CANYON, Texas – Texas A&M International baseball (5-16, 5-16 LSC) dropped a doubleheader to West Texas A&M (16-5, 16-5 LSC) on Saturday.

GAME 1 – WT 10, TAMIU 5

The first game of the day began as a pitchers' duel with both staffs not allowing a run in the first three innings.

TAMIU got on the board first in the top of the fourth with an early 2-0 lead. Anthony Handel scored the first run of the game as he touched home on a passed ball. Luis Flores later scored thanks to a sacrifice fly to center from Adrian Castillo.

The Buffaloes responded in the bottom half of the inning as they scored four runs to take a 4-2 lead. The first run scored on error by the shortstop. Two more runs scored on back-to-back sacrifice flies to right field. The final run of the inning scored on a solo homer to left center.

WT added to their lead in the fifth inning with six runs, pushing out to a 10-2 advantage. The first run scored on an RBI single through the right side of the infield. Two more runs scored on a fielder's choice. A two-run blast and a solo bomb brought in the other three runs in the inning.

The Dustdevils cut into the deficit in the top of the sixth with two runs. Flores scored on a Jerry Villareal RBI groundout to second. Andrew Holsey later scored on a Hunter Trinidad RBI single through the left side of the infield.

TAMIU got one final run in the top of the seventh to give the Buffs a 10-5 victory. Ariben Gutierrez scored on a Flores RBI groundout to second.

WT's Zach Dixon (4-0) earned the win in the decision. TAMIU's Abanny Garcia (2-1) took his first loss of the season.

GAME 2 – WT 9, TAMIU 8

The Buffs got things going early in the second game of the doubleheader, taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning. The first run of the game scored on a RBI fielder's choice.

The Dustdevils answered by tying the game 1-1 in the top of the second. Hunter Trinidad scored on an Antonio Buentello RBI single to left field.

TAMIU busted the game open in the top of the third with five runs to take a 6-1 lead. Gutierrez scored on a Handel ground out to second, Flores scored on a Castillo RBI single to left, Holsey scored on a Sergio Esqueda RBI double to right center, and Castillo scored thanks to a RBI ground out to third from Trinidad. Esqueda scored the final run of the inning on a fielding error by the left fielder.

WT fought back and pulled within trimmed the lead to 6-4 in the bottom half of the inning, scoring three runs. An RBI single to center brought home the first run. Another run came home on a RBI fielder's choice, with the final run scoring on a failed pickoff attempt.

The Buffs would retake the lead 9-6 in the fifth inning, with a five-run frame of their own. An RBI single to right center plated the first run, with another run coming in on an RBI single to the shortstop. WT's final three runs came across on a three-run blast over the left field wall.

TAMIU refused to die though as they tried to mount a comeback in the top of the sixth, but came up short only scoring two runs to give the Buffs the 9-8 victory. Both Flores and Handel scored on a Castillo two-RBI single to right.

WT's Justin Zamora (1-0) earned the win, with Mitchell Miller (1) earning the save. TAMIU's Mark Trimble (0-1) took the loss.
The series will conclude with a nine-inning finale on Sunday.