CANYON Texas – The #5 Buffaloes of West Texas A&M kept their season alive in dramatic fashion on Saturday afternoon as they plated three runs in the top of the ninth inning to eliminate the #1 Colorado Mesa Mavericks, 7-6 in the NCAA Division II South Central Regional Championship at Foster Field in San Angelo.
 
The Mavericks got on the board in the home half of the second inning as Caleb Farmer layed down a squeeze bunt to score Tyler Parker followed by a Harrison Rodgers RBI double for the 2-0 lead. CMU added to their lead in the third as Parker layed down another squeeze to plate Michael Turner and extend the lead to 3-0. 
 
The Buffs responded in the top of the fourth as Justin Martinez singled thru the right side with the bases loaded and two outs to score Keone Givens and Kennedy Badgett followed by a Justin Robinson two-run double to the warning track in left for the 4-3 lead.
 
The Mavericks answered in the home half of the sixth as Rodgers doubled to the right field corner to score Spencer Bramwell, tying the game and knocking WT starter Zach Dixon from the game with two on and no outs. Chase Hamilton executed a squeeze bunt to score Farmer followed by a popup to Kyle Moos behind the plate and a Carter Brown strikeout to strand a Mav on third.
 
WT used three free passes to load the bases with one out in the top of the eighth inning but CMU's Anthony Durbano locked in and registered back-to-back strikeouts to strand three Buffs and keep the score 5-4.
 
The Mavericks added an insurance run in the bottom of the ninth as Hamilton singled to left center with one out to score Farmer and run the lead to 6-4. WT retook the lead for good in the top of the ninth as Ryan Johnson singled to center field with the bases loaded and two outs to drive in Jonah Gonzales and Cade Engle followed by an Eric Ortiz RBI single up the middle on a 2-2 count to score Badgett and give WT the 7-6 lead.
 
Chandler Dean picked up the win (4-1) on the mound for the Buffs as the senior from Bowie made an appearance in his third straight contest, allowing no runs in his 0.2 innings of relief. Friday's starter Mathieu Gauthier entered the game in the ninth and sat the heart of the Maverick order down 1-2-3 with a pair of strikeouts to pick up his first career save.

The Buffs keep their season alive as they advance to the South Central Regional Championship against the rival #10 Rams of Angelo State, WT will need a win tonight at 6:30 p.m. to force a winner-take-all regional championship game tomorrow afternoon at Foster Field.