College baseball: Falcons miss sweep when Game 2 rally falls short

The UTPB Falcons battled as hard as a team can fight without coming up with a victory.

UTPB trailed by nine runs after four innings but pulled within a run in the seventh and had the winning run at first before Derek Dibbens grounded out to leave the comeback attempt short.

"The guys in the end battled their butts off," UTPB coach Brian Reinke said. "We had some guys that didn't step up in key spots ... the guys at the end played their butts off, there is no doubt about it. That was a tough loss. To fight all the way back in the end and lose ..."

UTPB defeated Newman, Kan., 4-2 in the first game of the Heartland Conference baseball doubleheader, but the Falcons dropped the second game 10-9.

Newman (17-37 overall, 13-34 conference) scored four runs in the first and two runs in the second, third and fourth innings to take a 10-1 lead against starter Danny Frisby and relievers Ryan Koloesel and Anthony Gilliland.

Logan Forest had an RBI double and Jacob Bourdeau had a three-run double and scored on an error to get UTPB within 10-6 in the fifth.

Tyler Haines had an RBI groundout and Bourdeau had an RBI double to pull the team within 10-8 in the sixth.

Mario Barredo reached on an error with two outs in the seventh, and Will Basom followed with an RBI double. After a two-out walk to Forest, Dibbens grounded out to end the game.

"Unfortunately, you've three-fourths of a team giving everything they've got," Reinke said, "and there are a couple of guys not doing that. That is where you feel for the seniors. The seniors didn't shut it down. They want to win. This is the last weekend and they've all been here two, three, four years and they have grown the program and want to see it go out on a high note."

Frisby allowed six runs in 1 2-3 innings for UTPB (33-21, 28-19) in the first game, while Bourdeau drove in four runs and Forest drove in two runs.

In the opener, Flynn Stachowski struck out 10 while coming up one out short of a complete game. Brent Hardy got the last out to earn the save.

Barredo was 2-for-3 with a two-run triple for UTPB.

The two teams conclude their seasons with a doubleheader at 11 a.m. today at Roden Field.