CANYON, Texas – The West Texas A&M Buffaloes had to battle back from a five-run deficit in the nightcap but a big fifth inning capped off a Saturday doubleheader sweep of the Texas A&M International Dustdevils to clinch the Lone Star Conference weekend series at Wilder Park.
 
The Buffs look to complete the sweep tomorrow afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. in Canyon.
 
THE BASICS:
- Game 1 Score: West Texas A&M 10, Texas A&M International 5
- Game 1 Score: West Texas A&M 9, Texas A&M International 8
- Records: WT (16-5, 16-5 LSC) / TAMIU (5-16, 5-16 LSC)
- Location: Canyon, Texas
- Venue: Wilder Park
- Series (Streak): Buffs lead, 4-0 (W4)
 
GAME ONE RECAP:
The Dustdevils got on the board first in the top of the fourth inning as Anthony Handel scored from third on a passed ball with no outs followed by a pair of walks and a sac bunt before Adrian Castillo lifted a sac fly to center for the 2-0 lead.
 
The Buffs responded in the home half as Keone Givens scored from second followed by sac flies from Darius Carter and Kennedy Badgett before Justin Martinez crushed a solo shot to left center for the 4-2 lead.
 
WT loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth followed by a Clay Koelzer RBI single thru the right side, another International error plated two more WT runs with two outs to make it 7-2. WT wasn't done yet as Badgett lifted a two-run shot to left for his first long ball in Maroon & White followed by another Martinez solo shot to left center for the first 10-2 lead.
 
TAMIU cut into the lead again in the sixth as Jerry Villarreal and Hunter Trinidad drove in runs to make it 10-4. The Dustdevils added one more run in the seventh as the took advantage of a Buffalo error at 10-5.
 
Zach Dixon picked up the win (4-0) for the Buffs, allowing two earned runs on two hits with two walks and four strikeouts in his five innings of work. 
 
GAME TWO RECAP
The Buffs jumped out to an early lead in the nightcap as Koelzer grounded out to second to drive in Engle at 1-1. The Dustdevils tied up the top of the second as Antonio Buentello singled thru the left side with two outs to score Trinidad at 1-1.
 
International retook the lead in the third as Anthony Handel grounded out to second to score Ariben Gutierrez followed later in the frame by a Castillo and Sergio Esqueda RBI hits to know Chandler Dean from the game at 4-1. Chris Rodriguez entered and forced an RBI groundout followed by another WT error that plated two more and made it 6-1.
 
Koelzer cut into the lead in the bottom of the frame with a single to center to drive in Izaiah Madrid followed by a Badgett RBI groundout, Koelzer scores on an errant throw over to first on a pickoff attempt to make it 6-4. WT continued to battle back in the fifth as Badgett singled to right to score Koelzer followed by a Martinez RBI single at 6-6. Darius Carter stepped to the plate and crushed a three-run bomb off of the scoreboard in left to make it 9-6.
 
International wouldn't go down without a fight as Castillo singled to center with two outs to drive in a pair and knock Justin Zamora from the mound, Mitchell Miller entered from the pen and forced a grounder to Madrid at short to end the inning. Miller capped off the win and the save in the seventh, sitting down the Dustdevils in order for the 9-8 win.
 
Justin Zamora picked up his first win in Maroon & White, allowing two earned runs on three hits with one walk and one strikeout in his 2.2 innings of relief.