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West Texas A&M (14-8, 14-8) vs. Sul Ross State (1-21, 1-21)


Game 1
Friday, March 13 at 3:00 p.m.


Game 2 & 3
Saturday, March 14 at 1:00 p.m. (DH)


Game 4
Sunday, March 15 at 12:00 p.m.


Location
Alpine, Texas | Kokernot Field


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Game Notes

CANYON, Texas – The Buffaloes of West Texas A&M hit the road for Lone Star Conference action this weekend as they travel to Alpine, Texas for a four-game series with the Sul Ross State Lobos beginning on Friday afternoon at Kokernot Field.
 
A LOOK AT THE LOBOS

Sul Ross State enters the weekend with an overall record of 1-21 with an identical mark in Lone Star Conference action during the program’s second season inside of NCAA Division II. The Lobos are 0-11 this season at Kokernot Field with series sweeps at the hands of St. Mary’s, Angelo State and Texas A&M-Kingsville. Last weekend saw the Lobos drop a four-game series at St. Edward’s by a combined score of 52-17 to extend their losing skid to 17 games.
 
The Lobos are hitting .262 on the season with 138 runs scored on 177 hits with 35 doubles, one triple and 27 homeruns to drive in 123 RBI for a slugging percentage of .436. Leo Salas is leading the way at the plate for the Lobos as the junior from Haltom City, Texas is hitting .398 with nine doubles and six homeruns to drive in 20 RBI for a slugging clip of .723 to go along with 10 walks and seven strikeouts while stealing three bases.
 
SRSU has struggled on the mound so far this season as they enter the weekend with a team ERA of 13.58, allowing 294 runs (252 earned) on 297 hits with 125 walks and 126 strikeouts during their 167.0 innings for an opposing batting average of .394. Potential game three starter Isaac Lopez is 0-4 on the year with a 6.75 ERA as the junior left-hander from Fort Worth has allowed 30 runs (24 earned) on 40 hits with 10 walks and 26 strikeouts in his 32.0 innings of work.
 
SRSU HEAD COACH CALEB ABNEY
Caleb Abney is in his second season as the head coach of the Sul Ross State baseball program. Abney spent two years as the head coach at Lancaster Bible College (DIII), in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Abney played collegiately at Covenant College (2008-11).
 
SERIES HISTORY
The Buffaloes hold a 11-4 advantage in the all-time series with Sul Ross State dating back to 2006. The first 11 meetings of the series have taken place in Alpine with WT going 7-4 at Kokernot field with trips in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. Last year saw the Buffaloes outscore the Lobos 60-11 in a WT series sweep at Wilder Park in Canyon.
 
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
Pittsburg State claimed 11 of the possible 20 first place votes to move atop of the National Collegiate Baseball Writer’s Association (NCBWA) Division II Top-25 announced on Wednesday afternoon. Tampa picked up six first place votes for 480 points to sit second followed by North Greenville (three first place, 462), Colorado Mesa (443), Grand Valley State (400), Catawba (385), Central Missouri (379), Point Loma (372), West Alabama (340) and Young Harris (289) to round out the top ten.
 
The South Central Region was represented by Colorado Mesa (4th), Angelo State (13th), UT Tyler (17th) and St. Edward’s (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 six weekends in and two teams are atop the standings at 16-6: No. 9 UT Tyler and No. 16 Angelo State.
 
St. Edward’s (15-6) is the league’s hottest team, having won six straight games – including two over UT Tyler. In addition to SEU (vs. Sul Ross State), new league member UT Dallas also had a four-game series sweep last week (against Cameron). TAMUK leads the league in hitting (.341), while ASU is tops in pitching (4.04 ERA). New league member UT Dallas owns the top fielding percentage (.969).
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