The WTAMU Buffalo baseball team traveled to Lawton, Okla. to face the Cameron Aggies in both teams’ first Lone Star Conference series from Mar. 15-17. The Buffs took the first game and the finale, while Cameron defeated WT both games in a doubleheader on Mar. 16.
The Buffs had a 4-1 lead after three innings when their offense opened the floodgates in the fourth. WT posted seven runs in the fourth inning, capped off by a two-run single by senior catcher Chad Miles that gave WT an 11-1 lead. The Buffs offense poured on two in the fifth, one in each of the sixth and seventh and five more in the eighth en route to a 20-8 run-rule win in eight innings.
“The fourth inning was a good inning for us because for the first time in a long time we started hitting together as a team and got confident together,” Head Coach Matt Vanderburg said. “I tell our guys all the time that hitting is contagious and hopefully this will be the first step for good things to come.”
Miles and senior Parker Wood each drove in four runs for WT. Senior Tate Baker and junior David Hebert also drive in three runs a piece for the Buffs. Senior reliever Andrew Elkins (2-0) got the win, going two innings with two hits and three runs.
“I thought we came out with a chip on our shoulder,” said Vanderburg. “All season we have not played, and especially hit, as well as we believe we can.”
In game one of the doubleheader on Mar. 16, Cameron scored four in the first to take an early 4-0 lead, but WT answered with a four-run fifth to tie the game 4-4. The Aggies answered with two more runs in the bottom of the inning to regain the lead 6-4. The Buffs scored two more in the sixth to tie the game 6-6. WT and Cameron then stretched a seven-inning game into an 11-inning affair before the Aggies’ Thomas Galvin hit a walk-off single for his second RBI of the game.
The Buffs struck first in game two when junior Patrick Ramirez scored on an error by the third baseman in the third inning. However, that was the only run for WT as Cameron scored two in fourth and another in the fifth on their way to a 3-1 win. Junior Dylan James (0-1) took the loss after going six innings and giving up three runs on four hits with 13 strikeouts.
Two-run innings were the theme of the Buffs 10-4 win in the series finale. WT scored two in each of the first four innings and in the eighth. Wood added three RBIs in the first two innings for a total of seven in the series. Junior Joshua Weyker (2-1) got the win, going six innings and giving up two runs on five hits with four strikeouts.
The Buffs are 14-8 overall with a 2-2 start in LSC action. The Buffs next LSC series will start on Mar. 22 against the Tarleton State Texans at Wilder Park in Canyon with first pitch set for 7 p.m.
