Game Notes in PDF Format

CANYON, Texas – The West Texas A&M baseball team, fresh off its fourth-straight NCAA South Central Regional appearance and second-straight Lone Star Conference Tournament championship, opens the 2018 season with four games in Pueblo, Colo., Feb. 2-4.  The Buffs will face both Colorado State-Pueblo and Adams State twice each during the series.
 
BUFFS PICKED SECOND IN LSC POLL - The Buffs were picked second in the preseason Lone Star Conference Poll, released Tuesday by the league office.  The Buffs garnered four first-place votes and 122 points behind league-favorite Angelo State with 12, first-place nods and 133 points.  Texas A&M-Kingsville was picked third with  two first-place votes and 107 points.  Tarleton State was fourth with the remaining three top votes and 94 points, while Eastern New Mexico was fifth with 57 points, followed by Cameron (51) and UT Permian Basin was seventh with 24 points.
 
HOW TO CATCH THE GAMES - Links to live stats and audio/video streaming are available on the baseball schedule page at www.gobuffsgo.com for road games all season long.  All home games this season will have live stats and live video with audio commentary from James Hadnot and Angelo Pontello with links also on the baseball schedule page.
 
LOOKING AT THE BUFFS -   The Buffs enter the 2018 season with a lot of new faces as the team has 15 players with numbers who are in their first season of playing at WT.  The Buffs return seven position players from last season's 36-18 squad and return  junior reliever Dominic Yearego who was named Lone Star Conference Tournament Most Valuable Player last season with three saves in three games to win the Buffs' second-straight LSC tournament title.  Senior Luis Amaro earned CCA All-Region honors last season, while senior Jimmy Cubillos was named to the LSC Baseball Golden Glove Team. Cubillos and Yearego earned first team all-conference honors, while Amaro was a second team honoree.  Senior Nick Canas was an honorable mention all-league performer last season.  Along with the players named above, senior Nelson Paredes, junior Blake Weaver, senior Bodie Bryan and sophomore Darius Carter all return for 2018.  On the bump, the Buffs lost two pitchers to the MLB Draft in Marshall Kasowski who had a 2017 season for the records, leading the nation in strikeouts (165), while leading the nation in strikeouts per nine innings (15.91) and hits allowed per nine innings (4.82).  Kasowski became the highest drafted Buff in program history going 400th overall to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 13th round.  Joshua Payne also had an outstanding senior campaign for the Buffs being drafted in the 22nd round by the New York Mets.    Both Kasowski and Payne were the Buffs' top two pitchers last season statistically, but seniors Ryan Larison, Noah Draper, Tate Huebner, Philip Muldrow and Jamie Boyd all return, along with a number of talented newcomers for 2018 both on the mound and in the field.   
  
LOOKING AHEAD - Following the series in Pueblo, the Buffs open the 2018 home slate a week from Friday at 5 p.m. in a three-game series versus New Mexico Highlands at Wilder Park.   The Buffs have 27 home games scheduled for 2018 and will continue at home against Adams State, following the New Mexico Highlands series.    WT went 18-8  last season  in the friendly confines of Wilder Park and are 133-52 since it opened in 2011 for a .719 winning percentage.   
 
FOR OPENERS - This will be the second-straight year WT has opened on the road  and third since 2012.    It also will be the fifth under  tenth year head coach Matt Vanderburg of opening on the road.    Vanderburg is 9-0 in season-openers during his time at WT.  The Buffs  are 13-11 all-time since 1994 in season-openers.
 
YEAREGO PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA - Junior Dominic Yearego was named Preseason NCBWA Third Team All-America announced Thursday by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.  Yearego earned NCBWA Preseason First Team All-Region honors as a relief pitcher this year.  He finished his sophomore campaign in stellar fashion as he went 6-0 with a 2.03 ERA and six saves in 24 appearances.  Yearego pitched 57.2 innings on the year as his 2.03 ERA ranked 26th nationally and second in the LSC.
 
INSIDE THE POLLS - The Buffs begin the 2018 season ranking tied for 35th in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Top 40, while receiving votes in the NCBWA Top 25 and were fourth in the NCBWA South Central Region Preseason ranking.     
 
LOOKING AT COLORADO STATE-PUEBLO - The Thunderwolves enter the 2018 season fourth in the Preseason Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference poll (RMAC).   In addition, CSUP has two players named to the Preseason All-RMAC squad in seniors Chris Devery and Zach Hoffman.  Devery is CSUP's third baseman as he ranked fourth in the RMAC with a .478 on-base percentage in 2017. Devery earned NCBWA Regional Player of the Week honors  and was named RMAC Player of the Week after  he drove in 16 runs, batted .556, and slugged 1,222 with two home runs, four doubles, and a triple in the Pack's final regular season series at Adams State University. Devery hit .387 in 137 at bats and brought in 34 runs.  Hoffman, an outfielder, started all 49 games for the Pack last season. Hoffman Led the RMAC with seven triples. The Pack's center fielder placed third in the conference with 16 stolen bases.  The Pack's leadoff hitter ranked sixth in the RMAC with 72 hits in 203 at bats. Hoffman batted .355 with two home runs and 31 RBI. He scored a team-best 46 runs. Though he played most of his games in center field, Hoffman made seven appearances on the mound with six starts. He is expected to be in the rotation for the Pack this season. Hoffman went 2-2 with a 7.33 ERA in 27.0 innings.  CSUP is coming off a 23-25 season in 2017 and a 17-16 mark in the RMAC.  The Thunderwolves are under the direction of Stan Sanchez as he has an RMAC record 807 career wins since the program was reinstated in 1993.  In the 25 year history since 1993, CSUP has a .605 winning percentage.
 
INSIDE THE SERIES WITH CSU-PUEBLO - The Thunderwolves lead the all-time series 11-7  and have won the last three meetings,  including a 5-2 win in the NCAA South Central Regional in 2015.    The last time the two teams met in the regular season was in 2014 where CSUP went 2-1 in Pueblo to open the season.  WT won the opener 4-3 and dropped the next two.  CSUP is 5-4 against WT in Pueblo and leads the series 5-3 in Canyon, while leading 1-0 in neutral site matchups.    Vanderburg is 4-4 against CSUP during his time at WT.
 
LOOKING AT ADAMS STATE - The Grizzlies were picked ninth in the RMAC Preseason Poll garnering 12 points.  Adams State is coming off a 13-33 season and 7-25 in the RMAC in 2017. The Grizzlies have ten seniors for 2018 and are led by sophomore Erik Hildebrandt who finished eighth in the RMAC in batting average last season and was second in fewest strikeouts.  Head coach Jim Capra is in his sixth season at the helm of the Grizzlies as he is 80-166 there.
 
INSIDE THE SERIES WITH ADAMS STATE - This is the first time WT and Adams State have met on the diamond.  The teams will play two games in Pueblo, followed by a four-game series in Canyon Feb. 16-18.  For the Grizzlies, six of the first seven games of the season will be against WT.
 
2018 SCHEDULE - The Buffs have a great schedule in 2018 with 27 games at Wilder Park and 23 on the road or neutral.    WT faces 2017 NCAA South Central Regional opponents Angelo State eight times this season and Arkansas-Fort Smith three times.  UAFS ended WT's season last year with a  3-1 setback in the regional tournament at Angelo State.  The Buffs face UAFS in Fort Smith, Ark., Feb. 23-24.