LAREDO, Texas - Texas A&M International baseball (9-19, 0-2 HC) fell to Rogers State (14-8, 2-0 HC) in the Heartland Conference opener on Friday.

GAME 1 - RSU 7 TAMIU 6

The Dustdevil bats exploded in first inning, giving them an early 4-0 lead. Jorge Napoles doubled in Andrew Holsey for the first run of the game. With two runners on, Phillip Sanchez blasted a three-run shot to score Adrian Castillo and Napoles.

The Hillcats got a run back in the second inning as a sacrifice fly to left brought in the run. They pulled within one run in the third, scoring two off a solo homer and a RBI single.

RSU took its first lead of the game in the fifth inning, as they scored two runs to take a 5-4 advantage. The first run came on a RBI double to right center, with a single up the middle scoring the go ahead run.

They added two insurance runs in the seventh, pushing their lead to 7-4. A sacrifice fly to left and a RBI single scored the two runs, respectively.

TAMIU attempted to mount a comeback in the bottom half of the seventh, as Napoles brought in Holsey with a RBI single. Matthew Rosales followed suit with a RBI single off his own to score Anthony Handel. Unfortunately the rally would come up short as a fly out to center would give the Hillcats the 7-6 victory.

Corey Murphy (5-2, 5.0 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 5 BB, 4 SO) earned the win. Kenneth Saez (2-2, 2.0 IP, 4 H 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO) took the loss.

GAME 2 - RSU 10 TAMIU 7

The second game of the twin bill was a pitcher's duel most of the affair, with both starters only allowing one run apiece in the first six innings. RSU got on the board first with a RBI single to left in the third inning. However, the Dustdevils would knot things up at 1-1 in the fourth as Sanchez drove in Handel with a RBI double.

The Hillcats retook the lead briefly in the seventh as a sacrifice fly to center gave them a 2-1 advantage. TAMIU responded by taking its first lead of the game in the bottom half of the inning with Daniel Espinoza driving a ball deep over the left field fence for a two-run blast, giving the Dustdevils a 3-2 lead.

Things began to devolve in the eighth inning as RSU put up six runs in the top half of the inning. Two runs came in on a two RBI double to left center. Another run came in on a RBI single up the middle, followed by a run scored on a balk and two runs scored on a throwing error by the catcher to give the Hillcats a 8-3 lead.

The Dustdevils countered by bringing the lead back within one run at 8-7 in the bottom half of the frame. A three-run dinger by Obi Obinwa brought in Sanchez and Napoles. The very next at bat Matthew Trevino launched a solo shot of his own for the fourth run of the inning. 

Again, errors would come back to bite TAMIU in the ninth as RSU would extend the lead to 10-7, scoring two runs off a throwing error by the shortstop and a balk, respectively.

The Dustdevils refused to go down without a fight, as they would load the bases with two outs in the bottom of the inning. Unfortunately, the game would end on a strikeout, giving the Hillcats the 10-7 win.

Joey Lucas (3-0, 0.1 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO) earned the win. Justin Rumley (0-4, 0.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO) took the loss.

TAMIU will look the salvage the series on Saturday as they face off against RSU in the series finale at 12:30 p.m.