CANYON, Texas – The Buffs of West Texas A&M battled all afternoon long before falling to the league-leading #3 Angelo State Rams, 7-6 in a 10-inning thriller on Friday during the Lone Star Conference opener at Wilder Park in Canyon, Texas.
 
The Buffs jumped out to an early lead in the home half of the second inning as Dylan Fesperman would be hit by a pitch and later score from third on a wild pitch with two outs for a 1-0 lead. 
 
WT used the long ball to extend their lead in the third as Rodric Black started off the frame with a solo shot to straightaway center field followed two batters later by a Kyle Micklus solo bomb to right for the 3-0 lead.
 
The Rams got on the board in the top of the fourth inning as Tayten Tredaway tripled to right field with one out to score Lane Hutchinson followed by a Brett Smajstrla sac fly to left that made it 3-2. Angelo State took their first lead of the game in the top of the seventh inning with two outs as Ethan Flodstrom lifted a two-run shot to left field to make it 4-3.
 
The Buffs tied up the game in the bottom of the ninth inning as they were down to their last strike before Black singled up the middle to plate Seth Ochoa to make it 4-4. The Rams retook the lead in the top of the 10^th inning as Tredaway crushed a three-run homerun to right field with one out for the 7-4 lead.
 
WT wouldn't go down without a fight as Kory Schmidt doubled to the gap in right center to score Micklus followed by a Dylan Fesperman RBI single thru the left side to make it 7-6 with no outs, Angelo State would lock in on the mound with a pair of strikeouts followed up a popup for the 7-6 win.
 
Tai Phetluansgy picked up the loss (3-3) for the Buffs, allowing three earned runs on three hits with one walk and a strikeout in his 1.0 innings of relief.