CANYON, Texas – West Texas A&M senior Seth Ochoa connected on a pair of homeruns and drove in five RBI on Monday afternoon as the #23 Buffaloes picked up a thrilling 9-8 win at Irwin Field to split the Lone Star Conference weekend series with the #7 UT Tyler Patriots.
 
The Patriots got on the board in the home half of the first inning as Drew Schmidt and Bo Willis registered base hits for the early 3-0 lead. 
 
WT used the long ball to cut into the lead in the top of the third as Rodric Black started off the frame with a solo shot to left field followed later in the frame by a Kory Schmidt RBI single to right that scored Jovan Camacho, Ochoa would keep the inning alive with a three-run homerun to left that just cleared the wall for the 5-3 lead. 
 
The Buffs extended their lead in the top of the fifth inning as Ochoa connected on his second long ball of the game with a solo shot to left field followed later in the frame by an errant Patriot throw in the outfield that score Elijah Batista for the 7-3 lead.
 
WT added to their lead in the top of the seventh inning as Camacho singled to left field with two outs to plate Josh Zapata to make it 8-3. Ochoa continued his big day at the plate in the top of the eighth as the El Paso product tripled to the gap in right center to score Ryan Camacho for the 9-3 lead.
 
The Patriots wouldn't go down without a fight as Mason Hammonds doubled to the gap in left center with the bases loaded and two outs to cut the lead to 9-6. 
 
UTT made things interesting in the ninth as they loaded the bases with one out followed by a fielder's choice groundout to push across a run, a walk and a hit by pitch loaded the bases again with two outs at 9-8. WT would end the game on a full-count strikeout by Andrew Simone for the 9-8 victory.
 
Julius Carpio claimed the win (2-0) for the Buffs, allowing no runs on four hits with no walks and four strikeouts in his 6.1 innings of scoreless relief. Simone claimed his first save in Maroon & White, allowing no runs on no hits with one strikeout.
 
The Buffs return to Wilder Park this weekend for a four-game LSC series against the Sul Ross State Lobos beginning on Friday afternoon in Canyon.