CANYON – Tarleton scored first but five unanswered runs were too much to overcome as the Texans fell in the first game of the LSC-opening series to No. 15 West Texas A&M at Wilder Park Friday.
 
The Texans got on the board right away when Landon Thompson plated Landon Merka with an RBI groundout in the top of the first. Merka reached on a walk and moved into scoring position on a wild pitch.
 
After Jacob French held the Buffs scoreless in the first, West Texas A&M scored one in the second, two in the third, one in the fourth, and one final run in the sixth to take a 5-1 lead.
 
Meanwhile, Tarleton got a Garret Kizer single in the second and a Matt Olive single in the eighth, and had its best scoring chance in the fourth when Landon Thompson led off the inning with a single before loading the bases with an error and a walk. The three singles from Kizer, Olive, and Thompson were all of the offense of the night for Tarleton.
 
French tossed the first two innings, allowing a run on two hits and a walk, before giving way to Alex Gagne, who took the loss after allowing two runs on a hit and three walks in one-third of an inning. Cody Nitson, Michael Biasello, and Will Blanchard threw the final 5.2 innings, allowing two total runs on six combined hits. Nitson struck out three in his 2.2 innings.
 
Tarleton and West Texas A&M will return to action tomorrow for a twin bill at 4 p.m.