CANYON, Texas – The #5 Buffaloes of West Texas A&M came out swinging on Sunday afternoon as they connected on three homeruns on the way to a 15-8 victory over UT Permian Basin to clinch the weekend series from the Falcons at Roden Field in Odessa, Texas.
The Buffs wasted no time getting on the scoreboard as
Paul Wittmann jumped on the first pitch of the game for a triple to center field followed by a passed ball for the first run of the game, WT wasn't done yet as
Kory Schmidt lifted a solo homerun to right center followed by a
Dylan Fesperman big fly to left for the 3-0 lead.
WT continued their hot start at the plate in the top of the second inning as
Owen Alsup lifted a solo shot to left field for his first homerun in Maroon & White,
Kyle Micklus added to the lead later in the frame with an RBI single up the middle to score
Elijah Batista for the 5-0 lead.
The Falcons got on the board in the home half of the second as Clayton Coats started the frame with a solo homerun to right field followed later in the frame by a Jack Haggerty RBI single and a passed ball to score Victory Perez before an Ethan Flodstrom RBI single made it 5-4.
The Buffs responded in the top of the third as a Falcon error with one out plated Schmidt and Fesperman for the 7-4 lead. WT extended their lead in the top of the fourth as a Falcon error scored Micklus followed by a
Rodric Black two-run double down the left field line and a
Glenn Noronha RBI single for the 11-4 lead.
WT added to their lead in the top of the fifth as
Ryan Camacho singled up the middle with one out to plate Wittmann followed later in the frame by a Fesperman sac fly to the warning track in left that scored Micklus for the 13-4 advantage. UTPB cut into the lead in the bottom of the sixth on a Taylor McDaniel RBI groundout to make it 13-5.
UTPB wouldn't go down without a fight as Flodstrom cut into the lead in the seventh with a three-run homerun to left with no outs, WT responded in the top of the eighth with an RBI single to right by Wittmann to plate Noronha followed by a
Dave Janssen single thru the left side to score Wittmann for the 15-8 lead. UTPB cut into the lead again in the ninth with a
Nick Yeager picked up the win (2-1) for the Buffs, allowing five runs (three earned) on eight hits with two walks and six strikeouts in his 5.1 innings of work.
The Buffs return home next weekend for a four-game Lone Star Conference series with the Patriots of UT Tyler starting on Friday night with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
