The formula was pretty cut and dry for the WTAMU baseball team coming into their series with Tarleton on April 29-30 at Wilder Park. For the Buffs to make the LSC tournament, they had to have a sweep of the #22 ranked Texans.
Game one proved to be nothing short of a slugfest. In the first inning, senior Garrett Campfield hit a two-run homerun that was part of a six run inning for the Buffs. WT led 6-1 after one complete. After TSU got a run back in the top of the second, junior Jordan Easom hit a two run homer in the bottom of the third to make it an 8-2 game. Easom struck again in the fourth with a solo homerun as part of a four run inning that saw the Buffs lead 12-3.
TSU cut the lead down to six in the top of the sixth with three more runs to make it 12-6. But, WT answered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning to extend the lead to 14-6. Things got a little tense when TSU scored two runs in the top of the seventh and eighth, but the Buffs held their nerve and eventually came away with a 15-11 victory.
Easom finished the day with four RBI followed by senior Will Miller and junior Bryce Baugh with three RBI each.
Junior Justin Kuks got the victory pitching on the mound for the Buffs (8-5). He gave up six runs on seven hits with five strikeouts in 6.0 innings of work.
In the second game of the series, WT’s worst fears came to pass as a six run third inning was too much to overcome as TSU claimed an 8-5 victory and ended the Buffs hopes of qualifying for the LSC tournament.
Junior Irving Camacho was tagged with the loss for the Buffs (6-4). He gave up six runs on nine hits with three strikeouts in 3.0 innings of work.
Despite a three run homerun by senior Will Miller in the series finale, it wasn’t enough as the Texans claimed the series with another 8-5 victory.
Junior Casey Lish got the loss on the mound (3-5). He gave up two runs on two hits in 1.0 i•nings of work.
WT finishes the season 30-19 overall. This is the fourth time in program history the Buffs have won 30 games and the first time since 2002.
The Buffs will graduate nine seniors from this squad which include Brad Elders, Trey Horn, Will Miller, Mike De Long, Josh Cordova, Tyler Reagan, Garrett Campfield, Jonathan Paez, and Richard Glenn.