CANYON, Texas – For the first time in 329 days, the #22 West Texas A&M Buffaloes will step onto a baseball diamond against another opponent as they open the 2021 season on Thursday afternoon against the Oklahoma Baptist Bison in a four-game series at Wilder Park during the inaugural Bob Sloan Baseball Classic.
TICKET INFORMATION/PROTOCOLS
Fans will be asked to practice social distancing and wear a mask upon entry into the Buffalo Sports Park. All seats at Wilder Park will be considered general admission to allow for social distancing, we ask that masks be worn while not eating or drinking.
Buffalo Baseball Season Tickets are available now for only $75, fans cans purchase a single-game ticket for $10 with a limit of 100 being sold per day. Single game tickets for the Bob Sloan Baseball Classic are on sale now (Buy Now). It is recommended that purchases be made online. If you are having issues, reach out to the WT Ticket Office (806) 651-1400.
There will be no tickets sold at the gate, all tickets must be pre-purchased, online purchases will be available until 30 minutes after first pitch. These tickets will be E-Tickets, which can be scanned from your phone, or printed out at home. Please be sure to select the "Print At Home/Mobile Delivery" option as there will not be Will Call available.
OKLAHOMA BAPTIST
The Bison finished the 2020 campaign with an overall record of 16-6 including a 9-3 mark in Great American Conference action to sit atop of the league standings before the cancellation of the season in early March. OBU was picked atop of the GAC Preseason Poll.
Chris Cox is in his second season at the helm of the Oklahoma Baptist Baseball program following five years as OBU's top assistant. Cox assisted his father Bobby Cox and the Bison to a pair of NCCAA National Championships (2017, 2018) along with two NCAA Tournament appearances and the 2019 GAC Tournament Title.
Senior infielder Kaimana Bartolome is the top returning hitter for the Bison as the Honolulu, Hawaii native hit an impressive .435 last season with 15 doubles and eight homeruns to drive in 39 RBI for a slugging percentage of .859 to go along with five walks and four stolen bases. Jake Lipetzky was the game one starter for OBU on the mound last season, registering a 4-2 record and 2.09 ERA during his four appearance, striking out 60 opposing batters in 38.2 innings of work for an opponent batting average of .144.
WT HEAD COACH MATT VANDERBURG
Matt Vanderburg has built West Texas A&M Baseball into a regional and national contender as the Norman, Oklahoma native enters his 13th season at the helm of the Buffs. He holds an overall record of 375-223 (.623) during his time in Canyon while registering a career record of 474-290 (.617) in his 16 seasons in collegiate baseball.
THE COACHING STAFF
Cory Hall enters his 11th year at WT as the Buffs' Pitching Coach, serving the last five as the program's Associate Head Coach. Hall has had four different pitchers drafted in the MLB Draft during his time in Canyon with multiple other professional players learning under one of the top pitching minds in collegiate baseball. Assistant Coach
Shawn Neale returns for his fifth season in Canyon as the Buffs finished the 2020 season hitting .298 as a team with 76 extra-base hits and an on-base percentage of .403. WT also welcomes the program's all-time saves leader
Dominic Yearego to the coaching staff for his first season in the dugout.
2021 SCHEDULE
The 2021 schedule is highlighted by 22 regular season home games at Wilder Park with a maximum of 40 Division II contests, 36 of those coming in Lone Star Conference action with three-game series against all 12 member institutions. WT welcomes Great American Conference members Southwestern Oklahoma State and Oklahoma Baptist to Wilder Park on February 5-7 for a four-game round robin tournament to open the season. The "Bob Sloan Baseball Classic" will honor former WTAMU head coach Bob "Skip" Sloan with a dedication of a new pavilion at Wilder Park funded by former players, family and friends of Coach Sloan.
LOCAL TALENT STAYING HOME
The Buffs have made it a point to recruit local talent as they currently have 11 student-athletes that graduated high school within a 100-mile radius of campus. The local players are:
Clay Artho (Canyon),
Noah Bartlett (Randall),
Garrett Cobb (Canyon),
Ben Crist (Texico),
Cade Engle (Pampa),
Kix Ferrel (Memphis),
Caleb Flores (Amarillo),
Kason Haggard (Canyon),
Reese Patterson (Canyon),
Chris Rodriguez (Friona) and
Elijah Velasquez (Randall).
SENIOR LEADERSHIP
Eleven different seniors made the difficult decision following the shortened 2020 campaign to return to West Texas A&M for their final season as
Carter Brown,
Todd Danzeisen,
Chandler Dean,
Zach Dixon,
Cade Engle,
Mathieu Gauthier,
Keone Givens,
Cooper Harris,
Justin Martinez,
Kyle Moos and
Reese Patterson return for WT. Those 11 will be joined by senior transfers
Jonah Gonzales (San Francisco State),
Justin Robinson (Arkansas-Pine Bluff),
Jake Suddreth (Florida State) and
Jordon Wyke (Regis) as WT's senior class of 2021.
LSC DIGITAL NETWORK
Fans will be able to purchase a $10 daily pass that will give them access to all football, volleyball and basketball contests on the network that day as well as access to previously aired games from the current season for 24 hours. In addition to live and archived streaming options, viewers will have the option to purchase and download games from the 2020-21 season for $10 each.
Fans can watch games and purchase passes online at www.lonestarconferencenetwork.com on computer and mobile devices. Viewers can also tune in to games on the LSC Digital Network via OTT apps available on Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV and Roku by searching for "LSC Digital Network".
COACH BOB SLOAN ALUMNI PAVILION
"We are excited to honor Coach Sloan with the new alumni pavilion at Wilder Park" said Vanderburg "Ever since I came to Canyon we have had great support from former Buffs that had the privilege of playing under Coach Sloan, I can't wait for our current players to take the field in front of that group on Thursday as we dedicate their gift that will be enjoyed by Buff Nation for years to come."
Bob "Skip" Sloan coached the Buffs from 1968-1972 while they were a member of the Division I Missouri Valley Conference. He compiled a 93-51 record and team finished third in the MVC tournament in 1972. Sloan played centerfield for Oklahoma State in the late 1950's, and then played three years in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization from 1960-62. Sloan was inducted into the WTAMU Hall of Champions back in 2007.
He coached at Guthrie (Oklahoma) High School from 1963-65, winning a State Championship in 1964. During his next two years at Goddard High in Roswell, New Mexico, Sloan's 1967 team reached the Class AA finals. After WT dropped the baseball program in 1972, Sloan scouted part-time for the Dodgers, Chicago White Sox and California Angels and he was a full-time scout with the Milwaukee Brewers from 1992-99.
Among his former WT players who signed professional baseball contracts were Lanny Phillips, who played in the Boston Red Sox organization for nine years and Kim Henderson, who was a part of the San Francisco Giants organization for three years. Sloan also served as Athletic Coordinator for the Canyon Independent School District and was also a teacher and principal at Canyon High School and the Ascension Academy. Sloan passed away at age 81 back in February of 2019.
"This project is a culmination of years of dedication and determination from a group of WT alumni to honor Coach Sloan" said Associate Athletic Director for Development
Casey Lish "What started as a vision by a select group of former players has become a reality, we are excited to honor Coach Sloan and add to an already incredible facility at Wilder Park."
Any former players of Coach Sloan that are interested in honoring his legacy please contact
Casey Lish (clish@wtamu.edu / (806) 651-1401).
