LAWTON, Okla. (March 14, 2025) – The University of Texas Permian Basin baseball team lead 5-0 after a fourth-inning grand slam by Makai DeSoto, but could not hold onto the lead after nine straight runs highlighted by a six-run sixth inning by Cameron University in a 17-7 eight-inning win by the Aggies on Friday night.

A leadoff single up the middle by Kaleb Scull was erased by a double play to end the top of the first inning, and then UTPB (5-20 overall, 5-20 Lone Star Conference) was also unable to take advantage of a leadoff double to left field by Brent Rigtrup in the top of the second.

Trevor Barth, meanwhile, struck out the first two batters of the game for Cameron (6-16, 6-15), pitched a 1-2-3 first inning and got two more strikeouts in the second inning. His fifth strikeout of the game stranded a runner at third base in the bottom of the third inning.

UTPB broke through in the top of the fourth when after a leadoff hit by pitch by Jack Haggerty, a one-out walk by Rigtrup and a two-out walk by Taylor McDaniel led to an RBI-hit by pitch on an 0-2 count by Jarren Lewis.

One at bat later and facing a 2-2 count, DeSoto fouled off a couple of pitches to stay alive and then smashed a grand slam home run to right field. It was DeSoto's team-leading fourth home run of the season, was his second series in a row with a grand slam, and was the Falcons' third series in a row with a grand slam.

Cameron answered quickly with a three-run home run to left field coming on a 3-2 count with nobody out in the bottom of the fourth. Then after back-to-back walks to put the tying run on base, Barth was finally able to get a flyout followed by a double play to get out of the inning.

UTPB left runners at the corners in the fifth inning after a two-out triple to right center field by Carson Johnson and a walk by Rigtrup, his third time on base in three opportunities. Then after the Aggies put runners at the corners with nobody out in the bottom half of the fifth after a leadoff double and a single, Barth dug down deep and got a swing-and-a-miss strike three for the first out, followed by another swing and a miss on a 3-2 count for the third out.

Barth had seven strikeouts through five innings, but in the bottom of the sixth, however, Barth was not quite as fortunate as two batters after issuing a leadoff walk, a first-pitch two-run home run to left field tied the game at 5-5.

Another walk and a two-out double put two runners in scoring position for the Aggies, and after a nice snag by Rigtrup on a high pitch to prevent a potential wild pitch, a wild throw from second base trying to get the final out of the inning instead allowed two more runs to score and gave Cameron the lead.

In the end, Barth was unable to get out of the sixth inning after his sixth walk of the game, and then a walk, a passed ball and a balk by his replacement allowed two more runs to score.

UTPB tried to answer back in the seventh as Haggerty drew his second hit by pitch of the game and then just barely slid into second base safely on a single to right field by Johnson. Later with the bases loaded and two outs, the Falcons scored a pair of runs on an error at shortstop followed by a wild pitch, but saw another runner get caught in a rundown between third base and home plate after trying to get greedy on the wild pitch. That made it 9-7 heading into the bottom of the seventh, but Cameron got both runs back after a leadoff single, a walk and an RBI-single to get the inning started.

Cameron's second six-run inning of the game came in the eighth to put an end to the contest. The Aggies scored six runs on three hits in the sixth and then had six runs on just two hits in the eighth. In all, the UTPB pitching staff gave up 17 runs on 13 hits and issued 15 free passes in the game.

Games two and three of the series at Cameron will be at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., respectively, on Saturday, March 15, from McCord Field.