CANYON, Texas – The West Texas A&M Buffaloes battled back from a seven-run deficit on Saturday afternoon before falling to the Texas A&M International Dustdevils in a Saturday slugfest to conclude the Lone Star Conference series at Jorge Haynes Field in Laredo.
 
The Dustdevils got on the board in the bottom of the first inning with two outs as Isaac Stanwick was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded followed by a Ciro Benavides two-run single to right and a JC Zepeda base hit before a pair of WT errors made it 6-0.
 
WT responded in the top of the second inning as Rodric Black tripled to the warning track in right center to score Josh Zapata followed by a Jovan Camacho RBI grounder to short to cut the lead to 6-2. TAMIU used the long ball to add to their lead in the bottom of the second as Abiam Medina started the inning with a solo shot to right followed by a Benavides RBI double and a Nomar Prieto RBI single to make it 9-2.
 
The Buffs wouldn't go down without a fight as they plated seven runs in the top of the fourth inning highlighted by a Seth Ochoa leadoff solo shot to left as the senior would also come back to the plate in the frame and single home Dylan Fesperman with the Buffs tying the game at 9-9.
 
The Dustdevils retook the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning as Alex Lugo connected on a solo shot for the 10-9 advantage. WT answered in the top of the seventh as Elijah Batista scored on a balk with the bases loaded followed by a Kyle Micklus three-run blast to center for the 13-10 lead.
 
TAMIU would take the lead again in the home half of the seventh as Omar Cervantes lifted a grand slam to center field with one out, WT would answer again in the top of the eight on a Black two-run single thru the right side for the 15-13 lead. TAMIU plated a pair in the home half of the frame to retake the lead at 16-15. 
 
Nathan Scott picked up the loss (4-4) for the Buffs, allowing two earned runs on six hits with two walks and no strikeouts in his 1.1 innings of relief.
 
The Buffs close out the regular season next weekend as they host the Javelinas of Texas A&M-Kingsville in a four-game LSC series beginning on Friday afternoon at Wilder Park.