LAWTON, Okla. (March 16, 2025) – Looking to finish off its first series win of the 2025 season, The University of Texas Permian Basin baseball team led 6-1 early on and then trailed 8-6 halfway through before scoring seven runs over the final three innings to pull out the 13-8 win at Cameron University.

Both teams scored a run with two outs in the first inning. Then after back-to-back hit by pitches with two outs by Brent Rigtrup and Makai DeSoto in the top of the third inning and a passed ball to move them both into scoring position, Wiki DeLeon brought both runners home with a two-run single to right center field to give the Falcons their second lead of the game (3-1).

After starting pitcher Damian Robles gave up a double and an RBI-triple with two outs in the bottom of the first inning, he settled down and tossed a 1-2-3 second inning and pitched a scoreless third inning.

UTPB expanded its lead to 6-1 after a two-out, three-run home run in the top of the fourth inning by Rigtrup. However, in the next two innings for Cameron, Robles allowed an unearned run in the bottom of the fourth inning before getting a groundball double play to get out of the inning, and then he was tagged with a two-out, three-run homer as well in the fifth inning, pulling the Aggies to within one run (6-5).

A two-run single up the middle by Cameron in the bottom of the sixth gave the Aggies the lead (7-6) and put an end to Robles' afternoon, and then an RBI-double against the new UTPB pitcher gave Cameron its second-straight three-run inning to go along with an 8-6 lead.

Fortunately, the Falcons were able to throw out a runner at home on the RBI-double in the bottom of the sixth, preventing another run. Then after back-to-back walks by Carson Johnson and Rigtrup to start off the top of the seventh, Taylor McDaniel came through with a two-out RBI-single through the left side to score Johnson and pull UTPB to within one (8-7).

Jackson Markwood (1-0) worked around a two-out error and kept it at one-score game after pitching a scoreless bottom of the seventh inning, and the Falcons capitalized in the top of the eighth, getting an RBI-single through the left side by Jack Haggerty to tie the game and an RBI-single to right center by Johnson to give UTPB back the lead (9-8). Those were the only two hits of the four-run eighth inning for the Falcons as Haggerty would score on a wild pitch and Johnson scored on an error by the Aggies' catcher.

Markwood worked around a two-out walk to pitch a scoreless bottom of the eighth, his second scoreless inning in a row, and then Kaleb Scull added some insurance with a two-out, two-run homer to left center field in the top of the ninth.

Bryan Adams came out to finish off the final inning for the second game in a row, and got a swinging strikeout for the first out, followed by a one-out walk, a called strike three and then a flyout to center field to end it.

For the third game in row, the UTPB bullpen did not allow a run, a stretch spanning 6.1 innings over the last three contests.

Scull was 2-for-6 with four runs scored and a two-run home run. Johnson was next with three runs scored and brought home Scull with an RBI-single for the go-ahead run in the eighth inning.

In all for the series, Rigtrup hit .417 (5-12) with two doubles and a home run and led the team with nine RBI's and four walks. Johnson hit .400 (6-15) with six runs scored while Scull led the squad with seven runs.

With its first series win of the season under its belt, UTPB improves to 8-20 both overall and in the Lone Star Conference. Cameron falls to 6-18 both overall and in the LSC.

UTPB Head Coach Justin Phillips said, "This was a good weekend of us playing together as a team. There was always someone else ready to pick up a teammate if needed. It was great to see our guys pitch well enough to give us a chance to win. This was a good team weekend, and we need to keep building on it."

After a week off next week, UT Permian Basin returns home the following week to host Sul Ross State University in a single nonconference game starting at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, March 25. Then the Falcons will have a huge series against No. 4-ranked The University of Texas at Tyler over the weekend (Mar. 28-30) at Roden Field.