[Baseball] Falcons Drop Two at Texarkana

TEXARKANA, Texas — The Friends University Falcons went on the road Saturday (Feb. 5) for the first time this season but dropped a pair of non-conference games to the Texas A&M-Texarkana Eagles in Texarkana.

In the opener, the Eagles started the scoring in the second inning when Tyler Black doubled to right field. Texarkana made it 2-0 later that inning scoring on an error. A two-run shot by Giancarlo Mijares in the bottom of the third pushed the Eagles' lead to 4-0.

The Falcons cut the lead in half in the top of the sixth when Pablo Oden (SR/Hollywood, Fla.) scored on a balk. Then, a single by Jared Berard (SR/Tacoma, Wash.) brought Niquan Benjamin (FR/US Virgin Islands) around to score.

The Eagles added an insurance run in the bottom of the inning. 

Devin Dodson (SO/Colorado Springs, Colo.) got the call on the mound for the Falcons, throwing five innings with two strikeouts and allowing four runs. 

Berard went 2-for-3 at the plate for the Falcons with an RBI, while Oliver Dunn (FR/Endeavour Hills, Australia) finished 2-for-4.

The Eagles struck first in the nightcap behind a solo homer by Hunter Reid, but the Falcons quickly tied the ballgame when Oden was hit by a pitch that walked the Falcons' only run of the game. 

Texarkana scored three runs in the fifth inning, then added one more in the bottom of the sixth to cap off the doubleheader.

Elerie Rivera (SR/Patillas, Puerto Rico) paced the Falcons with two hits in game two, while Oden drove in the lone run. 

The teams will wrap up the series on Sunday (Feb. 6), playing a single game starting at 11 a.m.