ODESSA, Texas (February 7, 2025) – Looking for its first win of the season, UT Permian Basin baseball got it thanks to a walk-off two-run single in the bottom of the ninth inning by Carson Johnson, sending the Falcons to a 4-3 victory over Texas A&M International University on Friday in the 2025 home opener at Roden Field.

Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the ninth inning against the Dustdevils' closer, Kamron Snodgrass (0-1), UTPB saw freshman Andrew Prado lead off with a walk and advance to second on a wild pitch.

Then with one out, a walk by Kaleb Scull put the winning-run on base.

Jack Haggerty would follow with a grounder to first base, but an errant throw by the TAMIU first baseman trying to get Scull at second base instead made it bases loaded still with just one out for Johnson.

That chased Snodgrass as the Dustdevils brought in a new pitcher, Billy Winans, to face Johnson.

Johnson would get to a 2-2 count before grounding it through the hole between the first and second baseman, and after Prado scored from third, Scull came racing around for the winning run as the throw from the right fielder was out of reach for the cutoff man.

In addition to the game-winning hit, Johnson was responsible for half of UTPB's four hits in the game.

Haggerty (2 walks, 1 hit by pitch), Scull (1 hit, 1 walk) and Brent Rigtrup (1 walk, 1 hit by pitch) would each reach base multiple times as well.

Earning the start on the hill for the Falcons was freshman Damian Robles, who tossed eight innings in his debut and allowed nine hits, three total runs, just one earned run, and had one walk.

The UTPB defense turned four double plays behind Robles, including groundball double plays in the first two innings. In the bottom of the fifth, Rigtrup caught a runner trying to steal third base to end the inning.

The first inning where Robles ran into trouble on the scoreboard was the top of the third when a leadoff error at short led to a pair of unearned runs to tie the score at 2-2.

In the eighth inning, a one-out triple that was just out of reach of the glove of Taylor McDaniel at first base came back to bite the Falcons as the Dustdevils followed with an RBI-single to take the 3-2 lead.

Brock Robarts (1-1) would keep the Dustdevils off the scoreboard in the top of the ninth inning to give the Falcons a chance to tie it or steal the win in the bottom half.

UTPB Head Coach Justin Phillips had this to say after earning his first-career win as a collegiate head coach, "Robles really pitched well. He made some big pitches in clutch spots. Johnson was the senior leader we needed him to be. We finally put together some consistent innings allowing us to stay in the game. TAMIU is a scrappy team and we have to find a way to shut down their momentum going forward."

Games two and three of the series against Texas A&M International will be at 12 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively, on Saturday, February 8, from Roden Field.