The University of Texas of the Permian Basin dropped the first two games of its three game series against Arkansas-Fort Smith Friday afternoon in a pair of 7-3 and 2-1 losses at Roden Field in Odessa, Texas.
UTPB took an early lead in game one, scoring the first run of the day on a ground ball by
Jordyn Van Atta where the Lions got a force out at second as
Tyler Forney scored from third. A base hit by
Tanor Tinley that followed scored
Neil Madsen to put the Falcons up 2-0.
UAFS added a single run in each of the second and third innings, and a three-run fourth inning featuring a single to center by Dax Dupire that drove in a pair led to the Lions taking a 5-2 advantage.
Tinley drove in another run in the fifth, scoring Van Atta on a double off the wall in left where he advanced to third as the ball was bobbled to cut the lead to 5-3.
Arkansas-Fort Smith doubled its lead in the seventh with an RBI single to right and a sac bunt for the 7-3 win.
Neil Smith took the win for UAFS, giving up a pair of earned runs off of five hits and six walks while striking out eight in six innings.
Nick Duffield was saddled with the loss for UTPB. He was charged with four earned runs in 3.1 innings.
The Lions scored the first two runs of game two, taking the lead in the top of the third behind an RBI double down the line to left by Kyle Dickens. They added another run in the fifth on a Koby Chadick single into center that put them ahead 2-0.
Trey Cochran grabbed a run back in the sixth, hitting his second home run to left to trail 2-1.
UTPB straned a pair of runners in the seventh when
Ozzie Bueno and Forney each singled with two outs in the inning, but were left stranded on a fly ball to center. They were the last runners on base as the Falcons went down in order in the eighth and ninth.
Brandon Taylor went the distance for Arkansas-Fort Smith on the mound, allowing one run off of eight hits while walking none and striking out six.
Jacob Ricossa took the loss for the Falcons, giving up a pair of runs in just his third start of the season.
The teams meet back up tomorrow for a pair of games, playing a scheduled conference contest at 1 p.m. followed by an added non-conference game.
