Seniors Lead Falcons Offensively and On the Mound On Senior Day

The University of Texas Permian Basin concluded its baseball season on Sunday afternoon by honoring 13 Falcons at Senior Weekend, when a ninth-inning rally fell one run short against No. 10-ranked Angelo State in Lone Star Conference competition at Roden Field.
 
In a year highlighted by success at the plate, the Falcons’ six runs on Sunday contributed to a season total of 291 – the most runs scored since UTPB joined the Lone Star Conference.
 
Falcon starter Trever Berg held the Rams scoreless in the first inning, allowing a single base runner.
 
Then, Michael Clapperton led off UTPB’s half of the first with a base hit to left field and went to third on Garrett Thornton’s double to right. The Falcons then grabbed their first lead of the weekend when both runners scored, and Devin Ferrari reached first, on an infield error.  Ferrari advanced to second on a wild pitch and then tagged up and went to third on Oswaldo Godina’s fly ball to center. Coke Dickie’s sacrifice fly to right field scored Ferrari, giving UTPB a 3-0 lead.
 
Berg faced only four batters again in the Rams’ second inning, holding Angelo State scoreless.
 
A leaping catch by Falcon second baseman Mario Pena limited Angelo State’s threat in the top of the third, when the Rams tightened the Falcons’ lead to 3-2.
 
UTPB stretched its lead to 4-2 in home half of the third when Thornton singled up the middle, advanced to third base on Ferrari’s single to right and scored on a wild pitch.
 
Berg pitched another scoreless inning in the visitors’ half of the fourth, limiting the Rams to a single base runner who did not advance past first. The Falcons threatened in the bottom of the fourth when two batters reached base.
 
For the fourth time in five innings, Berg faced only one more than the required number of batters – a hit batsman – when he held Angelo State batters hitless in the top of the fifth. The Falcons threatened in the bottom of the inning, advancing a runner as far as third.
 
After Angelo State took a 7-4 lead in the sixth, UTPB staged an aggressive, two-out rally in the bottom of the inning that ended on a put-out at second base.
 
The Rams put a runner on first base in the top of the seventh inning, but the Falcons quashed the threat with consecutive put outs — a caught-stealing throw from catcher Dickie to second baseman Pena – and a strikeout pitch from Austin Parks, who replaced Berg on the mound.
 
In the top of the ninth, for the seventh time, the Falcons prevented the Rams from scoring in their half of the inning – despite leaving at least one runner on base in each scoreless frame.
 
Entering the bottom of the ninth behind by three runs, Astacio singled to left field and was replaced by pinch runner Andrew Donovan. Two outs later, after advancing to second base on a wild pitch, Donovan scored on Gabriel Melendez’s double to left field. Then, Clapperton’s single to right plated Melendez.
 
That made the score 7-6 in favor of the Rams, who then got the third out to extinguish the rally.
 
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