CANYON, TEXAS - The Dustdevils put together a late game comeback of seven runs in the final three innings of play but fall short 13-11 inside Wilder Park against West Texas A&M.
TAMIU (16-30) started the ballgame scoring two runs after the leadoff hitter Ciro Benavides hit a single up the middle, Eddie Saenz then gets on with a throwing error that scores Benavides. Freshman two-way player Fabrizio Salinas collects his fourth hit of the series, an RBI double bringing Saenz home. Dustdevils lead 2-0.
WT (27-19) responds in the bottom of the first with an RBI single by Timothy Haynes, and a three-run home run for Tristin Thomas, his second of the series. Buffs lead 4-2
Dustdevils freshman third baseman Derek Garcia got on with a single in the second inning, he advances on an error to second and comes home with an RBI single to right field by Eduardo Espinoza.
Buffs respond once again with catcher Brock Bunker getting on with a single to center, stealing second, and coming home off a ground rule double by Jake Alwine. Timothy Haynes then hits a double to right center scoring Alwine. Buffs up 6-3.
Both teams find a run in the fourth, Dustdevils scored Espinoza off a sac fly by Eddie Saenz, and Buffs Tristin Thomas singled to right field scoring Jacob Police.
In the fifth the Dustdevils collect a hit from Jesus Sosa but unfortunately cannot bring him home. In the bottom half, the Buffs bring in three runs with a three-run home run to left field by Police scoring Zac Rackham and Anthony Picciano, who got aboard with singles.
In the sixth, Dustdevils Eddie Saenz gets on with a hit by pitch but could not find his way home. Buffs score one with RBI double by Daniel Castellanos.
Dustdevils make a push in the seventh inning with three runs and three hits. Roberto Chapparo and Benavides both collect RBI base hits to right field and Iann Cobos comes home off a ground ball double play from Garcia.
Buffs in the seventh see Police respond with his second home run of the game this time to center field. Haynes is walked; Thomas singles through the right side and steals second. Jonluke Hobdy is hit by a pitch and loads the bases with no outs. Castellanos hits a sac fly to score Haynes. Buffs lead 13-7.
Neither team finds action in the eighth, but the Dustdevils come alive in the ninth with an RBI single by Ciro Benavides scoring Chapparo followed by a three-run home run by Eddie Saenz his second of the series and eighth of the season.
Dustdevils collect 15 hits on the day scoring 11 runs while the Buffs collect 17 hits scoring 13 runs. On the series the Dustdevils collected three home runs, 50 hits and 29 runs as a team.
TAMIU heads home to play Eastern New Mexico over the weekend for their final series of the season.
PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: Senior First Baseman, from Laredo, Texas, Eddie Saenz, has collected two home runs on the series with five hits and seven runs batted in. Saenz has hit five home runs in the last eight games (Apr.10). He leads the team with .394 batting average and 8 home runs on the season. Saenz is currently pursuing a degree in Kinesiology.
