CANYON, Texas – The #25 Buffaloes of West Texas A&M ran their win streak to 10 games on Friday night as they picked up a wild 18-13 Lone Star Conference victory over the St. Mary's Rattlers at Wilder Park in Canyon.
The Rattlers got on the board in the top of the first inning as Jacob King lifted a sac fly to right center with one out as Brendan Concannon crossed the plate for the 1-0 lead. The Buffs responded in the bottom of the frame with as they sent 12 batters to the plate with a pair of St. Mary's errors with two outs to give the Buffs a 7-1 lead.
St. Mary's answered in the top of the second with four runs highlighted by a Jacob Elizondo two-run triple off the right field wall to cut the lead to 7-5. WT responded in the bottom of the frame as
Elijah Batista singled up the middle to plate
Dylan Fesperman followed by a
Daniel Castellanos sac fly for the 9-5 lead.
The Buffs used the long ball to add to their lead in the bottom of the fourth inning as Batista lifted a two-run shot into the parking lot beyond the left field fence to make it 11-5. StMU cut into the lead with two outs in the top of the fifth on a Raithen Malone RBI single thru the left side to make it 11-6.
WT added to their lead in the bottom of the fifth on a Schmidt RBI single to right field followed later in the inning by a Batista RB double to left field for the 13-6 lead. The Rattlers answered with a King RBI double to left field with no outs followed by a Hogan Heller two-run single up the middle to cut the lead to 13-9.
Elizondo drove in his second run of the game with an RBI double to right field with two out to make it 13-10. The Buffs responded again in the bottom of the frame as an errant throw by the Rattlers scored Fesperman with no outs followed by a Batista sac fly to left, Castellanos would double down the left field line to drive in a run followed by a
Rodric Black RBI single to center and a
Ryan Camacho RBI groundout for the 18-10 lead.
The Rattlers wouldn't go down without a fight as Tristan Moreno singled up the middle to drive in a run followed by a Malone RBI double to the warning track in center and an Elizondo RBI single to make it 18-13. StMU made things interesting in the top of the ninth as they loaded the bases with nobody out before
Tai Phetluangsy entered the game and registered three strikeouts for the win.
Andrew Simone picked up the win (2-0) for the Buffs, allowing one earned run on four hits with one walk and four strikeouts in his 3.1 innings of relief, Phetluangsy claimed his seventh save with three strikeouts in the ninth.
The Buffs and Rattlers return to the diamond tomorrow with a doubleheader scheduled for 2:00 p.m. in Canyon.
