LAREDO, Texas – Rogers State baseball was unable to hold off Texas A&M International Saturday as the Dustdevils scored seven runs in the final five innings to knock off the Hillcats, 8-6, at Jorge Haynes Field.
 
TAMIU tallied three runs in the fifth inning to take its first lead of the game as Alexander Cabezas singled to left field off Devland Zakar to score Ricky Gonzalez. RSU would call upon its bullpen as the Hillcats held a 3-2 lead.
 
Josh Eclavea forced a pop out against his first batter but a walk followed by a RBI single by William Mora evened the score, 3-3, with two outs. The Dustdevils weren't finished as Alex Medina singled to center to score Mathew Trevino from third and push TAMIU in the lead 4-3.
 
The Dustdevils added two runs in the sixth inning but RSU responded off the bat of Matt Seubert as the Hillcats' third baseman homered to left field, for his second home run of the season, cutting into the TAMIU lead. The two run deficit wouldn't last long as TAMIU scored in the home half of the inning taking a 7-4 advantage.
 
RSU pressured the Dustdevils in the eighth after a lead-off single by Bradley Degnan to center field. Chris Miguel hit his second home run of the series, this time a two-run shot, and put RSU behind by just one run, 7-6.
 
TAMIU added insurance in the bottom of the inning and held RSU at bay in the top of the ninth despite allowing three Hillcats to reach base on just one hit.
 
The Hillcats held a 3-1 lead through the first four innings of action Saturday after plating two runs in the first inning and another in the fourth. Degnan doubled to right field scoring Sam Davison in the first inning and Miguel singled down the left field line to score Degnan. TAMIU would cut the deficit to just one run in the bottom of the inning with a RBI ground out by Jeremy Valadez.
 
Ismael Orozco led off the fourth with a single up the middle and moved to second as Garrett Hall reached base on an error by the TAMIU third baseman. A RBI single to left center by Jordan Garr would bring home Orozco and put RSU up, 3-1, through four innings.
 
Josh Eclavea (1-2) received the loss for RSU in one-third inning of work allowing one run on two hits as the RSU pitching staff allowed 16 hits to TAMIU.
 
Chris Miguel finished 2-for-4 on the day and 7-for-14 at the plate with seven RBI over the three-game series with the Dustdevils.
 
TAMIU's Eduardo Rodriguez (1-2) earned his first win of the season as the right hander went six innings in the start allowing three runs, two earned, on seven hits. Nick Perales registered his first save of the season with one inning of relief work allowing one hit and issuing one walk.
 
Cabezas finished 4-for-5 on the afternoon for the Dustdevils (6-15, 1-5) with two RBI and scoring four of the eight TAMIU runs Saturday.
 
Rogers State (16-9, 2-4) hosts Oklahoma Wesleyan on Tuesday, March 21 at the Diamond Sports Complex for a single, nine-inning contest with the Eagles at 2 p.m. Live play-by-play coverage will be provided on RSU Radio 91.3 FM and simulcast with live video streaming on the Hillcat Network at www.rsuhillcats.com/live.