SAN ANTONIO, Texas (April 19, 2025) – It was a pitchers' duel through four innings, and senior starting pitcher Trevor Barth was able to keep it going throughout as he pitched all nine innings and led The University of Texas Permian Basin baseball team to an 8-4 win at St. Mary's University in the final road game of the season for the Falcons.

Barth (3-8) finished with 128 pitches while allowing 10 hits, four runs, five walks and three strikeouts. It was Barth's first nine-inning complete game in three seasons as a Falcon, was his second complete game of the season, and was his first complete-game victory of the year. In addition, his defense was able to turn four double plays to get him out of trouble several times.

Barth retired the first five batters he faced in just 15 pitches while left fielder Jack Haggerty robbed the Rattlers of extra bases with a great catch out near the warning track for the first out of the bottom of the second inning.

"It was definitely the best catch of my career," said Haggerty after the game.

Barth got a 6-4-3 double play to erase a leadoff walk in the bottom of the third inning and left two runners on base in both the second and the third innings en route to getting through three scoreless innings.

UTPB broke up the scoring drought in the fourth inning as Carson Johnson led off with a single through the left side and Brent Rigtrup followed with a single to left field to put two runners on with nobody out. A fielding error by the Rattler's third baseman on a sacrifice bunt attempt by Dayton Osborn loaded the bases still with nobody out in the inning, and after the Rattlers got the first out of the inning with a fielder's choice from the pitcher to home plate, Makai DeSoto laced a hard-hit single just under the glove of the third baseman and through the left side to score Rigtrup.

However, the Falcons could have done more damage if not for the Rattlers' defense stepping up and getting a 5-2-3 groundball double play to end the inning. After all of the action, UTPB only got one run on three hits in the top of the fourth inning.

Barth followed with a 1-2-3 bottom of the fourth inning, his second 1-2-3 inning of the game and fourth scoreless inning to start.

UTPB scored two runs before recording a hit in the fifth inning as Andrew Prado drew a leadoff walk, and then with one out, a walk by Haggerty and a hit by pitch by Johnson loaded the bases before back-to-back RBI-walks by Rigtrup and Osborn.

Taylor McDaniel then greeted the new StMU pitcher with a first-pitch line drive single to center field to score Johnson and make it a 4-0 Falcons' lead.

However, the Rattlers were able to end the inning again with the bases loaded thanks to a double play for the second inning in a row, this time of the more traditional 6-4-3 variety and again preventing potential further damage by the Falcons.

StMU then got into the game offensively in the bottom of the fifth, hitting a single, a double and a triple to start off what was a three-run inning for the Rattlers. The final run of the inning came on a sacrifice fly to center field after Prado nearly lost the ball in the wind but stayed with it to just barley hang on for the catch.

After making the catch that ultimately helped UTPB cling to a one-run lead (4-3) after five innings, Prado hit his first-career home run with a solo shot just fair down the right field line with one out in the top of the sixth.

That made it 5-3 UTPB, and in the bottom of the sixth, it was the Falcons who were the beneficiaries of an inning-ending double play as a lineout to Johnson at second base was followed by a quick throw over to McDaniel at first base to double up the runner.

After a leadoff single up the middle and stolen base in the bottom of the seventh, StMU cut it to 5-4 with a one-out RBI-single to left field, but Barth moved to over 100 pitches on the afternoon and left both the potential tying-run and the go-ahead run on base with a three-pitch strikeout and called strike three against Brendan Concannon to end the inning.

The UTPB offense rewarded Barth's hard work with three runs in the top of the eighth inning to double up the score at 8-4. Prado continued his strong performance by leading off with a single through the right side, and then Kaleb Scull doubled over the head of the right fielder and Haggerty walked to load the bases with nobody out. Johnson followed with a sacrifice fly to center field to score Prado, and then the potentially biggest hit of the game was a two-run double to right center field by Rigtrup to score both Scull and Haggerty.

After a leadoff single to left field in the bottom of the eighth inning, an excited Barth got a swing-and-a-miss strike three for the first out of the inning and then got a lineout double play right back to himself to end the inning. It was the second lineout double play in as many at bats by the Rattlers' Raithen Malone.

Barth began the bottom of the ninth inning with 120 pitches under his belt, and after a leadoff single to second base, saw Osborn make an outstanding catch falling down at the warning track in right field. It was the second highlight-reel catch of the game by a Falcons' outfielder after Haggerty in the second inning.

The final two outs came via a 6-4-3 game-ending double play by the Falcons. It was the fourth double play of the game turned by UTPB, was the sixth combined double play between the two teams, and was the fifth inning-ending double play of the game.

Prado finished 2-for-4 with three runs scored, a home run and a walk while Rigtrup was 2-for-4 with three RBI's, a double and a walk. Rigtrup had two hits with one run scored in each of the final three games of the series, and totaled nine RBI's over the final three games.

"It is always great to be playing your best baseball at the end of the season, and that is what we are doing right now," said UTPB Head Baseball Coach Justin Phillips.

Rigtrup finished the series hitting .429 (6-for-14), and in addition to his two-run double and three-run home run, led the team with four walks and a .556 on-base percentage. DeSoto led the team with seven hits, a .438 (7-for-16) batting average and a .750 slugging percentage, and added three RBI's, three runs scored, two stolen bases, two doubles and a home run. Johnson matched Rigtrup with a .429 (6-for-14) batting average and added three RBI's, two walks and two doubles, all while tying with Prado for the team-lead in runs scored (6).

UTPB (17-28 overall, 17-27 Lone Star Conference) is now three-wins away from reaching the 20-win mark for the third season in a row. The Falcons have won eight of their last 12 games and have won at least two games in five out of their last six series.

In addition to spoiling Senior Day for St. Mary's (28-18, 26-18), the Falcons played outstanding baseball all weekend long and nearly gave the Rattlers just their second series loss of the season. Instead, St. Mary's earned at least two wins for the 10th time in 11 series this season. In addition, St. Mary's, which was hoping to put itself into position to secure a top-four spot in the conference standings with a series win over UTPB, instead sits in a tie for fifth place and must fight for its postseason future next weekend at No. 7 The University of Texas at Tyler.

Next up, UT Permian Basin baseball will take on Sul Ross State University in a single nonconference game starting at 4 p.m. on Monday, April 21. Then, the Falcons return home for the final series of the season, hosting Lubbock Christian University Friday-Sunday (Apr. 25-27). Game one against the Chaparrals is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Friday, April 25, from Roden Field.