CANYON, Texas – The Buffaloes of West Texas A&M return home for a four-game Lone Star Conference series against the St. Mary's Rattlers beginning on Friday evening with first pitch of the series opener set for 6:00 p.m. at Wilder Park in Canyon.
 
A LOOK AT THE RATTLERS
St. Mary's enters the weekend with an overall record of 17-21 as they hold a 15-21 mark in Lone Star Conference action. The Rattlers are coming off of an LSC series loss to the St. Edward's Hilltoppers as StMU picked up a 7-3 victory in game three while SEU took the other three games by a combined score of 33-16.
 
Clay Bradford leads the way offensively for the Rattlers as the senior outfielder from Atascocita, Texas is hitting .400 on the season with eight doubles, three triples and eight homeruns to drive in 37 RBI for a slugging percentage of .671 to go along with 17 walks and 33 strikeouts for an on-base clip of .457. Potential game two starter John Curtis leads the way on the mound, holding a record of 2-4 with a 4.69 ERA as the senior righty from Athens, Tennessee has allowed 31 runs (25 earned) on 48 hits with 19 walks and 35 strikeouts during his 48.0 innings of work for an opposing batting average of .274.
 
StMU HEAD COACH CHRIS ERMIS
Chris Ermis is now in his second season at the helm of the Rattler baseball program following 25 years as an assistant under legendary head coach Charlie Migl who retired in 2022. The Rattlers have made five trips to the NCAA Division II Postseason including a pair of runs to the DII College World Series highlighted by a National Championship in 2001. The pitching mind has coached nine different All-Americans on the mound including four MLB Draftees. Ermis was a student-athlete at St. Mary's from 1989-90 as he was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays, playing one season of Rookie League ball for the Medicine Hat Blue Jays in 1991. 
 
SERIES HISTORY
The Buffaloes lead the all-time series against the Rattlers, 12-6 in a series that dates back to the 2002 campaign. The Rattlers are 0-3 all-time at Wilder Park as they were swept in their only trip to Canyon back in 2021. 
 
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 15th season at the helm of the Buffs. He holds an overall record of 474-259 (.647) during his time in Canyon while registering a career record of 573-330 (.635) in his 18 seasons in collegiate baseball.
 
THE COACHING STAFF
Cory Hall is now in his 13th year at West Texas A&M as the Buffs' Pitching Coach, serving the last seven 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 in 2022 as the Toronto native returns for his seventh season in Canyon.
 
2023 LSC PRESEASON POLL
Defending South Central Regional Champion Angelo State picked up 23 of the possible 32 first place votes to sit atop of the poll with 407 points followed by WT (eight first place, 388), Texas A&M-Kingsville (one first place, 315), Lubbock Christian (298), St. Edward's (296), UT Tyler (291), Oklahoma Christian (206), St. Mary's (203), Texas A&M International (160), UAFS (131), Eastern New Mexico (88), Cameron (82) and UT Permian Basin (47).
 
Adam Becker from West Texas A&M claimed Preseason Player of the Year accolades while Wesley Gafford from St. Edward's was named the LSC Preseason Pitcher of the Year.
 
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 5-7. The winners of each opening round series will advance to a double-elimination tournament played May 11-13.
 
LSC DIGITAL NETWORK
The LSC Digital Network is in its fourth season showcasing the academic and athletic events of the league and its 18 member institutions. 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.