CANYON, Texas – The #22 Buffaloes of West Texas A&M made a statement on Opening Weekend as they took the series from the Oklahoma Baptist Bison during the Bob Sloan Baseball Classic at Wilder Park in Canyon.
 
The Bison jumped on the board early as Ramon Enriquez doubled down the right field line with two on and one out to score Cliff Pradd before Chandler Dean settled in and left the bases loaded at 1-0.
 
WT responded in the home half of the frame as Abel Pena lifted a sac fly to left to score Cade Engle followed later in the frame by an Eric Ortiz double to left center to make it 2-1.
 
OBU got back on the board in the third as Walker Keller drove in Kevin Saenz on a fielder's choice with the bases loaded, Dean responded again as the senior closed the door and ended the inning at 2-2.
 
The Buffs took advantage of another OBU error in the fourth as Ortiz scored from second on errant double play turn at second followed later in the frame by an Izaiah Madrid RBI single thru the left side and a Cade Engle two-run single to left to make it 6-2. 
 
WT added to their lead in the fifth as Givens scored from third on a wild pitch with the bases loaded and two outs. Givens drove home Engle with an RBI double to left field in the sixth with two outs to make it 8-2.
 
OBU wouldn't go down without a fight as Enriquez drove home Kaimana Bartolome with an RBI double to the warning track right in the top of the eighth to cut the lead to 8-3. WT responded in the home half as a Engle singled to center to score Justin Robinson who began the frame with a triple to straightaway center to make it 9-3. 
 
Dean picked up the win on the mound for the Buffs, allowing just two runs on four hits with no walks and six strikeouts in his seven innings of work.