COLLEGE SPORTS ROUNDUP: Lady Buffs earn eighth seed in South Central Regional Championship
CANYON — For the 28th time in program history, West Texas A&M has been selected to compete for a NCAA Division II National Championship.
The Lady Buffs will be the eighth seed in next weekend's South Central Regional Championship in San Angelo, Texas. Angelo State will serve as the top seed and the regional host following a 63-63 come-from-behind victory Sunday over Texas Woman’s on Sunday in the LSC Championship in Frisco — claiming the league's automatic bid into the postseason. The Pioneers earned the second seed followed by Regis, Colorado School of Mines, UT Tyler, Black Hills State, Lubbock Christian and WT. The Lady Buffs (21-10) will take on the Belles in the quarterfinal round on Friday at a time to be determined. Saturday evening will see a pair of semifinal matchups with the Regional Title game taking place on Monday evening. WT head coach Josh Prock has guided the Lady Buffs to an overall mark of 47-21 during his two seasons in Canyon, including a run to last year's South Central Regional Title and an appearance in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight.
WT men’s basketball
CANYON — During the NCAA Men's Basketball Selection Show, the Buffs received the No. 1 seed for the South Central Regional Tournament. Along with the top seed, WT earned the right to host the regional bracket at the First United Bank Center. The Buffs (25-6) won the Lone Star Conference Tournament Championship in dramatic fashion as Zach Toussaint hit a game-winning, pull-up jump shot from the elbow with less than three seconds to play en route to a 64-63 win over Angelo State on Sunday. It marked WT’s sixth consecutive tournament title and 12th overall, which earned the program the LSC's automatic qualifier spot for the national tournament. WT takes on the eighth-seeded Texas A&M-Kingsville in the first-round, while Fort Lewis drew the No. 2 seed and will face the No. 7 seed, Lubbock Christian. Third-seeded Colorado School of Mines starts their NCAA tournament against the sixth-seed, Black Hills State. Angelo State and Colorado Mesa will meet in the No. 4 vs. No. 5 matchup. The regional tournament starts on Saturday with four games. On March 12, the semifinals will take place. The winners of both semifinal games will move on to the regional championship on Tuesday.
WT baseball
CANYON — Adam Becker recorded three homeruns and drove in nine RBI as the Buffs clinched the Lone Star Conference series finale against the Eastern New Mexico Greyhounds on Sunday afternoon at Wilder Park.
The Buffs jumped out to an early lead in the home half of the first as Becker doubled to the gap in left center to drive in a pair followed by an RBI double from Evan Leibl and a two-run triple by Kory Schmidt off of the center field wall for the 5-0 lead.
WT (12-6, 10-6) added to their lead in the second as Becker crushed a two-run homerun down the left field line for the 7-0 lead. The Hounds responded in the top of the third with a big inning of their own highlighted by two long balls for the 8-7 lead. The Buffs retook the lead in the fourth as Becker lifted his second homerun of the game the other way to right field for the 9-8 lead. Eastern used their own long ball by Camden Matthews in the fifth to retake the lead before an Leibl solo shot to right in the home half to tie it up at 10-10. WT took the lead again in the sixth as they plated 12 runs on 11 hits highlighted by homeruns from Becker, Leibl and Schmidt for the 22-10 lead. The Hounds wouldn't go down without a fight as they kept the game alive with four runs in the top of the seventh to make it 22-14. ENMU cut into the lead again in the top of the eighth as an errant pickoff attempt by WT led to a Matthews fielder's choice RBI groundout to make it 22-15. The Hounds used another long ball in the top of the ninth to cut the lead to 22-16. Becker became just the seventh Buff in history to hit three homeruns in a single game, the first since Brian Schupp against at Sul Ross State on Feb. 9, 2008. The senior from Midland also finished the game with nine RBI which is just one shy of the single-game school record set by Kyle Kaufman against UT Permian Basin in 2019. Reese Miller picked up the win (2-1) for the Buffs, allowing seven earned runs on seven hits with three walks and four strikeouts in his 4.0 innings of relief.
WT is slated to begin a four-game road series against Cameron, starting with a 3 p.m. Friday contest at McCord Field in Lawton, Oklahoma.
WT men’s golf
FORT SMITH, Ark. — The Buffs continue their spring schedule on Monday and Tuesday as they take part in the Hardscrabble Invitational hosted by the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith at Hardscrabble Country Club (Par 70, 6,783 Yards). The eight-team field features the host Lions along with Midwestern State, Henderson State, Central Oklahoma, Northwestern Oklahoma State, Fort Hays State, Southeastern Oklahoma State and WT. The Buffs are matched up with Midwestern State and Arkansas-Fort Smith during the opening two rounds on Monday followed by Tuesday's final rounds. Monday's opening round is set for an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start. Round 1 Tee TimesHole #1 – 8:30 a.m. – Luis Palomo (WT) / Garrett Leek (MSU) / Andrew Fakult (UAFS)Hole #2 – 8:30 a.m. – Connor Kurysh (WT) / Jake Leatherwood (MSU) / Ryan Bell (UAFS)Hole #3 – 8:30 a.m. – Daniel Unger (WT) / Mason Mikeska (MSU) / Jaden Chavez (UAFS)Hole #4 – 8:30 a.m. – Santiago Caride (WT) / Keaton Dickens (MSU) / Preston Green (UAFS)Hole #5 – 8:30 a.m. – Pablo Rebolleda (WT) / Seth Bearden (MSU) / Lucky Boonsrirat (UAFS)Hole #11A– 8:30 a.m. – Erik Strömfelt (WT) / Parker Krob (FHSU) / Matthew Voth (NWOSU)Hole #12 – 8:30 a.m. – Josh Roche (WT) / Tanner Copeland (FHSU) / Keenan Hofstad (NWOSU)
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: COLLEGE SPORTS ROUNDUP: Lady Buffs earn eighth seed in South Central Regional Championship In San Angelo
