April 24, 2006

The West Texas A&M University baseball team looks to improve on its four game winning streak on Tuesday afternoon, April 25, with a nine inning contest against Oklahoma Panhandle State University. The 24-25 Buffs swept Tarleton State to keep their playoff hopes alive and will meet the 5-41 Aggies at Goodwell, Okla. OPSU took a 15-13 win from WTAMU in their only meeting this season, a March 28 game at Potter County Memorial Stadium.

Sophomore center fielder Justin Graham tops the Buffs at the plate with a .380 batting average, with five doubles, two triples and 20 RBI. RBI leaders sophomores Brady Ribinskas and Brian Schupp, designated hitter and third baseman respectively, have 32 apiece and are both close to a .400 on base percentage. Schupp posts a .309 batting average with a team high three triples and is tied for second in home runs with four. Ribinskas leads the team with six home runs and boasts an average of .305 in 34 games. After picking up his third win of the season in the second of the four game series against Tarleton over the weekend, sophomore southpaw Jessie Rodriguez leads the starting pitchers with a 5.64 ERA, as well as in innings pitched (75.0), strikeouts (57), and starts (13). Freshman Ruben Batista brings a 6.81 ERA into the game with a 4-5 record over 12 starts, including 70.0 innings pitched.

The Aggies boast only two players with batting averages over .300, including offensive leader David Pierson, whose 10 doubles, three homers and 31 RBI tops the team. JeCorey Matthews boasts a .355 average with a team high 40 hits. Starting pitcher Brian Dlugosch leads OPSU in ERA with 5.17 over 47.0 innings, while Ricky Reagan's 6.22 is second on the team and his 76.2 innings thrown, 63 strikeouts and 12 starts top the Aggies' staff.

The Buffs round out their 2006 campaign with a four game series at Lone Star Conference South leaders Abilene Christian University on Friday, April 28 and Saturday, April 29 at Abilene.

-WT-