CANYON, Texas – West Texas A&M's Reese Miller didn't want his collegiate career to end on Thursday night as the senior tossed a gem in the nightcap to keep the season alive for the #18 Buffaloes with a 4-2 victory over #12 Colorado Mesa during the South Central Regional Championships in Grand Junction, Colorado. WT fell in the opening game of the event to rival Angelo State, 7-4.
 
The Buffs will have tomorrow off as Angelo State and Colorado Mesa battle each other in a single game beginning at 7:00 p.m. CT in Grand Junction. Saturday will see the Buffs take on Angelo State at 3:00 p.m. CT at the GBus Bergman Sports Complex with a Regional Title game to follow against either the Rams or Mavericks.
 
GAME ONE
The Rams jumped out to an early lead in the top of the first inning as Conagher Sands doubled down the right field line with one out to drive in Tripp Clark and Jacob Guerrero for the 2-0 lead. WT responded in the home half of the third as Rodric Black scored on an Angelo State fielding error followed by a Kyle Micklus sac fly to the wall in center to make it 2-2.
 
WT took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the fourth as Glenn Noronha drew an RBI walk with the bases loaded and two outs to score Dylan Fesperman. ASU tied up the game in the top of the fifth on an errant throw as Jason Harris scored to make it 3-3.
 
The Buffs retook the lead in the home half of the frame as Jovan Camacho singled to left field with two outs to plate Kory Schmidt. Angelo used the long ball to retake the lead in the seventh as Clark connected on a three-run homerun to left field, the Rams added an insurance run in the eighth on a Ryder McDaniel fielder's choice groundout to score Weston Velasek to make it 7-4.
 
WT wouldn't go down without a fight as they loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the ninth before a line drive triple play ended the game, 7-4.
 
Douglas Rojas picked up the loss (5-1) for the Buffs, allowing three earned runs on two hits with no walks and a strikeout in his 1.0 innings of relief.
 
GAME TWO
The Mavericks used the long ball to get on the board in the nightcap as Rob Sharrar lifted a solo shot to left center with one out in the bottom of the first for the 1-0 lead. The Buffs responded in the top of the second as Schmidt scored from second on a CMU throwing error followed by a J. Camacho doubled down the left field line to plate Seth Ochoa for the 2-1 lead.
 
WT added to their lead in the top of the fifth on a Ryan Camacho RBI single thru the left side with two outs to score Elijah Batista. CMU responded in the bottom of the frame as Kennedy Hara lifted a solo shot to left to make it 3-2. The Buffs would add a much-needed insurance run in the top of the ninth on another Maverick error that scored J. Camacho for the 4-2 lead.
 
Miller was dominant on the mound for the Buffs as the senior from Dayton, Texas tossed 145 pitches, allowing two earned runs on six hits with four walks and 13 strikeouts in the complete game victory against the nation's top scoring offense.