CANYON, Texas – West Texas A&M scored 15 unanswered runs to go along with a dominant relief pitching performance by senior Chandler Dean as the #3 Buffaloes took the opening game of the Lone Star Conference Championship opening round from the St. Edward's Hilltoppers.
 
The Hilltoppers got on the board in the top of the first inning as Blake Holub grounded out to first base to score Morgan Alen with no outs followed by a Jake Hahn RBI single to left field, Todd Danzeisen settled in as the senior lefty forced two outs over the next three batters to keep it at 2-0.
 
The Buffs took advantage of a Hilltopper error in the home half of the frame as Cade Engle scored from third on a fielder's choice with an errant throw on a double play attempt to cut the lead to 2-1. SEU did some damage with two outs in the second as three consecutive hits plated another run on a Holub RBI single thru the right side for the 3-1 lead.
 
The game entered another lightning delay in the bottom of the third with an expected restart time of after midnight. Tournament officials and both coaching staff agreed to suspend the game until Saturday afternoon starting at 2 p.m.
 
The Buffs got the spark they needed in the bottom of the sixth as Ryan Johnson started the inning with a solo homerun to left field followed later in the inning by a Kyle Moos RBI double down the right field line to score Will Fuenning and tie the game with no outs. WT wasn't done yet as Izaiah Madrid doubled to the gap in left center to score Moos followed by a Jonah Gonzales RBI sac fly to left and a Kennedy Badgett bases-clearing triple to left center. WT would send 15 to the plate in the frame as Kyle Moos lifted a three-run bomb to left with one out to run the lead to 12-3.
 
WT added to their lead in the home half of the eighth inning as Engle singled to center to drive in Fuenning followed by RBI singles from Badgett and Justin Martinez to go along with a Gonzales sac fly to right to make it 16-3 headed to the ninth.
 
Dean picked up the win (3-1) for the Buffs as the senior tossed a gem, allowing no runs on just three hits with three walks and one strikeout over his six scoreless frames of relief on Saturday.