WICHITA - The Texas A&M International Dustdevils salvaged a split with the Newman baseball team Saturday afternoon at McCarthy Field. Newman earned a 3-1 win in Saturday's opener, but the Dustdevils closed the series with a 10-5 win.

Game 1: Newman 3, Texas A&M International 2
Newman used a two-run first inning to take the early momentum in Saturday's opener. Kori Melo opened the Newman offense with a single through the right side. Ryan Peterson followed with a bunt single to first base, and pushed Melo to second in the process. A Picos Soto single through the right side loaded the bases for the Jets with Scot Palmer stepping into the box. Palmer did his job, sending a single up the middle to score Melo and Peterson, and giving the Jets an early 2-0 lead.

The Dustdevils narrowed the lead to 2-1 with a solo home run from Ramon Sandoval, but Newman pitcher Brett McKinnon retired the remainder of the side in order to preserve the lead.

Newman added an insurance run in the third, when a sacrifice fly to left by Soto allowed Peterson, who opened the inning with a single to left field, to score from third to give the Jets a 3-1 lead with four innings to play.

As it turns out, the Jets needed that insurance run. TAMIU did its best to mount a comeback in the seventh inning, taking advantage of back-to-back walks by McKinnon to open the inning. Newman interim head coach Zane Ehling made sure a bad situation didn't get any worse, replacing McKinnon with Zach Biery, who allowed one of the McKinnon runs to score, but retired the rest of the TAMIU side to secure the 3-2 win.

Peterson and Melo each finished two-for-three at the plate to lead the Jets offensively. Peterson added two runs scored while Melo finished with one run. McKinnon earned the win and improved to 5-4 on the season after giving up two earned runs on two hits with four walks and two strikeouts over the course of six innings.

Game 2: Texas A&M International 10, Newman 5
Melo got things started for the Jets in Saturday's second game, drawing the first of three-straight walks from TAMIU's B.J. Valadez to load the bases with no outs. A Picos soto sacrifice fly to straight-away center field allowed Melo to score from third, and gave the Jets a 1-0 edge after an inning of play.

Newman held that lead until the third inning, when the Dustdevils tagged Newman pitcher Logan Clewes for two hits that resulted in two runs that allowed TAMIU to take a 2-1 lead. The Dustdevils added two more in the fourth, nailing Clewes for two more runs on two hits, and ending Clewes' day on the mound, where he was replaced by Eric Hansen who retired the first batter he faced to end the inning with the Jets trailing 4-1.

The Jets kept things interesting, opening the home half of the fourth with back-to-back singles from Scot Palmer and Mike Williams. Both runners advanced a base on a wild pitch from Valadez, giving Newman runners on second and third with nobody out. Trent Bierman's single to shortstop resulted in a Newman run when Palmer crossed the plate, and a Matt Cardona sacrifice fly to center field allowed Williams to score, and drew the Jets to within one, 4-3, but John Bonebrake flied out to left to end the inning.

TAMIU made up for lost ground in the fifth, tagging Hansen for three runs on three hits and a Newman error, and took a 7-3 lead with two innings left. The Dustdevils added another three spot in the seventh and took a 10-3 lead heading into Newman's final at-bat.

Again, the Jets didn't go down without a fight. After Cardona and Bonebrake drew back-to-back walks to open the seventh inning, Melo singled through the right side to load the bases. Peterson took the easy way to first base, drawing a four-pitch walk that forced Cardona across the plate. The Jets' final run of the game came when Brandon Cox hit into a double play that allowed Bonebrake to score from third, but TAMIU ended the game by striking out Picos Soto to salvage the split.

Mike Williams went two-for-three at the plate with a run scored to lead the Jets offensively. Logan Clewes was saddled with the loss, falling to 2-2 after allowing four earned runs on six hits with four walks and two strikeouts in 3.2 innings of work.

After the split, the Jets stand at 20-24 on the season, and 19-21 in Heartland Conference play. Newman is back in action Tuesday, hosting NCAA Div. II and Heartland Conference provisional member Arkansas-Fort Smith for a 5 p.m. doubleheader at McCarthy Field.