Baseball 3/2/2013 9:46:00 AM Courtesy LMT - Zach Davis

Dustdevils Split Pair With McMurry

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

In its second road series of the season, The TAMIU baseball team split its doubleheader in Abilene against McMurry on Friday at Walt Driggers Field.

“We very easily could have won two games, but we didn’t,” head coach Chad Porter said.

“The guys did a really good job after coming back from that first game and that’s huge. They did a good job with the conditions not being too great, as it was very windy, and all in all it was a good day.”

“If we are going to split a doubleheader we want to win that second one to give the guys confidence and hopefully they will step up and win the series tomorrow.”

The split moved TAMIU to 13-4 on the season, although the damage has mostly been done at home. The Dustdevils are now 2-3 on the road in 2013.

Offensively the team received a good performance from shortstop Alvaro Rondon, who went a combined 4 for 6 with two runs, two RBI and a stolen base. Second baseman Jaron Shimmel had three hits in six at bats with two runs and two RBI while third baseman Alex Salas had three hits and drove in two. Right fielder Fernando Garza tied for the team lead with his second home run of the season.

The Dustdevils have been paced all season by their duo of starting pitchers — Jerry Hawkins and Abdel Rivera — but the two had very different results Friday. Hawkins allowed a season-high five runs in five innings after giving up just seven runs in four games coming into the day. He still remained unbeaten at 4-0 with the no-decision as Dino Cristiani (1-1) came on in relief in a tie game and was tagged for three runs in 0.1 innings.

“They got a couple hits early and capitalized and then Jerry settled down and was Jerry,” Porter said. “He got ahead of guys and let our defense work. Jerry pitched well enough for us to win the game, there’s no doubt.”

In the opening game, TAMIU fell behind early as Hawkins gave up four runs in the first two innings. The Dustdevils chipped away in the third and fifth innings with a run apiece as Salas and Rondon each drove home a run to cut the lead to 4-2.

In the seven-inning game, TAMIU responded in a big way in the sixth with three runs. Garza started the rally with his homer before Rondon tripled to tie the game and scored on an error one batter later for a 5-4 advantage.

Unfortunately for the Dustdevils, they couldn’t hold the lead, as Hawkins gave up a leadoff homer to tie the game at five and Cristiani failed to stop the War Hawks from adding three more as they took the first game, 8-5.

Game two, however, belonged to Rivera. After Hawkins struggled a bit with McMurry, Rivera (4-1, 1.32 ERA) tossed his second complete game of the year, giving up two runs on six hits with a season-high eight strikeouts in a 4-2 win.

“Abdel got stronger as the game went on and he stuck to the plan,” Porter said. “He located his off-speed pitches well and his velocity increased as the game went on and he was just a bulldog out there. We didn’t have to use our bullpen and that really helps us out for Saturday.”

Despite Rivera’s effectiveness, he did struggle a bit in the first inning, allowing both runs after Salas got the inning started driving in a TAMIU run. The Dustdevils tied it in the third off the bat of designated hitter Hector Gonzalez and neither team scored for the next four innings.

In the eighth, Shimmel tripled, bringing home both Salas and Rick Alanis to clinch the victory. TAMIU will look to win its fourth series out of five this season with the rubber match tomorrow at 1 p.m. against the War Hawks. Manolo Mendoza (0-2, 5.11) has started four games this season from the No. 3 spot in the rotation but has failed to get through three innings in the last three outings. Saturday’s starter is still unknown as Stephen Dickerson (1-0, 4.27) and Baylr Bickerton (1-0, 4.36) are also in the mix.

“We have got to figure out what we are going to do with that third game (at starting pitcher),” Porter said. “We have a couple candidates and if we have to we will throw a different guy every inning, but what we need to do is identify a consistent starter for game three. We have got guys that have the stuff to do it, but we just haven’t pitched great.”

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