Baseball 4/19/2013 6:13:00 PM

Porter Earns 200th Win in Doubleheader Sweep

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 LAREDO (April 19, 2013) – TAMIU head baseball coach Chad Porter picked up his 200^th career victory Friday afternoon at Jorge Haynes Field, as the Dustdevils took both games of a doubleheader from McMurry University.

TAMIU took game won 9-0 as the War Hawks pitching staff issued five walks and hit seven TAMIU batters. In the late game Alex McKeon broke up a pitcher’s duel with a two-out RBI single in the fourth and the Dustdevils were able to hold on for a 1-0 win.

At 25-18 on the season, the 2013 baseball team is ranked second in program history for total wins in a season.

“This game has always been and will continue to be about the players, so this is all about them and their hard work and dedication,” said Porter. “I’m blessed to be able to coach these young men. We grinded hard and competed today in all phases, but our wins started on the mound. We had two great outings from our starters and Manolo did a great job closing the door.”

TAMIU pitching was stellar across the board as game one starter Jerry Hawkins held McMurry to just two hits with seven strikeouts and one walk in his third complete game of the year. Over the final four innings Hawkins faced just one batter over the minimum.

Game two starter Abdel Rivera went eight full innings for the Dustdevils, allowing only three hits with six strikeouts and a walk to improve to 9-1 on the season. Senior closer Manolo Mendoza closed the door on McMurry in the ninth, allowing only one batter to reach base on an error at shortstop.

After a scoreless first inning to start game one, the Dustdevils put four on the board in the second and never looked back. With two outs and the bases loaded, Alvaro Rondon was able to beat out the throw on a grounder to short to give TAMIU its first run of the game.

Hector Gonzalez, who was hit twice in game one, took one on the shoulder to make it 2-0 before Alex Salas roped a two-run single up the middle to increase the lead to 4-0. Salas finished the day 4-for-6 with two RBI, increasing his team leading batting average to .333 on the year.

Two more hit batters and a walk loaded the bases for TAMIU again in the third. The second wild pitch of the inning allowed McKeon to come across to make it a 5-0 game.

Another bases loaded situation in the fourth gave the Dustdevils their final four runs of the game. Grant Garrett, who was also hit twice in the opener, took one off the elbow before a walk put the home team up 7-0. Jeff Anderson, who was 2-for-3 in game one with a triple, gave TAMIU two more runs with a double down the right field line.

McMurry’s game two starter Spencer Smith was much more consistent on the mound, holding the Dustdevils to just four hits with six strikeouts and four walks over eight innings. His only major mistake was allowing a one-out double to Salas in the fourth who was brought around on a two-out single by McKeon.

The Dustdevils had an opportunity to increase their lead to 2-0 in the eighth after a leadoff walk by Rondon. A groundout by Gonzalez pushed Rondon over to third before two straight pop-outs ended the threat.

Despite three TAMIU errors, starter Abdel Rivera was able to work his way out of several jams stranding six McMurry batters on base. Mendoza made quick work of the War Hawks in the ninth, retiring 3-of-4 batters with just one base runner reaching on an uncharacteristic error by Rondon at short.

The Dustdevils and the War Hawks will conclude their series Saturday afternoon, with game three set for a 12 p.m. start at Jorge Haynes Field.

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