ODESSA, Texas (February 8, 2025) – After earning a walk-off win the day before in its home opener, the first doubleheader on Roden Field this season did not go as planned for The University of Texas Permian Basin baseball team, which fell by scores of 7-3 and 10-5 against Texas A&M International University on Saturday.
 
Game 1 (UTPB 3, TAMIU 7):

• TAMIU led off the game with a walk and followed with back-to-back doubles in what was a two-run top of the first inning.
• UTPB got on the board in the bottom half as Kaleb Scull led off with a single to right field, stole second base and later scored on a sacrifice fly to center field by Carson Johnson to cut the Dustdevils' lead in half (2-1).
• After the second of the back-to-back doubles against him in the first inning, Trevor Barth (0-2) sent down the next nine batters he faced and tossed 1-2-3 second and third innings and added a scoreless top of the fourth inning.
• After leaving a runner in scoring position in the second and third innings, the Falcons tied it at 2-2 in the bottom of the fourth as Taylor McDaniel led off with a single to left field, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Makai DeSoto and then scored on a single up the middle by Bode Stewart.
• Unfortunately, in the top of the fifth, a leadoff error at second base was followed by a two-run home run to left field by Joseph Rodriguez to give the Dustdevils another two-run lead (4-2).
• UTPB got a run back in the bottom of the sixth when McDaniel led off with a triple to right field and scored two batters later on an RBI-single to left by Stewart.
• Despite leaving a runner in scoring position for the fourth time in the first six innings, heading into the seventh inning UTPB looked poised to put itself into position to try and earn a walkoff win like it had the day before.
• However, it was not meant to be as Barth was replaced on the mound, and the Dustdevils went right after the new pitcher, Jaden Loggins, with a leadoff double to left field before Loggins made an error on a sacrifice bunt to end his day. The new pitcher, Bryan Adams, hit his first batter to load the bases with nobody out, and a sacrifice fly was followed by a gut-wrenching two-run double to left field to break the game open. Samuel Skipper would come in to get a strikeout and a flyout to finally get the Falcons out of the inning.
• In the bottom half of the seventh, a one-out single through the right side by Jack Haggerty was erased on a game-ending 6-4 groundball double play.
• Stewart was 3-for-3 with two RBI's, McDaniel was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a triple, and Haggerty was 2-for-4.
• Barth finished with six innings pitched allowing four hits, four total runs, three earned runs, three walks and four strikeouts.
• For TAMIU, Lalo Salinas (1-0) threw the complete game and allowed nine hits, three runs, one walk and six strikeouts.
• UTPB outhit TAMIU 9-6, but TAMIU finished with four doubles and a home run and earned the win in the stat that counted the most.

 
Game 2 (UTPB 5, TAMIU 10):

• TAMIU kept its foot on the gas, led 14-11 in hits, and started off the game with a leadoff home run to left center field by Rodriguez. That was followed by a double, an RBI-single and a hit by pitch, and then a one-out walk loaded the bases. Back-to-back two-out RBI-hits made it a five-run top of the first inning for the Dustdevils and chased UTPB's starting pitcher, Timmy LaChappa (0-2).
• UTPB left the bases loaded in the bottom of the first, and then TAMIU later made it 7-0 with a two-out, two-run single to right field in the top of the third.
• UTPB got on the board in the bottom of the third as Haggerty singled to left field with one out and later came around on a single to center by Brent Rigtrup.
• Relief pitcher Conner Clark retired the first seven batters he faced and tossed 1-2-3 fourth and fifth innings, and then in the bottom of the fifth, UTPB began to try to chip away at its 7-1 deficit. Haggerty smacked a one-out double down the left field line, Johnson singled to right field, and Rigtrup brought them both home with a two-run double to left field.
• Unfortunately, UTPB would strand runners at the corners, and then down 8-3 in the bottom of the sixth, the Falcons got a sacrifice fly by Haggerty and another RBI by Rigtrup on a single up the middle, but could get no closer as they left runners on the corners for the second inning in a row.
• TAMIU would add two more runs to its ledger in the top of the seventh while in the bottom half, UTPB loaded the bases with just one out before a 4-6-3 double play, the second game-ending double play of the day for the Dustdevils.
• In the end, the Falcons left 11 runners on base.
• Rigtrup finished 3-for-4 with four RBI's and a double and Haggerty was 2-for-2 with two runs scored, a double and a walk.

 
Team Records:

• UTPB falls to 1-6 both overall and in the Lone Star Conference while TAMIU improves to 4-3 in both categories.

 
Coach's Quote:

• "As stated yesterday, TAMIU is scrappy enough to make you pay for mistakes, and that is what they did," said UTPB Head Coach Justin Phillips. "We have to pitch well after we score. We have to extend the lead when we get stops. We did not do either of those today."

 
Next Up: The fourth and final game of the series between UTPB and TAMIU will start at 12 p.m. on Sunday, February 9, from Roden Field. It is also Super Bowl Sunday.