Box Score, Game 1
Box Score, Game 2
Photo Gallery
STEPHENVILLE – The Tarleton baseball team exploded for 19 run on Sunday on the way to a two-game sweep of Colorado Christian, downing the Cougars 7-1 in game one and 12-7 in the series finale.
The Texans improved to 3-1 with the season-opening series win and CCU dropped to 1-3 on the young season.
"We have a lot to improve on, but we accomplished our goal of winning the series," Tarleton head coach Bryan Conger said. "Now it is time to turn our attention to conference play."
The Texans put up the first run in game one when Junnior Dishmey doubled and later scored on Zane Hensley's double down the left field line. Tarleton was unable to get another run across the plate though as two runners were each called out at third base on steal attempts.
CCU tied the game at 1-1 in the top of the third inning on a David McKendrick groundout to the shortstop that scored Chad Meske.
Tarleton countered with a five-spot in the bottom of the third to take a 6-1 lead. Andrew Wolfe drove in Nathan Hillie and Dishmey with a double to the right field gap. Chris Casazza then doubled to left field and Wolfe came home to score. Mark Jeffery was then hit by a pitch and both he and Casazza scored on Charlie Ulbricht's double to left field.
With one out in the bottom of the fifth, Jeffery singled to left and then advanced to third when Ulbricht reached on an error. With both runners at the corners, Ulbricht and Jeffery completed a double-steal attempt that pushed the Texans lead to 7-1.
Chris Pearson came in and recorded the final six out for the Texans and Tarleton took game one with a six-run victory. Mike Ramirez (1-0) picked up the win for the Texans, going 5.0 innings and allowing the one run on six hits. He struck out eight batters he faced and walked just two.
"We played a lot better on both sides in the first game compared with the way we played Saturday," Conger said. "Both Mike and Chris did a good job of limiting CCU to a single run. Offensively we did a solid job of staying patient and waiting to get pitches to hit. Zane had a monster game at the plate while both Andy and Charlie each provided us with some timely hits there in the third inning."
Trey Stastny (0-1) was saddled with the loss in game one, allowing six runs (all earned) on six hits while walking one and striking out three.
Hensley led the Texans offensively, collecting three hits in three at bats. Tarleton finished the game with a combined nine hits.
CCU got the board first in game two and took an early 1-0 lead when Meske scored on a groundout by Doug Pavlich.
The Texans failed to counter in the bottom of the inning, but put up another five-spot on the board in the second inning. Casazza led off the inning with a single and moved over to third on Jeffery's double to center field. Ulbricht followed with a single to score Casazza and Jeffery moved over to third. Tim Rainey reached base on a bunt single that moved Ulbricht over to second and bring Jeffery in to score. Nathan Hillie later doubled to the left field gap that allowed Ulbricht to score and move Rainey to third. Dishmey then recorded his first of two triples in game two that drove in both runners to make it a 5-1 game in favor of the Texans.
The Texans added a run in the fourth inning when Casazza scored on a sacrifice fly from Ulbricht to make it a 6-1 game.
Both teams then traded a couple of runs in the fourth inning and Tarleton led 8-3 heading into the fifth. CCU then pulled to within a run of the Texans, scoring four runs in the top of the fifth inning to make it an 8-7 game.
The Texans cruised over the final two plus innings, scoring twice in both the fifth and six innings and Nathan Lewis kept the Cougars from scoring again and Tarleton came away with the 12-7 win.
Colt Molloy pitched the first two innings for the Texans while earning the no-decision. Kenneth Stockton (1-0) picked up the win working two innings and Lewis (S, 1) came in to work the final three innings and earn his first-ever save as a Texan. Although CCU manage to score seven runs, they did it on just four combined hits from all three pitchers.
"The offense did a good job of picking up a tired pitching staff," Conger said. "We were short on arms this weekend and I was proud of the way they battled all weekend. We were solid on defense and the three young men on the mound did a great job of competing."
Lawson Cheek (0-2) was hit with his second loss of the series after giving up eight runs on eight hits. Brandon Adams and Kyle Yanke worked the final two innings for the Cougars in relief.
Dishmey, Casazza and Jeffery each finished with two hits apiece while Rainey led all players with three hits in game two.
The Texans will return to the diamond next weekend with a four-game set against Northeastern State at Cecil Ballow Baseball Complex in Stephenville. Doubleheaders are scheduled for both Friday and Saturday, Feb. 12-13 with Friday's game to begin at 3 p.m. Saturday's game is slated to begin at 1 p.m.
