The Falcons scored at least one run in all but two innings as the University of Texas of the Permian Basin baseball team cruised to a 13-6 win over Texas A&M International to take the Heartland Conference series.
UTPB racked up nine hits, including a pair of doubles by
Chandler Goode, who finished 2-for-3 at the plate with three runs scored and three runs batted in.
Ryan Giacomini also doubled, while
Travis Wilcox hit a solo homer. Goode was one of three players to pick up multiple-hit games.
Like the first two games of the series, the third went back and forth with the teams exchanging runs in the first four innings. The Falcons struck first with a run in the first thanks to an RBI single by
Garrett Wolff plating Goode he led off the game with a walk. The Dustdevils quickly tied the game in their bottom half of the first on a two-out run scoring single.
The trend would continue in the second when Wilcox led off the frame with a solo shot over the left field fence to give the Falcons a 2-1 advantage. UTPB would hold the lead until TAMIU scored two runs in the third to give them a 3-2 edge. Three-straight walks by the Falcons loaded the bases before a single and another walk gave the Dustdevils their first lead of the game.
UTPB bounced back in the top of the fourth to plate two more to give it a 4-3 lead thanks to a wild pitch and an RBI groundout by Wilcox. The lead would not last long as TAMIU took the lead once again with two more in the bottom of the fourth to make it 5-4.
Like the previous four innings, the lead would change once again as the Falcons scored two more to give them a 6-5 edge they would not lose the rest of the way. Wilcox reached after getting hit by a pitch with two outs before Giacomini drove him and
Austin Wooldridge home after a double which proved to be enough for Andrew Buckham and
Daniel Bernal who pitched the final seven innings.
UTPB would tack on a lone run in the sixth before adding two more in the seventh and four in the ninth for good measure.
Kyle Cormier started on the mound for the Falcons, going two innings where he gave up three runs off one hit while Buckham gave up two runs – both unearned while striking out three to pick up the win. Bernal pitched the bottom of the ninth to close it out for UTPB.
The Falcons will return home next weekend as they host the UTPB Classic on Feb. 11-13. The tournament will feature Eastern New Mexico, New Mexico Highlands and Colorado School of Mines.
