Oklahoma Panhandle State University

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 | Box Score 3 Laredo, Texas—The Aggies battled to the bitter end in a three-game series against Texas A&M-International this weekend. The Dustdevils pulled out hard-fought victories in all three games taking one-run wins in games one (4-3) and two (2-1) and putting the pitchers to the test in game three's 18-10 hitting show.

The Aggies traded run for run with the Dustdevils in Friday's game one tying the score at three-all in the top of the seventh. Lucas Ogaz and Chris McClendon each hit lead-off homers for the first two runs and Jordan Sprouse brought in run number three as he reached base on an error by second base in the seventh. OPSU's Walker Rainwater started on the mound and pitched six full innings; B.J. Henry entered in the bottom of the seventh and did a great job controlling the plate allowing two hits over the next four innings.

The score remained 3-3 as the Aggies went into the 11th inning; Dylan Allen earned the win for TAMIU by pitching two ground-outs and one fly-out to send the Aggies to the dugout. The Dustdevils scored the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the 11^th as a runner reached on an error by short stop with two runners on base. Henry took the loss for OPSU, his second of the season.

Game two remained scoreless through the first five and a half innings. Aggie pitcher Sam Beattie held the Dustdevils to three hits and zero runs in five innings of work throwing six strikeouts; Beattie gave up three hits for two runs in the bottom of the sixth prompting a pitching change by OPSU. Adrian Lopez finished out the seven-inning game giving up one more hit in the sixth, but zero runs.

TAMIU went to the bull pen twice relieving starter Jared Curnel after 4.2 innings with Marty Bingham who earned the win with 1.1 innings of work; Dino Cristiani entered in the seventh and earned the save with two hits for one run. Jordan Sprouse led off with a single and was brought home by Kai Long who drove a double to left field for the Aggies' only RBI of the game.

The Dustdevils jumped out to an early taking five hit for eight runs on Zack Tingen, OPSU's starting pitcher. Tingen was replaced by Brett Nasello with one out in the third inning; Nasello allowed two hits for three runs before being relieved by Logan Litton in the bottom of the fourth. Two more runs came through in the fourth on Litton's watch giving TAMIU a 13-0 advantage going into the fifth inning. Great defensive work from both teams in the fifth held the score at 13-0.

Garrett Taggert pitched a strong five innings for the Dustdevils until the Aggie bats came to life in the sixth putting up three runs on four hits. Rolando Jacquez had two RBI on a single through the left side with one out and bases loaded; Jake Milburn then hit a sac fly to bring in the third run for OPSU. Scott Cutright came to the mound for Litton in the bottom of the sixth and allowed just one hit for zero runs to end the inning.

Taggert was replaced at the top of the seventh as TAMIU sent Daniel Edmondo to the mound. A big inning for the Aggies resulted in six runs scored and Edmondo was relieved by Dylan Allen after two outs. Chase Graf and Jacquez brought in one RBI apiece followed by Nick Crosswhite and Austin Atkins who each had two RBI in the inning. An error by short stop gave one run to the Dustdevils in the bottom of the seventh to take the score to 14-9. Chris McClendon led off with a triple to open the eighth; McClendon would score the final run for the Aggies off a ground-out by Graf.

With two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Cutright was hit for four runs which sent Brayden Schuler to the mound for OPSU. Schuler tossed a ground-out in his first at-bat to end the inning. The Dustdevils brought in Marty Bingham in the ninth and Bingham served two strikeouts and a fly-out to hold the final score at 14-10. Taggert earned the win for TAMIU and Tingen was given the loss for the Aggies.

OPSU totaled 21 hits on the weekend with two doubles, one triple and two home runs. The Aggies averaged .944 fielding percentage with seven errors over three games. The pitching crew tossed 17 strikeouts and finished with an overall batting average of .337. The Aggies hold a season record of 3-27 with two Heartland Conference wins under their belts.

Aggie Baseball will host a single game against Wayland Baptist Tuesday, March 31 at 3 p.m.; fans are invited to enjoy a free cookout sponsored by OPSU Football during the game. The team returns to conference play later this week with a three-game series against Lubbock Christian Thursday, April 2 and Friday, April 3. Come out and enjoy a great week at the ball park with Aggie Baseball!