Baseball 3/30/2013 1:17:00 AM

Garza Shines in Doubleheader Sweep of OPSU

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

GOODWELL, OK. (March 29, 2013) – After a season high six-game losing streak had fans wondering if the TAMIU baseball team had lost their mojo, the Dustdevils have now bounced back with four straight wins following Friday afternoon’s doubleheader sweep over Oklahoma Panhandle State University.

Alexander High School product Fernando Garza recorded five hits including a home run and a triple as the Dustdevils took game one 6-1 before rolling to an 11-3 win in the night cap, improving TAMIU’s Heartland Conference record to 15-8 on the season.

TAMIU starting pitcher Abdel Rivera turned in another solid performance in game one, scattering seven hits and allowing just one run in his third complete game win of the year. The junior from San Juan, Puerto Rico tallied five strikeouts and issued only one walk as he improved to 6-1 on the season.

Rivera received plenty of run support as the Dustdevils scored five runs over the first four innings. Garza delivered his team leading third home run of the season in the second with a two-run shot to give TAMIU the early lead. The Dustdevils added two more runs in the third, the first of which came on an RBI double by Alex Salas. After advancing to third, Salas was able to come across on an error by OPSU pitcher Matt Klaczkiewicz.

Fellow Laredoan Hector Gonzalez, who finished 3-for-4 at the plate, drove home a run in the fourth and then delivered his second RBI of the game with double in the sixth. OPSU loaded up the bases in their final at bat of the game, but were only able to produce one run on an RBi single from catcher Bo Ybarra.

In the late game, TAMIU held a small lead before blowing the game open with seven runs in the seventh. The Dustdevils struck first once again, picking up two runs in the second off an RBI single by Garza and a RBI sac-fly from Jaron Shimmel.

The Aggies cut the lead in half with a RBI sac-fly in the fourth, but Shimmel, who led TAMIU with four RBI in game two, answered with his second of the game in the sixth to put TAMIU on top 3-1.

After an unearned run in the bottom half pulled the Aggies within one, TAMIU sent 11 batters to the plate, racked up seven hits, and capitalized on three OPSU errors in the seventh to put the game out of reach. Salas, Matt Garcia, Shimmel, and Jeff Anderson all drove in runs in the inning, which put the Dustdevils up 10-3.

The Aggies added a run in the eighth, but Anderson drove in his second run of the game in the ninth to make it 11-3.

Dino Cristiani improved to 2-3 on the season, allowing two runs on five hits with five strikeouts and no walks in six full innings. Donald Fennell, Ryan Williams, and Manolo Mendoza combined to allow only one run over the final three innings.

TAMIU improved to 20-12 on the year as they get set for game three against the Aggies Saturday afternoon at 12 p.m.

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