CANYON, Texas – The West Texas A&M Buffaloes held a 12-1 lead after five innings before the St. Edward's Hilltoppers battled back to take the Lone Star Conference series finale at Wilder Park in Canyon,. 17-13.
West Texas A&M struck early in the first inning when
Tristin Thomas tripled down the left-field line and scored on
Brock Bunker's groundout, securing a 1-0 lead. In the second inning,
Daniel Castellanos doubled to left center and scored on Johnluke Hobdy's RBI single.
Jake Alwine and
Zac Rackham contributed with strategic plays as Hobdy crossed home plate on a sacrifice bunt, extending the lead to 3-0.
In the third, the Buffs added three more runs. Bunker singled to center field, setting up
Timothy Haynes for a two-run homer to right center. Castellanos and Alwine kept the momentum with consecutive hits, bringing home another run to put the hosts ahead 6-0.
West Texas A&M capitalized on errors and walks in the fifth inning, scoring six runs. Haynes was hit by a pitch to bring in a run, followed by
Jacob Police's three-RBI triple to left center, and Castellanos' RBI single. This offensive surge put the Buffs firmly in control, leading 12-1 after five innings.
St. Edward's responded in the sixth with a significant eight-run inning, cutting into West Texas A&M's lead. The visitors hit two home runs and took advantage of defensive miscues to close the gap to 12-9. Despite a lead-off homer from Connor Cox in the seventh, the Buffs managed to add another run with Castellanos' RBI triple, maintaining a 13-10 edge.
St. Edward's mounted a late comeback, scoring six runs in the eighth inning and adding another in the ninth for a total of 17 runs.
Nick Yeager pitched 4 innings, allowing 2 hits and 1 unearned run while striking out 6 and walking 2. Haynes picked up the loss as he allowed seven earned runs on seven hits with one walk and a strikeout in his 1.2 innings of relief.
The Buffs hit the road for the first time as they travel to Richardson, Texas for a three-game LSC series against league newcomer UT Dallas beginning on Friday.