CANYON, Texas – The #15 Buffaloes of West Texas A&M open up the 2022 campaign on Feburary 5-6 as they host the second annual Bob Sloan Baseball Classic at Wilder Park with Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference members Colorado State-Pueblo and New Mexico Highlands making their way to Canyon.
 
A LOOK AT THE THUNDERWOLVES
Colorado State-Pueblo finished the 2021 campaign with an overall mark of 15-24 with a 12-20 record in RMAC action as they claimed the fifth seed in the RMAC Tournament, CSUP picked up a win over then #21 MSU Denver in the opener before falling to UC-Colorado Springs and the Roadrunners to end the season.
 
The Pack were picked fifth in the 2022 RMAC Preseason Poll as they return 13 letter winners from last year's squad. Reggie Williams, a junior infielder from Castle Rock, Colorado, hit .384 for CSUP last season with 11 doubles and two homeruns to drive in 32 RBI for a slugging percentage of .520 to go along with 19 walks for an on-base clip of .463.
 
CSUP HEAD COACH BOBBY APPLEGATE
Bobby Applegate took over the Colorado State-Pueblo baseball program on June 30, 2021. A graduate of CSUP and a member of the 1994 team that resurrected the baseball program returned to Pueblo following seven seasons as an assistant at the United States Naval Academy. Applegate was named the Colorado Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year for the Pack in 1995 followed by a professional stint with the Pueblo Bighorns of the Texas-Louisiana League.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Opening Day will mark the 21st all-time meeting on the diamond between the Buffs and Thunderwolves. CSU Pueblo leads the series 12-8 with eight of those meeting coming in Canyon, four being played at Wilder Park. The last meetings between the two came on Opening Weekend of 2018 in Pueblo as the Buffs took the opener (9-3) before falling in the finale (12-5).
 
A LOOK AT THE COWBOYS
The Cowboys finished the 2021 campaign with an overall record of 13-25 with an 11-23 mark in RMAC action. Highlands was picked eighth in the 2022 RMAC Preseason Poll. 
 
Senior outfielder Estevan De La O led the way offensively for the Cowboys last season as the Albuquerque product hit .333 on the year with 10 doubles, six triples and three homeruns to drive in 37 RBI for a slugging percentage of .525 to go along with 13 walks for an on-base clip of .394.
 
NHMU HEAD COACH SHANNON HUNT
Shannon Hunt is now in his eighth season at the helm of the New Mexico Highlands baseball program, holding an overall record of 106-184 during his time in Las Vegas. Hunt registered a standout playing career at DeAnza Community College, Butte College and Lewis Clark State as he helped the Warriors to a pair of NAIA National Championships in 1988 and 1989. 
 
SERIES HISTORY
The Buffaloes lead the all-time series against the Cowboys, 33-14 with WT claiming the last 14 meetings in a series that dates back to 1995. The last meetings between the two saw the Buffs hit the road to open up the 2019 season in Las Vegas, New Mexico as they outscored the Cowboys 36-16 in a four-game sweep. 
 
2021 RECAP
The 2021 campaign saw the Buffaloes claim their third Lone Star Conference Championship with a 28-4 mark in league action as they advanced to a seventh straight NCAA Tournament, making an appearance in the program's first ever Regional Finals with an overall record of 34-9. 
 
OPENING DAY
The Buffs begin their 29th season of Division II Baseball on Saturday afternoon to open up the 2022 campaign as they hold an overall record of 745-784 (.487) during that time. Since the 1994 season, WT is 17-12 on Opening Day including 12-1 in the opener under Matt Vanderburg.
 
WT HEAD COACH MATT VANDERBURG
Matt Vanderburg has built West Texas A&M Baseball into a regional and national contender as the Norman, Oklahoma native enters his 14th season at the helm of the Buffs. He holds an overall record of 409-238 (.632) during his time in Canyon while registering a career record of 508-299 (.629) in his 17 seasons in collegiate baseball.
 
THE COACHING STAFF
Cory Hall enters his 12th year at West Texas A&M as the Buffs' Pitching Coach, serving the last six as the program's Associate Head Coach. Hall has had four different pitchers drafted in the Major League Baseball Draft during his time in Canyon with multiple other professional players learning under one of the top pitching minds in collegiate baseball. Assistant Coach Shawn Neale was named WT's Recruiting Coordinator this summer as the Toronto native returns for his sixth season in Canyon. WT welcomes former All-LSC catcher Kyle Moos to the coaching staff as a graduate assistant. 
 
2022 LSC PRESEASON POLL
Angelo State picked up 27 of the possible 36 first place votes to sit atop of the poll with 452 points followed by West Texas A&M with five first place votes and 432 total points. UT Tyler sat third with 364 points followed by Texas A&M-Kingsville (three first place, 360), Oklahoma Christian (315), Lubbock Christian (289), St. Mary's (one first place, 287), UAFS (201), St. Edward's (195), UT Permian Basin (138), Texas A&M International (106), Cameron (90) and Eastern New Mexico (47).
 
ASU's Aaron Walters was named the league's Preseason Player of the Year while teammate Carson Childers picked up Preseason Pitcher of the Year accolades. The league's preseason poll reflects the opinions of LSC head coaches, sports information directors and various media representatives throughout the region.
 
THIS IS LSC BASEBALL
The LSC Championship will feature a two-week tournament comprised of the top eight teams with the opening round at on-campus sites May 6-8. The winners of each opening round series will advance to a double-elimination tournament played May 12-14. The winner of the postseason tournament will be recognized as the LSC Tournament Champion and receive the conference's automatic qualifier to the NCAA postseason.
 
HOME OF CHAMPIONS
West Texas A&M is home to one of the most successful athletic programs in all of NCAA Division II. The 2020-21 season saw WT claim seven LSC Regular Season Championships, three LSC Tournament Titles, three Regional Championships, four Top-three track & field finishes, a men's basketball national title game appearance and the 2021 NCAA Division II Softball National Championship.
 
LSC DIGITAL NETWORK
The LSC Digital Network is in its third season showcasing the academic and athletic events of the league and its 18 member institutions. Under the new structure for 2021-22, football, volleyball, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's basketball, baseball and softball broadcasts will be available via conference-wide pay-per-view passes.
   
The LSC Digital Network will offer season passes for football, volleyball, soccer, basketball, baseball and softball, giving fans access to all regular-season contests for that sport. In addition, viewers will continue to have the option to purchase a $10 day pass that provides access to all broadcasts aired that day and access to all archived content for 24 hours. 
 
Fans can watch games and purchase passes online at www.lonestarconferencenetwork.com on computer and mobile devices. Viewers can also tune in to games on the LSC Digital Network via OTT apps available on Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV and Roku by searching for "LSC Digital Network".
 
BOB SLOAN BASEBALL CLASSIC
Bob "Skip" Sloan coached the Buffs from 1968-1972 while they were a member of the Division I Missouri Valley Conference. He compiled a 93-51 record and team finished third in the MVC tournament in 1972. Sloan played centerfield for Oklahoma State in the late 1950's, and then played three years in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization from 1960-62. Sloan was inducted into the WTAMU Hall of Champions back in 2007.
 
He coached at Guthrie (Oklahoma) High School from 1963-65, winning a State Championship in 1964. During his next two years at Goddard High in Roswell, New Mexico, Sloan's 1967 team reached the Class AA finals. After WT dropped the baseball program in 1972, Sloan scouted part-time for the Dodgers, Chicago White Sox and California Angels and he was a full-time scout with the Milwaukee Brewers from 1992-99. Sloan passed away at age 81 back in February of 2019.