CANYON, Texas – The #3 Buffaloes of West Texas A&M scored nine unanswered runs on Saturday night as they rolled past the Arkansas-Fort Smith Lions during the opening game of a weekend Lone Star Conference series at Crowder Field.
 
The Lions got on the board in the top of the first inning as Nico Patrick drew an RBI walk with the bases loaded and two outs to score Hunter Church for the 1-0 lead. The Buffs responded with three runs in the top of the third inning as Will Fuenning doubled down the left field line to plate Adam Becker and Kennedy Badgett followed by an Eric Ortiz RBI single to right to make it 3-1.
 
WT added to their lead in the fifth as Bryant Bailey singled to center to drive in Fuenning and Becker followed by a UAFS error in the outfield to score Izaiah Madrid and extend the lead to 6-1. Becker added to his RBI total in the sixth with an inside-the-park homerun off of the left field wall, Ryan Johnson doubled home Paul Wittmann in the seventh followed by a Bailey solo homerun in the ninth for the 9-1 lead.
 
Maddux Hoaglund picked up the win (3-0) for the Buffs, allowing one earned run on three hits with three walks and a season-high 11 strikeouts in his 6.2 innings of work. 

The two teams take the diamond once again on Sunday afternoon for a pair of seven-inning contests with first pitch set for 1 p.m. at Crowder Field.