CANYON, Texas – The #3 Buffaloes of West Texas A&M will have to await their postseason fate as they dropped the final game of the Lone Star Conference opening weekend series to the St. Edward's Hilltoppers on Sunday afternoon in Canyon.
 
The Hilltoppers got on the board early as Blake Holub lifted a sac fly to the wall in right field to score Morgan Allen followed by a wild pitch to score Chase Cos for the 2-0 lead. The Buffs responded in the home half of the frame as Kennedy Badgett crushed a two-run shot over the scoreboard in left to tie the game at 2-2.
 
SEU retook the lead in the second as Allen singled thru the right side with the bases loaded and one out to score Cullen Ainsworth, Carter Brown settled in with a big strikeout and flyout to right to limit the damage at 3-2. The Toppers added to their lead in the third as Kyler Kerlin singled to center field with two outs to score Davis Drewek.
 
The Buffs used the long ball again in the bottom of the fifth inning as Jonah Gonzales lifted a two-run shot to left field to score Reese Patterson and tie the game at 4-4. SEU responded with a long ball of their own in the top of the seventh as Blake Holub lifted a solo shot to deep left center with one out, the Toppers weren't done yet as Ainsworth connected on a three-run homerun the opposite way to make it 8-4. 
 
The Hilltoppers used the long ball again in the top of the eight with a solo shot to left center by Allen to run the lead to 9-4. SEU added some insurance runs in the ninth as Dylan Mackin doubled down the right field line with on out to score a pair that sparked a scoring rally of 15 runs for the 24-4 lead. The Buffs cut into the lead in the bottom of the ninth on an Izaiah Madrid RBI double to right to score Will Fuenning.
 
Chris Rodriguez picked up the loss (5-1) for the Buffs, allowing three earned runs on two hits with two walks and four strikeouts in his 3.2 innings of relief.
 
The 2021 South Central Regional Championships will take place on May 27-30 at Foster Field in San Angelo, Texas. Regional winners will advance to the NCAA Division II College World Series in Cary, North Carolina on June 5-12. 
 
The Buffs will now await their postseason fate as participating teams for the NCAA Postseason will be announced Sunday, May 23^rd during the Division II Baseball selection show broadcasted on NCAA.com at 10 p.m. ET.