Conroe, Texas – In the final day of the 2024 DII First Pitch Invitational, the Dustdevils (2-3) fell just short to Colorado Mesa (2-3), 5-4.

Junior Carla Arellano got the start for the Dustdevils and was dominant early. Arellano held the Mavericks scoreless through four innings, allowing only three hits.

The Dustdevils took the lead during the top half of the third. The inning started with a Katelyn Luera triple, who quickly came in to score on an RBI single from Kennedy Griego. A double from Victoria Gonzalez put two runners in scoring position for the Dustdevils with one out. RBI singles from Alex Hernandez, Zaria Brigham and Isabella Perez gave TAMIU a 4-0 lead.

The Mavericks answered back with a run of their own in the fifth inning courtesy of a solo homerun by Miranda Pruitt.

The Mavericks kept the momentum in their half of the sixth inning bringing in two more runs before recording an out.

Freshman Zakayia Fredrick took over on the mound for the Dustdevils. Arellano finished her day with 5.0 innings pitched, allowing eight hits, three runs and a walk with two strikeouts.

The Mavericks scored two more times in the inning taking the lead 5-4.

The Dustdevils rallied in the top of the seventh, getting two runners in scoring position, but were unable to bring a run across. 

Griego finished the game going 3-3 with an RBI and Gonzalez went 2-4 with two doubles.

The Dustdevils play their final game of the tournament on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. against Cal Poly Humboldt.