West Texas A&M University Athletics

CANYON, Texas – The Buffaloes of West Texas A&M allowed a pair of eighth inning runs on Monday afternoon as they fell in a heartbreak, 2-1 to the #23 St. Mary's Rattlers at Dickson Stadium in San Antonio, Texas.
 
The Buffs got on the board in the top of the first inning as Timothy Haynes singled to left field with one out to score Jonluke Hobdy at 1-0. 
 
The middle of the game featured a classic pitcher's duel with Haynes and Eric Tenery keeping hitters off balance as the Buffs took a 1-0 lead to the seventh inning. Tenery gave way to Matthew Janacek to start the seventh as the Buffs would strand a runner on third base with a pair of strikeouts to keep it 1-0.
 
The home half of the seventh saw the Buffalo defense keep the Rattlers off the board highlighted by an incredible diving catch in center by Anthony Picciano that robbed an extra-base hit.
 
St. Mary's got on the board in the bottom of the eighth inning on an Ashton Beaird RBI triple to the gap in right center to score Jimmy Mowles, Riley Kettner entered from the WT bullpen followed by a Ryan Alaniz infield single with two outs that scored Beaird for the 2-1 lead.
 
The Buffs wouldn't go down without a fight as Tristin Thomas reached on an infield single with an errant throw to move into scoring position with two outs before a popup to shortstop ended the game, 2-1. 
 
Haynes claimed the loss (0-2), allowing two earned runs on four hits with no walks and three strikeouts in his 7.1 innings of work.
 
The Buffs now await their postseason fate as the field for the 2026 NCAA Division II Baseball Championships will be announced via an online selection show on NCAA.com on Sunday, May 10^th.