SAN ANGELO, Texas – Texas A&M International University softball (4-9) continued the George & Ola McCorkle Challenge and defeated the Ouachita Baptist Tigers (1-5) in a 7-2 victory and fell 2-0 to the No. 21 Tarleton Texans (10-2), respectively, on Saturday.

Game 1: Texas A&M International 7, Ouachita Baptist 2 

In the opening frame, the Dustdevils got to Tiger starter Madison Miller (L: 0.1 IP, 3 ER, H, 3 BB) as Morgan Chavarria (1-for-2, RBI, R, 2 BB) drew a bases loaded walk and was followed by a Victoria Maldonado (1-for-2, 2 RBI, BB) RBI single to help give them an early 3-0 edge.

Dustdevil starter Melanie Lint (W, 2-3: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 R, ER, 4 K, 0 BB) had a phenomenal start as she tossed five scoreless innings. 

In the top of the fifth inning, TAMIU tacked on another run as Felicity Bernal crossed the plate on a wild pitch by Faith Melton (ND: 6.2 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 0 K, 2 BB) to extend its lead to four (4-0). 

In the bottom of the sixth frame, Dustdevil relief pitcher Denise Longoria (SV, 0-3: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, K) entered the game and inherited a pair of baserunners who would later cross the plate to slash the TAMIU lead to a pair of runs (4-2).

In the top of the last inning, the Dustdevils compiled their second three-run frame of the game that was highlighted by a single smacked by Heather Ruiz (2-for-4, 3 RBI) that drove in Chavarria and Amanda Vallejo to cap off the 7-2 win. 

Game 2: No. 21 Tarleton 2, Texas A&M International 0 

Tarleton broke the scoring ice in the home half of the first inning off of Dustdevil pitcher Paige Sasser (L, 1-2: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, K, BB) as Destiny Crumpley smacked an RBI double to right center that drove home Hallie Saintignan. 

In the bottom of the third inning, Georgia Capell smacked a solo home run off of Sasser to make it a 2-0 game.

The Dustdevils recorded their first extra-base hit of the game in the top of the fifth inning as Chavarria (2-for-3) slapped a two-out triple to right field off of Texan starter Jessica Withrow (W, 6-1: 7 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 12 K, 4 BB) but Withrow was able to evade trouble.

Withrow would ultimately throw a complete game shutout to give the Texans a 2-0 victory.

The Dustdevils conclude the Angelo State University George & Ola McCorkle Challenge tomorrow Sunday, Feb. 16 with showdowns against Angelo State (11-3) at 12:15 p.m. and No. 21 Tarleton (10-2) at 2:30 p.m.