CANYON, Texas – The #4 Buffaloes of West Texas A&M became the first team in the South Central Region to reach 30 victories on Saturday afternoon as they split a Lone Star Conference doubleheader with the St. Mary's Rattlers at Dickson Stadium in San Antonio, Texas.
 
The Buffs and Rattlers conclude their weekend series tomorrow afternoon with first pitch set for 1:00 p.m. in San Antonio.
 
GAME ONE
The Rattlers jumped out to an early lead in the home half of the first inning on a Garrett Brooks fielder's choice groundout to plate Jake Elizondo followed by an RJ Galvan solo homerun for the 2-0 lead. WT cut into the lead in the top of the second as Seth Ochoa would score from third on a balk with two outs to make it 2-1.
 
St. Mary's added to their lead in the bottom of the second as Elizondo singled to center field with one out to plate Hogan Heller to force a move to the bullpen by the Buffs, the Rattlers would add two more runs as they took advantage of a WT error to make it 5-1. The Buffs answered in the top of the third on a Seth Ochoa RBI single thru the left side to plate Ryan Camacho at 5-2.
 
The Rattlers extended their lead in the home half of the fourth as Brooks doubled down the left field line with no outs to drive in Elizondo followed later in the frame by a wild pitch to score Brooks to make it 7-2. 
 
Nick Yeager picked up the loss (5-2) for the Buffs, allowing five runs (three earned) on five hits with a walk and a strikeout in his 1.1 innings of work.
 
GAME TWO
West Texas A&M wasted little time getting on the board in the nightcap as Kyle Micklus would score from third on a wild pitch with two outs for an early lead. The Buffs added to their lead in the third as a Paul Wittmann RBI single to right with no outs scored Glenn Noronha followed by a two-run single to left center by Micklus.
 
The Rattlers plated their first run of the game in the home half of the fourth as they took advantage of a defensive miscue by the Buffs as Devin Goins scored to make it 4-1. WT responded in the top of the sixth as Noronha singled home Dylan Fesperman followed by a wild pitch to score Rodric Black before an Elijah Batista RBI double, the Buffs weren't done yet as Batista scored on a double steal for the 8-1 lead.
 
St. Mary's wouldn't go down without a fight in the seventh as Brooks singled to right field with one out to drive in Jorge Cuevas followed by a walk and a hit by pitch to load the bases, Devin Goins lifted a sac fly to left field to score Brooks before a strikeout ended the game 8-3.
 
Justice Hayes picked up the win (5-0) for the Buffs, allowing one earned run on six hits with one walk and a strikeout in his 6.0 innings of work.