-1) took the loss for New Mexico Highlands.

WT improved to 26-14 all-time against NMHU, and has won the last seven in the series, with a four-game sweep in Canyon, last year.  Ninth-year head coach Matt Vanderburg improved to 11-2 all-time against the Cowboys.  He now stands at 244-173 (.585) at WT and 343-240 (.588) overall in 11 seasons.

For the series, the Buffs banged out 44 hits with nine doubles, one triple and five home runs.  Adkins went seven of 14 from the plate with three runs scored, one double, one triple and one home run, while driving in eight to lead the team.  Senior Aaron Vallance went six of 13 from the plate (.462) with one double, three RBI and scored a team-high seven times.  Bryan was five for 13 (.385) with six runs scored, two doubles and one home run, while driving in seven. 

The Buff pitching staff held NMHU to a .235 average on 23 of 98.  The Cowboys had five doubles and two home runs for the series, while committing nine errors as the Buffs had just two miscues.  Silva led the way for the Cowboys in the series, going five of 11 with three runs scored, two doubles and one RBI.

WT returns home for the 2017 home-opening series, beginning Friday, Feb. 10 at 3 p.m. versus Northwestern Oklahoma State in the first of a three-game series.  The Buffs will play their next seven games at home.