CANYON, Texas – The #6 Buffaloes of West Texas A&M tied the longest win streak in program history on Friday afternoon as they claimed their 13
th consecutive victory and took the Lone Star Conference road series over the Lubbock Christian Chaps, 9-6 at Hays Field in Lubbock, Texas.
The Buffs jumped on the board early as
Kennedy Badgett doubled to the gap in left center to score
Cade Engle followed by a
Ryan Johnson two-run double to right center, WT wasn't done yet as
Will Fuenning lifted a three-run homerun to center field to make it 6-0.
LCU cut into the lead in the home half of the fourth inning as George Mendazona lifted a three-run shot to left center with two outs to make it 6-3. The Chaps added another in the home half of the fifth as Caden Hensley started the inning with a triple to center before scoring from third on a wild pitch at 6-4.
WT responded in the sixth as
Keone Givens took the first pitch of the frame to deep left field followed later in the inning by a
Reese Patterson RBI single to right to score Badgett and make it 8-4. The Buffs added to their lead in the seventh as
Abel Pena doubled to right field to drive in Engle at 9-4.
The Chaps used the long ball again in the home half of the seventh as Mason Donohoe started the frame with a solo homerun to left field, Garrett Maas drove in a pinch-hit RBI with a base hit to left with one out before
Mathieu Gauthier locked in with a pair of outs to keep it at 9-5. LCU cut into the lead in the eight with an RBI walk with the bases loaded with one out before
Carter Brown entered the game and slammed the door with a pair of strikeouts to make it 9-6 headed to the ninth.
Gauthier picked up the win (7-2) for the Buffs as the senior allowed five earned runs on eight hits with no walks and a career-high 13 strikeouts in his seven innings of work. Brown picked up his third save of the season as the senior retired the final five Chaps of the game highlighted by four strikeouts.
The Buffs and Chaps conclude their Easter Weekend series on Saturday afternoon with first pitch set for 1 p.m. at Hays Field.