Game Notes in PDF Format

NCAA South Central Region Tournament Central

CANYON, Texas – The No. 3-seed West Texas A&M Buffs open the 2017 NCAA South Central Regional Thursday evening with No. 4-seed Lubbock Christian at 7 p.m. at Foster Field at First Community Credit Union Stadium in San Angelo, Texas.
 
SETTING THE SCENE -  The West Texas A&M baseball team earned its fourth-straight trip to the NCAA South Central Regional, winning its second-straight Lone Star Conference Tournament Championship this past weekend at Angelo State.  The Buffs beat top-seeded ASU on back-to-back days finishing the conference tournament with a 3-0 record.  For the first time since 2013, the NCAA South Central Regional will not be in Grand Junction, Colo., as Angelo State earned hosting duties this year.  The Buffs are the No. 3-seed in the regional and will open with No. 4-seed Lubbock Christian Thursday at Foster Field at First Community Credit Union Stadium.  The Regional is  double-elimination and will run from Thursday through Sunday with the winner advancing to the NCAA Division II College World Series, May 27-June 3 at The Ballpark in Grand Prairie, Texas. 
 
THE TEAMS - The Buffs are 35-16 overall and went 13-9 in Lone Star Conference play.  WT won its second-straight LSC Tournament championship last weekend in San Angelo, Texas.  LCU is 37-14 on the year and won the Heartland Conference regular season title this season.  The Chaps are making their second-straight NCAA  regional appearance in their second year of full Division II membership.  Last season LCU went 2-2 in the regional with a victory over WT.
 
HOW TO CATCH THE REGIONAL - Fans can access live stats and video streaming of the regional at www.gobuffsgo.com on the baseball schedule page.  Check back with the site for complete game recaps and stats following the games. There also will be a Tournament Central page, which can be found at www.gobuffsgo.com on the baseball schedule page with much more information about the regional and the area.
 
THE 2017 NCAA SOUTH CENTRAL REGIONAL - Angelo State is the top-seed in the regional as it is hosting the regional for the first time in program history and is 41-13 on the year.  Colorado Mesa is the No. 2-seed, followed by WT, Lubbock Christian, St. Edward's and Arkansas-Fort Smith.  The Buffs are 6-9 against the field this year as they are 5-5 against Angelo State, 0-2 against Lubbock Christian and 1-2 against Arkansas-Fort Smith. 
 
RECAPPING THE LSC CHAMPIONSHIP - The Buffs entered the 2017 Lone Star Conference Championship as the No. 3-seed as the team posted  a 3-0 shutout of No. 2-seeded Texas A&M-Kingsville in the opener behind 11 strikeouts from junior Marshall Kasowski and a  save from sophomore Dominic Yearego.  Against top-seeded Angelo State, the Buffs posted a 5-3 victory in a come-from-behind performance, scoring five runs over the final four innings, erasing a 2-0 deficit for the win.    In that game,  senior Joshua Payne set the school-record for wins in a season with his 10th of the year, going seven innings, allowing 11 hits, three earned runs, walked one and fanned eight.  Junior Luis Amaro had two huge doubles in the game, going 2 for 4 with a RBI as Yearego picked up his second save in as many days.  For the second-straight year, the Buffs qualified for the LSC championship game and third time in four years.  WT again faced Angelo State, racing out to a 5-0 lead through the first two innings  and responded to the Rams' attempts at a comeback  winning 9-6 for the second-straight Lone Star Conference  tournament title.   Yearego  was named LSC Touranment Most Valuable Player as former Buff Kyle Tinius earned the honor last year.
 
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM - Along with Yearego, senior Troy LaBrie, junior Jimmy Cubillos, senior Chad Brown, Kasowski and Payne all-earned LSC All-Tournament honors for their efforts in the championship last week. 
 
BUFFS EARN ALL-LEAGUE HONORS -  A total of  11 Buffs were named to the All-LSC Baseball Teams this year with Kasowski being named LSC Pitcher of the Year.    Senior Justin McAllister was named to the Academic All-Conference Team.  On the All-LSC squad,  Kasowski became the second Buff to earn Pitcher of the Year honors as former Buff Dylan James earned the accolade in 2014.  Kasowski, along with Payne, Cubillos and Yearego were first team selections, while senior John Baiada and Amaro were second team honorees and senior Aaron Vallance, junior Nick Canas and LaBrie were honorable mention selections.  Both Brown and Cubillos were named to the Gold Glove Team.
 
FIRST IN THE NATION - Kasowski leads the nation with 153 strikeouts on the year and needs just six to break the Lone Star Conference Record of 158 strikeouts in  a season set by Garrett Murdy of Texas A&M-Kingsville in 2004.  Kasowski also leads the nation in strikeouts per nine innings (15.95) and hits allowed per nine innings (4.69).  He is 9-4 on the year with a 2.19 ERA in a team-high 86.1 innings.  Kasowski has allowed 45 hits, 25 runs - 21 earned, walked  45 and teams are hitting just .153 against him.
 
DOUBLE LABRIE - Senior Troy LaBrie ranks 43 nationally in doubles with 18, which is good for second in the  LSC. Junior teammate Adam Adkins and Amaro are tied for third in the league wit 16 each.
 
YEAREGO & MCALLISTER - McAllister leads the Buffs with eight saves on the year ranking 29th nationally and second in the LSC.  Yearego is third in the league with six saves, including three last weekend.
 
PRESIDENT'S AWARD - West Texas A&M senior Justin McAllister earned the prestigious honor of earning the WTAMU President's Award as the highest academic honor the athletic department has each year.  McAllister has a 3.36 GPA  in marketing and has done a lot of community and volunteer work during his time at WT.  Each year one male and one female are awarded the President's Award at WT.
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING - West Texas A&M ranks ninth nationally and first in the LSC in doubles with 122, while ranking 12th nationally in ERA at a 3.29 clip, which also leads the league.  The Buffs are 20th nationally and lead the LSC in fielding percentage at a .970 clip, while ranking 14th nationally and first in the conference in hits allowed per nine innings at 8.08.  The Buffs are 11th nationally and first in the league in shutouts with seven.  WT leads the LSC in WHIP at 1.28 ranking 15th nationally.  WT is fourth nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio at a 3.20 clip, while leading the nation in strikeouts per nine inning at 11.1.
 
BUFFS IN THE NCAA's - West Texas A&M is making its fourth-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament as the team is 3-6 under head coach Matt Vanderburg.  WT went 2-2 in its first regional in 2014, 1-2 in 2015 and 0-2 in 2016 - all in Grand Junction, Colo.    WT is 0-3 against teams in the NCAA Tournament among the current field as the Buffs are 0-1 against Colorado Mesa, 0-1 against Lubbock Christian and 0-1 against Angelo State.  WT played Colorado Mesa in 2014 and ASU and LCU last year.
 
THIS SEASON AGAINST LCU - The  series against LCU this year had both games decided by one run and saw  some great pitching from both teams.  The Buffs hit .212 and LCU hit .227, while the teams combined for ERAs under 1.60 and LCU owns a 5-3 lead in scoring.  Kasowski fanned 16 in the opener as WT set the school-record for strikeouts in a game with  22 in the opening 3-2 loss in Canyon in February.  In that game, two costly errors early plated two unearned runs for the Chaps.    In the second game at LCU, the Chaps took a 1-0 lead early as WT tied it in the top of the eighth, but LCU answered with a run in the bottom of the frame  for the 2-1 final.  McAllister had five strikeouts in relief of senior Thomas Garland  as McAllister went the final five innings.  In a very defensive oriented series this season LCU leads in hits, 15-14, WT has five doubles and the teams each have knocked in three RBI.  Three WT miscues have led to two unearned runs.
 
INSIDE THE SERIES WITH LCU - LCU leads the all-time series 39-15 and has won the last three in the series, including the two meetings this season.    The last four meetings have been decided by two runs or less with LCU winning three of them as the Buffs won 7-6 in 15 innings in Canyon on Apr. 12, 2016.   LCU leads the series 4-3 in neutral site matchups.  WT head coach Matt Vanderburg is 3-8 against LCU at the helm of the Buffs. Vanderburg is 276-189 in nine seasons at the helm of the Buffs, while going 375-256 overall in 12 seasons of coaching.
 
STREAKS - Senior John Baiada leads the team hitting safely in the last six games, while reaching base safely in the last 16 for the longest current streak on the team for both.  Junior Nick Canas had a 23-game hitting streak earlier in the year and reached base in 34-straight games this season.  He has hit safely in the last four and  reached base safely in the last eight.  Brown and Cubillos each have hit safely in the last five and reached in the last 13 for the second-longest current streaks on the team.
 
30 WINS - The Buffs have won 30 or more games each of the last five years  marking the most consecutive 30-win seasons in program history.  Vanderburg has  won 30 or more games in six of his nine seasons.    As a program, the Buffs have won 30 or more games nine times since baseball was reinstated at WT in 1994.  The school-record for wins in a season is 37 set in 2014.
 
BUFFS IN THE RANKINGS - WT returned  to the national rankings following the LSC Tournament Championship as it is ranked 18th in the final NCBWA Top 25.  WT is 24th according to Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and 21st in D2Baseballnews.com.