The University of Texas Permian Basin took a small lead, fell behind substantially, and then clawed its way back into contention during the middle innings on Friday afternoon against Oklahoma Christian University.
Christian Cornelius kept the Falcons in contention with three shutout innings in the opening game of a Lone Star Conference weekend series at Dobson Field in Edmund.
The teams will meet again in a pair of seven-inning games on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday. Sunday's nine-inning series finale begins at 1 p.m.
Falcon pitching struggled bottom of the inning when Oklahoma Christian scored seven runs without a base hit. The Eagles then scored three runs in the bottom of the second.Â
Precision fielding by the Falcons allowed them to hold Oklahoma Christian scoreless in the home half of third inning. With one out and a runner on first, second baseman
Mario Pena field a grounder and threw for the force out at second to shortstop Clapperton -- who compiled the double play with a strike to Godina at first.
UT Permian Basin cut lead in half by registering three runs in the top of the fourth. After Johnson was hit by a pitch, he advanced to third on
Easley De La Cruz's double down the right field line and scored on
Gabriel Melendez's single to left. De La Cruz scored on Thornton's single to left and Melendez then came in on Godina's single to left. At this point in the game, the Falcons had out-hit the Eagles by an 8-3 count but trailed 10-5 on the scoreboard.
Cornelius, the Falcons' third pitcher of the game, worked himself out of a jam in the Eagle half of the fourth. After allowing the first two baserunners to reach second and third, Cornelius got the second out on an infield grounder and enticed the last batter to strike out swinging to end the inning.
The Falcons' comeback effort continued in the top of the fifth when Astacio led off with a triple to right center and scored when Pena grounded out to third, closing Oklahoma Christian's lead to 10-6.
Three fifth-inning runs, two scored on bases-loaded walks, stretched the Eagles' lead to seven runs. Then two runs in the eighth inning gave Oklahoma Christian a 15-6 victory.
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