West Texas A&M (8-6, 8-6) vs. UT Permian Basin (4-10, 4-10)
Game 1	Friday, February 27 at 1:00 p.m.
Game 2 & 3	Saturday, February 28 at 12:00 p.m. (DH)
Game 4	Sunday, March 1 at 12:00 p.m.
Location	Odessa, Texas | Roden Field
Live Statistics	Link
Live Video (FloCollege)	FloCollege
Other Links	Game Notes

CANYON, Texas – The Buffaloes of West Texas A&M hit the road for Lone Star Conference action as they travel to Odessa, Texas for a four-game league series against the UT Permian Basin Falcons beginning on Friday afternoon at Roden Field.
 
A LOOK AT THE FALCONS
UT Permian Basin enters the weekend with an overall record of 4-10 as they have dropped each of their first four series of the year to Angelo State, Texas A&M International, Texas A&M-Kingsville and St. Edward's. Last weekend saw the Falcons win game three against the Hilltoppers, 8-3 as they were outscored 39-16 in the other three contests.
 
UTPB is hitting .275 as a team this season with 70 runs on 114 hits highlighted by 25 doubles, four triples and seven homeruns to drive in 63 RBI. The Falcons are led offensively by Carlos Chavez as the junior from El Paso is hitting .385 on the season with nine doubles to drive in nine RBI for a slugging percentage of .558 to go along with one walk and seven strikeouts for an on-base clip of .411.
 
The Falcons pitching staff holds an ERA of 9.86 as they have allowed 148 runs (115 earned) on 145 hits with 110 walks and 91 strikeouts in 105.0 innings of work. Sophomore righty Damian Robles is the projected game three starter, holding a overall record of 3-0 so far this season with a 2.86 ERA as the Montwood High School product has allowed eight runs (seven earned) on 18 hits with 14 walks and 21 strikeouts in his 22.0 frames for an opposing batting average of .228.
 
SERIES HISTORY
WT holds a 34-4 advantage in the series that dates back to 2017. The Buffs are 16-2 all-time in Odessa/Midland with their last trip to Roden Field coming in 2024.
 
UTPB HEAD COACH JUSTIN PHILLIPS
Justin Phillips is in his second campaign as the skipper of the UT Permian Basin baseball program, coming to Odessa following a stint as an Associate Scout for the Kansas City Royals. Phillips served as the head coach at Trinity Christian School in Lubbock from 2015-22. His collegiate coaching experience comes as an assistant at Delta State from 2012-14.
 
WT HEAD COACH CORY HALL
Cory Hall takes is in his second season at the helm of the West Texas A&M Baseball program after being promoted to head coach in the Summer of 2024. The first season under Hall's leadership saw the Buffaloes finish 31-21 with a 29-19 mark in Lone Star Conference play, advancing to the LSC Championships for the 14th time in program history.
 
Hall spent 14 seasons as the top assistant and pitching coach for the Buffaloes. Hall has had four different pitchers (Austin Moore, Josh Payne, Marshall Kasowski, Joe Corbett) drafted in the Major League Baseball Draft during his time in Canyon with multiple other professional players learning under one of the top pitching minds in collegiate baseball.
 
WT COACHING STAFF
Shawn Neale was elevated to Associate Head Coach in the Summer of 2025 as the Toronto native returns for his 10th season in Canyon. WT ranked 13th nationally in batting average along with 6th in triples, 11th in slugging percentage, 15th in on-base percentage, 21st in scoring, 27th in doubles, 41st in homeruns, and 47th in hits.
 
Ryan Cantrell joined the West Texas A&M Baseball coaching staff in August following five seasons as the pitching coach and lead recruiter at Cerro Coso Community College in California. Nollan Koon is in his second season in the dugout for the Buffaloes as a graduate assistant coach.
 
LONE STAR CONFERENCE PRESEASON POLL
West Texas A&M Baseball has been selected fifth in the 2026 Lone Star Conference Baseball Preseason Coaches' Poll announced on January 22nd.
 
Defending South Central Regional Champion UT Tyler picked up 20 of the possible 42 first place votes to sit atop of the poll with 603 points followed by Angelo State (20 first place, 599), Lubbock Christian (510), St. Edward's (501), West Texas A&M (474), St. Mary's (404), Texas A&M-Kingsville (1 first place, 389), Eastern New Mexico (326), UT Permian Basin (249), Texas A&M International (1 first place, 246), UT Dallas (243), Oklahoma Christian (181), Cameron (164) and Sul Ross State (67).
 
UT Tyler senior shortstop Drew Schmidt was named the league's Preseason Pitcher of the Year while Caden Copeland of UTT was tabbed the LSC Preseason Pitcher of the Year. Tristin Thomas and Cade Griffin of West Texas A&M were selected to the Preseason Players to Watch List. The preseason poll and preseason players of the year are voted on by LSC head coaches, sports information directors and media members.
 
NCBWA DIVISION II TOP-25 POLL
Defending National Champion Tampa picked up all 20 first place votes to sit atop of the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association (NCBWA) Division II Top-25 Poll announced on Wednesday. Pittsburg State moved into second with 459 points followed by Catawba (458), UT Tyler (456), North Greenville (411), Central Missouri (386), Cal State Monterey Bay (372), Grand Valley State (339), Colorado Mesa (335) and Lenoir-Rhyne (308) to round out the top ten.
 
The South Central Region was represented by UT Tyler (4th), Colorado Mesa (9th), St. Mary's (17th), MSI Denver (25th) and Angelo State (RV).
 
THIS IS LSC BASEBALL
The LSC baseball season begins as early as Jan. 30 (Friday). Due to being NCAA Division II provisional members, UTD and SRSU are not eligible for the LSC baseball tournament but are able to win the LSC regular season title and postseason awards.
 
The LSC baseball tournament's opening round is scheduled for May 1-3 (Friday-Sunday) at the site of the league's No. 2, 3 and 4 seed. The championship round is set for May 8-10 (Friday-Sunday) at the league's No. 1 seed. The NCAA Division II South Central Regional is scheduled for May 14-17 with the Super Regional following on May 21-23. The NCAA Division II Baseball Championship is set for May 29-June 6 at USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C.
 
WATCH LIVE
Fans can watch LSC baseball games all season on FloCollege. Monthly and yearly subscriptions are available. The LSC and FloSports reached a historic agreement in August for the largest streaming rights deal in NCAA Division II history.
 
LSC NEWS & NOTES
The 2026 Lone Star Conference baseball season is four weekends in and two teams are atop the standings at 12-2: UT Tyler and St. Mary's. They have both won every series they have played.
 
New league member UT Dallas, Texas A&M International and WT are coming off series sweeps. West Texas A&M leads the league in hitting (.320) and fielding percentage (.974), while UTT is tops in pitching (3.97 ERA).