CANYON, Texas – The Buffaloes of West Texas A&M used a pair of stellar pitching performances on Good Friday as WT took a pair of Lone Star Conference contests to clinch the weekend series from the Oklahoma Christian Eagles at Dobson Field in Edmond, Oklahoma.
 
The Buffs look to complete the weekend sweep on Saturday afternoon as first pitch of the series finale is set for 1:00 p.m. in Edmond.
 
GAME ONE
The Buffs got on the board in the top of the third inning as Adam Becker singled to right field with the bases loaded and no outs to drive in Dylan Fesperman followed by a Kory Schmidt RBI sac fly to center, WT wasn't done yet as Ryan Johnson would score from third on a wild pitch with two outs for the 3-0 lead.
 
OC responded in the home half of the third as Jayvien Joseph lifted a solo homerun to left field with two outs to cut the lead to 3-1. The Eagles looked to cut into the lead again in the fourth as they loaded the bases with two outs before Nick Marshall ended the threat with his eighth strikeout of the afternoon to keep it at 3-1.
 
Becker added to the WT lead in the top of the fifth inning as the senior singled thru the right side with one out to score Mike Manetta for the 4-1 lead. The Eagles made it interesting in the bottom of the seventh as Joseph doubled to the gap in left center with one out to drive in Hank Heiselbetz followed by a Marcus Johnson RBI double off the left field wall before a strikeout ended the game, 4-3.
 
Marshall picked up the win (7-1) for the Buffs, allowing one earned run on four hits with three walks and a season-high 10 strikeouts in his 6.0 innings of work. The junior from Antigo, Wisconsin moves into a tie for fourth on WT's all-time wins list with 18 alongside Will Baldwin (2001-03, 05).
 
Tyler Cornett picked up his sixth save of the year, allowing two earned runs on two hits with one walk and two strikeouts in the final frame.
 
GAME TWO
WT wasted no time getting on the board in the nightcap as Becker singled thru the left side with no outs to plate Manetta followed by a Kory Schmidt RBI double to the gap in left center, Eddy Savoie kept the inning alive with an RBI groundout to third for the early 3-0 lead.
 
The Buffs added to their lead in the top of the fourth inning as Cameron Loy doubled the other way to left field with no outs to plate Savoie followed later in the frame by a Becker two-run single to left and a Will Fuenning RBI walk with the bases loaded to make it 7-0. The two-run single by Becker moved the senior into third on WT's all-time RBI list with 152 to pass Brian Schupp (151, 2005-08).
 
WT added to their lead in the top of the fifth as Manetta lifted a double to shallow left field down the line which fell in as Glenn Noronha scored to make it 8-0.
 
Reese Miller picked up the win (4-2) for the Buffs, allowing no runs on just four hits with one walk and seven strikeouts in the complete game shutout.