April 6, 2012

Final Stats

LAREDO - With the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, Matt Arruda singled off the glove of Lions shortstop Nick Gumm to give the Texas A&M International University baseball team a 2-1 win over Arkansas Fort-Smith in the second game of a doubleheader at Jorge Haynes Field Friday afternoon. The Lions took game one 3-1 after scoring two runs in the top of the seventh.

With the split the Dustdevils improve 11-15 in conference play, but still remain 1 ½ games behind Fort-Smith for the fourth and final postseason spot. Game three between the two teams will get underway Saturday, April 7 at 12 p.m. You can listen to the game live by following this link: http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/tamiu.portal#

Jeff Anderson was the driving force behind the TAMIU offense finishing 2-3 with a double and a run scored in game one. He continued his hot streak in game two finishing 2-4 with two runs scored.

TAMIU hurler Jerry Hawkins took the loss in game one falling to 2-6 on the season after allowing three runs on six hits in a complete game effort. Chris Villa picked up his first win of the season in game two, closing out the Lions in relief after a strong outing by Marty Bigham. Bigham kept the Lions in check through 7.1 innings allowing no runs on three hits with four strikeouts and one walk.

GAME ONE:

The Dustdevils struggled to get anything going offensively early in the game and the Lions jumped in front scoring a run in the top of the second. After drawing a leadoff walk, Jordan May stole second and advanced to third on a balk. Ryan Gros drove May home with a single into left field to put the Lions up 1-0.

TAMIU tied the game up in the fifth when Will Wurth drove home Jeff Anderson, who led the inning off with a double into the left field corner. But the Lions fired back with two in the top of the seventh to steal the game away. Christian Allen led off the seventh with a single, advanced to second when Austin Voros misplayed the ball in right field and then to third of a sacrifice bunt by Ryan Gros. Adam Baker drove him the go ahead run with a single to center field and the Lions added one more to grab a 3-1 win.

GAME TWO:

In the second game, neither team could get anything going offensively until the late innings. The Dustdevils took a 1-0 lead in the seventh, when Brandon Taylor gave up a bases loaded walk to Roberto Castillo. With TAMIU needing just two more outs to secure the win, Jordan May hit a solo homerun to left in the top of the ninth to tie the game at one.

But the Dustdevils came through in the ninth with Arruda's game winning RBI. Wurth led off with an infield single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jeremy Olivo. Two batters later Austin Voros reached on an error by the Lions shortstop Nick Gumm, his fourth of the day, advancing Anderson to third. After Castillo drew a walk to load up the bases, Arruda hit a scorcher that was too much for Gumm to handle giving TAMIU the 2-1 win.