West Texas A&M (12-6, 12-6) vs. #9 UT Tyler (14-4, 14-4)
Game 1	Friday, March 6 at 2:00 p.m.
Game 2 & 3	Saturday, March 7 at 1:00 p.m. (DH)
Game 4	Sunday, March 8 at 12:00 p.m.
Location	Canyon, Texas | Buffalo Sports Park
Live Statistics	Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4
Live Video (FloCollege)	FloCollege
Other Links	Game Notes

CANYON, Texas – The Buffaloes of West Texas A&M return to the Texas Panhandle this weekend as they host the #9 UT Tyler Patriots in a four-game Lone Star Conference series beginning on Friday afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 2:00 p.m. in Canyon.
 
A LOOK AT THE PATRIOTS
UT Tyler enters the weekend with an overall record of 14-4 as they sit tied atop of the Lone Star Conference standings. The Patriots outscored St. Edward's 29-2 in the opening two games of last weekend's series in Tyler before the Hilltoppers claimed the last two games for an LSC series split. 
 
UTT is hitting .284 as a team this season with 139 runs on 159 hits highlighted by 29 doubles, one triple and 14 homeruns to drive in 120 RBI. The Patriots are led offensively by Cole Ketzner as the senior catcher from Magnolia, Texas is hitting .348 with two doubles and three homeruns to drive in a team-leading 19 RBI for a slugging percentage of .587 to go along with 13 walks and a pair of stolen bases.
 
The Patriot pitching staff holds an ERA of 4.14 as they have allowed 80 runs (68 earned) on 136 hits with 73 walks and 145 strikeouts in 148.0 innings of work. Senior lefty Dylan Blomquist has been the game four starter for UTT as the Belton native holds a 0.98 ERA in 18.1 innings, allowing six runs (two earned) on 11 hits with 12 walks and nine strikeouts for an opposing batting average of .177.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Friday afternoon marks the 21st meeting on the diamond between the Buffaloes and Patriots. UT Tyler holds the 11-9 advantage in the series that dates back to 2020. The Patriots are 3-5 all-time in Canyon with their last trip to the Panhandle coming in 2024.
 
UTT HEAD COACH BRENT PORCHE
Brent Porche is now in his 10th season as the skipper of the UT Tyler baseball program, holding an overall record of 309-141 during his time in East Texas. The Patriots won the South Central Regional Title last season and advanced to the DII College World Series. Porche led the Patriots to 2018 NCAA Division III National Championship in just his second season, being named the DIII National Coach of the Year. The Baton Rouge, Louisiana native is in his 13th season as a collegiate head coach, serving four seasons as the skipper at LSU Shreveport.
 
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 14 of the possible 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 picked up six first place votes for 282 points to remain second followed by Catawba (445), Colorado Mesa (412), Central Missouri (404), North Greenville (393), Cal State Monterey Bay (385), Grand Valley State (373), UT Tyler (333) and West Alabama (323) to round out the top ten.
 
The South Central Region was represented by Colorado Mesa (4th), UT Tyler (9th), Angelo State (16th), St. Mary's (RV), St. Edward's (RV) and MSU Denver (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 five weekends in and two teams are atop the standings at 14-4: No. 4 UT Tyler and Angelo State.
 
ASU, Texas A&M-Kingsville (12-6) and West Texas A&M (12-6) are coming off four-game series sweeps. ASU accomplished it on the road against No. 17 St. Mary's.
 
WT has a league-high 10-game winning streak, while ASU has prevailed in six straight games.