The Dustdevil Baseball team once again had a victorious win against Heartland Conference opponent Lincoln University on March 30th and 31st at the Student Activities Complex. The Devils took game one with a win of 7-3 and game two with a final win score of 15-9. The Devils also faced the Kingsville Javelinas on April 10th at the SAC beating them 6-2.
In game one against Lincoln on Friday March 30th, the Dustdevils had a 6-1 lead after three innings. Tony Ramos contributed with a two-run double landing the Devils with four runs in the third inning.
To pick up the win was Daniel Lopez (5-3) who pitched four innings in the opener allowing two runs on three hits.
John González relived Daniel Lopez pitching three innings allowing one run on two hits picking up the save.
March 30th GAME 2
Game two on March 30th of the double header for Friday was a slugfest between both teams. By the third inning the score was tied 5-5.
Lincoln Blue Tigers could not keep pace with the Dustdevils when the Devils scored five runs on the bottom of the fourth. The inning was highlighted when Tony Ramos hit a grand slam.
Dustdevil freshman Jason Bonugli finished up pitching four inning allowing four runs on five hits with two walks and six strikeouts.
Game One March 31st
The Dustdevils continued its winning momentum in a double header sweep, 4-0 and 9-3 on Saturday against the Lincoln Blue Tigers.
On the opening game Saturday against Linlcoln, senior Dustdevil Tony Ramos pitched a complete seven inning shutout with one walk, five hits, and two strikeouts.
With the win, Ramos improved his record to 3-0.
“I feel that our defense was pretty good. Every time that I’m on the mound I feel that the guys give me 110 percent, their diving and pushing to make plays out there for me.” Ramos said.
The Dustdevils scored all four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning starting it out with a walk and five consecutive singles.
Dustdevil junior Tanner Ells drove in the final two runs to end the game.
Game two March 31st
In the doubleheader Saturday, Lincoln was up 2-1 for the first three innings until TAMIU broke through on the bottom of the fourth with Arek Zambanini’s two out, two run single.
In the fifth inning Lincoln Blue Tigers cut the lead to 4-3 when Blue Tiger Tyrell Roseburrow stole second and third and scored on an error from the Dustdevils.
The Dustdevils answered back when sophomore Ryan Flynn hit a hard single up the middle scoring two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning pushing the lead 6-3.
When asked about his clutch hit Flynn responded,
“It was huge. We took the lead. I was just hoping to drive the ball up the middle and help out the team get a W (win). I got lucky enough and put a good swing on the ball.” Flynn said.
Dustdevil Pitcher Jeremy Wilhelm pitched four innings allowing two runs improving his record to four wins and one loss.
He was relived by Angel Encinas in the sixth inning with the bases loaded and got Roseburrow to ground into a double play ending the threat. Encinas pitched a flawless seventh inning picking up the save.
Dustdevil Headcoach Jackson said,
“It doesn’t matter who the opponent is, it doesn’t matter whether it’s home or away the focus is always the same and that’s to play hard and go pitch by pitch.”
April 10th (Tuesday) Devils Vs. Javalinas
The Dustdevils continued their winning momentum by sweeping the season series against Kingsville with a 6-2 victory.
Tony Ramos 4-0 went head to head against Kingsville’s Strickland 0-3 with three scoreless innings until TAMIU broke through on the bottom of the fourth scoring five runs.
Ramos started the inning with a double and later scored when Flynn doubled to center making the score 1-0.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Flynn advanced to third on Encina’s fly out to center. Hernandez later walked and stole second. Zambanini stepped up to the plate and singled to right scoring both Flynn and Hernandez pushing the lead 3-0. The inning was capped with a two run home run by Serrano.
Dustdevils later added another run on the bottom of the sixth improving their lead 6-0.
Kingsville struggled to score off of senior Dustdevil Tony Ramos until the last inning mustering two runs.
Ramos pitched 8 1/3 innings allowing two earned runs on seven hits and was later relived by Encinas and Lopez who finished off the game.
The Javalinas tried to mount a come back on the top of the ninth when Taylor Evertt singled to left and Cy Williams doubled to right. They managed to score two runs until Devils Angel Encinas and Daniel Lopez sealed the game with an out each.