CANYON, Tex. – The Regis University baseball team (2-4) surrendered multiple runs in three innings against No. 10 West Texas A&M University (11-1) in a 9-5 loss on Sunday afternoon.
 
How It Happened: Sophomore Marcus Salvato reached base via a walk to lead-off the game. The next batter up, senior Mickey Meinhofer, laid down a SAC bunt in attempt to move Salvato into scoring position. However, the Buffs pitcher, who fielded the SAC bunt, committed a throwing error that allowed both Salvato and Meinhofer to get into scoring position.
 
Senior Connor Rochon grounded out to the second baseman, but he was able to send Salvato home by putting the ball in play. Junior Coby Zimmerman followed with a SAC fly to right-field, scoring Meinhofer and giving Regis a 2-0 first inning advantage.
 
West Texas loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the second inning, but junior pitcher Kendrick Catron was able to get out of the bases jammed situation with just one run scoring.
 
The Buffs went on to take a 4-2 lead after scoring three runs on two hits and an error in the third inning. The Rangers were able to score one run in the next two innings to even the score at four apiece.
 
M. Salvato got on the base path with an infield single in the fifth inning. He came around to score when Rochon singled up the middle. Two doubles, by senior Logan Heflebower and junior Kennedy Phillips, resulted in another run in the top of the sixth inning, tying the score at four.
 
RU found themselves trailing 7-4 after allowing three runs on two hits and an error in the bottom of the sixth inning.
 
Zimmerman was 90 feet from scoring a run in the seventh inning, but the Buffs retired the side before he was able to do so. Junior Ryan Tierney singled up the middle to begin the eighth inning before advancing to second when sophomore Thomas Alexander walked. With two outs in the frame, M. Salvato singled to left-center to push Tierney home and close the gap, 7-5.
 
Regis found themselves down 9-5 and just three outs to work with after West Texas extended their lead with two more runs in the bottom of the eighth. The Rangers fell 9-5 after going three-up, three-down in the top of the ninth.  
 
Game Notes: The lead-off batter, M. Salvato (3-4, 1 RBI), was the only Ranger with three hits on the day. Meinhofer (2-1) and Heflebower (2-5, 2 2B) were the only other RU players with multiple hits. Regis tallied 11 total hits compared to the Buffs' 10.
 
There were 15 total players left on base, nine Rangers and six Buffs. Both teams were rung up for two errors.
 
Junior Jordon Wyke (0-1) was given his first loss of the season after pitching 2.2 innings. He faced 10 batters and allowed two runs on one hit.
 
Up Next for the Rangers: Weather permitting, the Regis University baseball team will host Montana State University Billings on Tuesday, February 19 at 2 p.m. They will then travel to Wichita, Kansas for a three-game series against Newman University set to begin on Friday, February 22 at 2 p.m.