LAREDO, Texas - Texas A&M International baseball (15-25, 6-8 HC) split a doubleheader with No. 23 Lubbock Christian (30-10, 12-2 HC) on Thursday in blustery conditions, with wind speeds hovering just under 30 mph.

GAME 1 - LCU 15, TAMIU 6

The Chaps wasted no time getting on the board to start the game, putting up three runs off a two-run home run and a RBI double to right center in the top of the first. 

The Dustdevils would cut into the lead in the bottom of the second as Obi Obinwa launched his first solo shot of the day to pull the lead within 3-1.

However, LCU burst the game wide open in the third as they hung six runs in the inning. The first run came in because of a fielding error by the second baseman. Another run scored on a wild pitch. The third run was brought home with a RBI single to center, with another coming in on a RBI double to right. The final two runs scored on a two-RBI single up the middle, pushing the lead to 9-1.

TAMIU would get a run back in the bottom of the fourth as Jorge Napoles scored Obinwa with a RBI single to right field, cutting the lead to 9-2.

The Chaps added two runs in the fifth with a two-run blast over the right field wall to go up 11-2. They added three more runs in the sixth on a bases loaded walk, a fielder's choice and a RBI single through the left side of the infield, extending their lead 14-2. They tacked on their final run in the seventh on a fielding error by the shortstop.

In the bottom half of the seventh, the Dustdevils attempted to mount a comeback, plating 4 runs. Matthew Rosales scored on 6-4-3 double play. Daniel Espinoza drove home Adrian Castillo with a RBI single. Andrew Holsey scored Espinoza and Obinwa with a two RBI single to right center. Alas, the comeback would come up short with LCU taking the 15-6 victory.

Ryan Johnson (11-0, 4.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 7 SO) earned the win. Andrew Hernandez (2.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO) took the loss.

GAME 2 - TAMIU 10, LCU 9

LCU once again jumped out to a fast start and an early lead with scoring one in the first off a RBI double. However, the Dustdevils would tie things up in the second as Castillo would come home on a sacrifice fly from Phillip Sanchez. 

The Chaps would retake the lead in the third, putting up three runs and taking a 4-1 advantage. The go ahead run came home on a sacrifice fly, with two more scoring on a two RBI double to left.

TAMIU would get a run back in the fourth and cut the lead to 4-2, as Napoles scored on a RBI single by Matthew Trevino. However, LCU would push their advantage back out to 6-2 with two runs in the fifth. One run scored on a RBI triple and the other scored on a sacrifice fly to center.

The Dustdevils got a run back in the fifth as Obinwa scored on a sacrifice fly from Anthony Handel, and another run in the seventh off of Obinwa's second solo dinger of the day to pull within 6-4.

Unfortunately, TAMIU gave both runs back to the Chaps in the eighth as LCU scored two more runs of their own, going up 8-4. One scored on a passed ball and the other came in on a fielding error by the second baseman.

The Dustdevils bats came to life in the bottom of eighth as they recorded five-straight hits, a walk and hit-by-pitch before ever recording an out. In that stretch, Castillo scored on Sanchez single, Trevino scored on an Obinwa single, Sanchez came in on the bases loaded walk and Obinwa came home as Handel was plunked. Later that inning, Espinoza would score on a sacrifice fly from Napoles and Holsey scored on another bases loaded walk to take TAMIU's first lead of the game at 10-8.

The Chaps would not go down with out a fight in the top of the ninth, though. After two singles, they were able to scratch across a run to cut the deficit to 10-9. However, the Dustdevils would seal the comeback victory with a fly out to right to take the 10-9 victory.

J.J. Sanchez (2-0, 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO) notched his second win of the season with the victory, with Justin Diaz earning his second save. Chandler Casey (6-4, 0.1 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO) took the loss.

TAMIU will look to take the series from No. 23 LCU in the rubber match tomorrow at 12 p.m.