The WTAMU Buffalo baseball team welcomed the Tarleton State Texans to Wilder Park in Canyon for what was scheduled as a pair of doubleheaders on March 22 and 23. The Texans would defeat the Buffs in three of the four games thanks to defensive struggles by WT.
After three scoreless innings in the series opener on March 22, the Buffs got RBI singles from senior Justin Henderson in the fourth and junior Beto Rodriguez in the fifth to take a 2-0 lead after five. TSU scored two unearned runs in the sixth when Colton Booth scored on an error by the shortstop and Ryan Small knocked in a run on a ground out. The Texans would get the game-winning run when Evan Robinson scored on a WT error completing the 3-2 win.
Senior reliever Billy Gonzalez (2-2) got the loss going 1.2 innings and giving up one hit and one unearned run. Henderson went two-for-four at the plate with an RBI for the Buffs and Rodriguez went two-for-three with an RBI.
“We didn’t play well,” Head Coach Matt Vanderburg said. “I thought we pitched well, but we didn’t execute on offense and defense.”
WT struck first in game two of the day in the second when junior David Hebert drove in a run on a ground out and junior Matt Redfearn hit a two-run single. TSU scored two in the fourth and another in the fifth to tie the game 3-3 through five innings. The Texans got a sacrifice fly from Small and WT got an RBI double from Redfearn in the seventh for a 4-4 tie. Senior Parker Wood’s RBI single in the tenth gave the Buffs a 5-4 win in the nightcap.
Senior Andrew Elkins (3-0) got the win pitching one inning of relief with no hits and no runs. Redfearn finished three-for-five with a double and three RBIs. Wood finished game two, two-for-five with an RBI and a run scored.
TSU got first blood in the first game on March 23 when a run scored after Alvaro Moreno hit into a double play. Senior Mitch Tybroski would tie the game with an RBI single in the fourth, but the Texans would plate three runs in the top of the fifth to take a 4-1 lead. An RBI single by Rodriguez would not be enough to rally as WT would lose 6-2.
Senior starter Ryan Houston (2-2) got the loss going five innings and giving up seven hits and four runs, two of which were earned. Tybroski went for one-for-three with an RBI and Rodriguez was one-for-two with an RBI.
TSU started the nightcap with a three-run second, one run in each the third and fourth innings and two in the fifth to take a 7-4 lead over WT when a dust storm caused the game to be suspended for the night with one out in the bottom of the fifth. After play resumed on March 24, the Texans picked up right where they left off scoring two in the sixth to take a 9-4 lead. Trailing 9-5 in the bottom of the ninth, the Buffs got a two-run single from junior catcher Patrick Ramirez but fell short by a 9-7 score.
Junior Joshua Weyker (2-2) took the loss going five innings giving up seven runs on eight hits. Junior Tyler McKnight went two-for-five with three RBIs and two runs scored. Ramirez was one-for-two with two RBIs and a run scored.
“We’ve got to learn how to win in the crucial times of the game,” said Vanderburg.
WT is now 16-11 overall with a 3-5 mark in Lone Star Conference play. The Buffs will next take the field for a big four-game series against LSC-rival Angelo State in San Angelo starting on March 28 at 6:30 p.m.
