Local Sports Headlines – Buffalo Baseball in NCAA Tournament

The No. 3-seed West Texas A&M baseball team opens play in the Regional tournament in San Angelo tonight against No. 4-seed Lubbock Christian.

The Buffs earned their fourth-straight trip to the NCAA South Central Regional last week by winning its second-straight Lone Star Conference Tournament Championship in San Angelo. WT is 35-16 overall this season.  Lubbock Christian is 37-14 on the year and won the Heartland Conference regular season title this season.

– The West Texas A&M women’s golf team opened the Division II National Championship Tournament in Findlay, Ohio with a 312 score and is currently tied for fifth place heading into today’s second round.  Dallas Baptist leads the 12-team field with an opening round 299 on the Findlay Country Club course.

- The Lady Buff softball and WT volleyball teams have announced the addition of new recruits.

Middle infielder “Suka” Van Gurp, a native of Curaçao, and joins the softball team following a stint at Palm Beach State College in Lake Worth, Florida where she was a 2nd Team NJCAA All-American as a freshman while being named the Southern Conference Player of the Year.

Gia Petties joins the Lady Buff volleyball team from St. Thomas Episcopal School in Pearland, Texas where the 6’1 middle blocker was First Team All-State and First Team All-District as a senior as the Saints were the Texas 4A State Runner-Up. Petties was a three-time All-State selection

- WT men’s soccer team has announced the 2017 schedule. WT will open the season on the road with a trip to Colorado in the first week of September with matches against Colorado Christian on Sept. 1 and Colorado State-Pueblo on Sept. 3. The Buffs open Heartland Conference play with rival Midwestern State on Thursday, Sept. 14.

-- The historic season of the Canyon High softball team continues with the Regional Semifinals over the next three days. Canyon faces defending state champion Birdville, starting tonight at 7:30 p.m. in Hermleigh. Game two will be tomorrow night at 6 p.m. with game three in needed, on Saturday. Canyon was eliminated by Birdville last season in the playoffs.

- A big contingent of Texas Panhandle players open play today at the UIL State tennis tournament in College Station today.  Among the local competitors from are Tascosa’s Rebecca Ritchie/Avery Zavala in 6A mixed doubles, Amarillo High’s Rajiv Saralaya in 5A boys singles, and Josh Williams/Brailey McMinn of Randall in mixed doubles.  Other area schools with players at state include Borger, Tulia, Happy and Nazareth.

- Andrew Cashner won his first game for the Texas Rangers. Cashner pitched seven solid innings to help the Rangers match the longest winning streak in the majors this year at eight games with a 9-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday night.

- Lance McCullers paid tribute to the late Jose Fernandez and the Houston Astros beat the Miami Marlins 3-0 Wednesday afternoon to complete a three-game sweep.

McCullers wore cleats with Fernandez's initials and uniform number. Their friendship began when they were high school pitchers in the Tampa area, before Fernandez became the Marlins' ace and then died in a boating accident last September.

- The NBA’s Eastern Conference final started last night with defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers downing the Celtics 117-104 in Boston.