CANYON, Texas – The #14 Buffaloes of West Texas A&M hit the road for Lone Star Conference action this weekend as they travel to San Angelo, Texas for a four-game series against the rival #7 Angelo State Rams beginning on Friday night with first pitch set for 6:30 p.m. at Foster Field.
 
A LOOK AT THE RAMS
Angelo State enters the weekend tied atop of the LSC standings with an overall mark of 27-7 with a 25-7 record in league action following a sweep of the St. Edward's Hilltoppers on the road last weekend in Austin. The Rams are 11-7 so far this season at Foster Field.
 
Senior outfielder Justin Lee leads the way offensively for the Rams as the Las Vegas, Nevada product is hitting .394 on the season with 10 doubles and three homeruns to drive in 37 RBI for a slugging percentage of .569 to go along with 22 walks and 14 strikeouts for an on-base clip of .511 while stealing 14 bases on 16 attempts. Reigning LSC Pitcher of the Week Aaron Munson is 5-1 on the mound with a 3.72 ERA as the sophomore from San Antonio has allowed 26 runs (20 earned) on 40 hits with 12 walks and 47 strikeouts in his 48.1 innings of work for an opposing batting average of .219.
 
ASU HEAD COACH KEVIN BROOKS
Kevin Brooks has built the ASU Baseball program into a national power during his time in San Angelo, holding an overall record of 660-317 over the past 18 years with four trips to the Division II College World Series (2007, 2015, 2016, 2021). Last year's ASU squad went 44-9 overall as they claimed the South Central Regional Championship on their way to the College World Series before falling to eventual National Champion Wingate twice in the semifinal round.
 
SERIES HISTORY
The Buffs and Rams will take the diamond for the 97th time on Friday evening in San Angelo as ASU holds a 59-37 all-time lead in the series that dates back to 2005. WT is 20-22 all-time in San Angelo as they have dropped their last three contests at Foster Field. Last season saw the two teams matchup five times with WT claiming the regular season series in Canyon on their way to the LSC Championship before the Rams took the two postseason meetings during the South Central Regional Tournament including the Regional Title Game, 18-4.
 
WEEKEND LSC REWIND
Five Lone Star Conference baseball teams picked up series wins last week, including No. 15 Angelo State and Texas A&M-Kingsville, which earned four-game sweeps. Eastern New Mexico, Oklahoma Christian and UT Permian Basin also won their conference series. Fifth-ranked West Texas A&M and No. 19 Lubbock Christian split a Top 25 matchup over the weekend with two wins each. With a 4-0 week, ASU moved into a tie with WT atop the league standings at 25-7. LCU kept its third-place standing at 22-10, followed by TAMUK at 21-11.
 
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. 
 
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 is now in his 14th season at the helm of the Buffs. He holds an overall record of 436-245 (.640) during his time in Canyon while registering a career record of 535-306 (.636) in his 17 seasons in collegiate baseball.
 
THE COACHING STAFF
Cory Hall is now in 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".