UT Permian Basin baseball fell in the series finale against #9 West Texas A&M 11-7 ) in a marathon game that went 12 innings and lasted over five hours at Roden Field in Odessa.
UTPBÂ (4-25, 0-4) jumped out early in the second inning to grab the lead. Chris Ortega was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded for the first run before Dalton Drury scored on a double play. Andrew Donovan drove in Cooper Coe with a two-out single for the 3-0 lead. WT (26-7, 8-0) answered with a Luis Amaro sacrifice fly to make it 3-1. Drury tripled in the sixth and scored on a wild pitch to give the Falcons a 4-1 lead.
Christian Loya would knock in two runs on a single in the seventh to cut the Falcon lead to just one. Drury would double to drive in Mike Fernandez and make it 5-3. WY would score three in the eighth to take the 6-5 lead. Drury would continue his big day with an RBI triple in the ninth to tie the game and send it into extra innings. Both teams would go scoreless in the tenth before Brandon Marrero would double to take the lead.
UTPB would have its best chance to win in the bottom of the eleventh. They loaded the bases with no outs. Coe would knock in a run to tie the game on a fielder's choice. The Falcon's chance would end on a double play. WT would score fourth in the twelfth to take the lead they wouldn't surrender.
Ivan Thomas was brilliant for the Falcons. Over six innings he allowed just four hits while striking out six. He stranded bases loaded in the sixth inning to preserve the lead. Drury had a double and two triples along with a pair of RBI for the Falcons. Donovan went 4-6 with an RBI while Fernandez added three hits while scoring three runs.
Tyler Averitt took the loss for the Falcons to drop to 0-2 while Tate Huebner picked up his first win of the season for the Buffs.
UTPB goes on the road next weekend to take on Cameron in a conference match-up starting Friday.
