STEPHENVILLE – The Texan baseball team dropped both games of their doubleheader against Southeastern Oklahoma on Saturday. The Savage Storm took the first game by the score of 5-4 and edged out the Texans in the second game in comeback fashion with a 6-4 final.
The Texans struck first in the bottom of the second inning when Zane Hensley singled up the middle. Hensley moved around the bases when Mark Jeffery was hit by a pitch and then on a sacrifice bunt by Andrew Kapple. A sacrifice hit by Charlie Ulbricht brought Hensley in for the first run of the ball game.
The Texans added two more in the bottom of the third inning when Taylor James walked to get on base before Chris Casazza came up to the plate and hit a two-run homerun to left field to make the score 3-0.
The Savage Storm went ahead 5-3 with a five run, seven hit fourth inning.
The Texans closed the gap in the bottom of the fifth inning when Tim Rainey hit a single and moved around to third base before he was able to score on a tag up on Kapple's sacrifice fly ball. Neither team was able to put any more runs on the board as the final score was settled with SE Oklahoma taking the victory 5-4.
Joel McEntyre was the starter for SE Oklahoma going three innings with three hits, three earned runs and three walks. Heath Wyatt picked the win for the Storm by going four innings with three hits, one earned run, one walk and a strikeout. Jake Sowell was tallied with his first loss of the season as he went 6.1 innings with 12 hits, five earned runs, one walk and a strikeout.
In the series finale, the Savage Storm got on the board in the top of the first inning with shortstop Stephen Garrett reaching base on a single to centerfield. Garrett moved to second on a groundout by Blake Gentry and was brought home on a single by K.C. Pfister to give SE Oklahoma the early 1-0 lead.
The Texans tied the game up with a one run double by Casazza that scored Heath Petty, but the Storm moved ahead in the next frame after a wild pitch and a single to right center brought Mike McCollum around to score.
The score was tied up again when Jeffery hit a sacrifice fly ball to left field which brought Rainey in for the run and bring the score to 2-2.
Tarleton was able to pull ahead in the bottom of the sixth inning when Rainey hit a single through the left side. After a catcher's interference call and a sacrifice bunt, Rainey found himself on third before an Ulbricht sacrifice fly ball brought him across the plate giving the Texans the 3-2 advantage.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Texans tacked on another run as Andrew Wolfe completed one of the most exciting plays in baseball by getting a good jump from third base and stealing home, sliding across the plate just after the pitch arrived to put the Texans up 4-2.
In the very next frame the Storm tied the game up with a two-run shot by Pfister. With the scored tied at 4-4, the two teams headed into the top of the ninth. With one out Gibson hit a single up the middle and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Torey Oller then came to the plate and hit a high fly ball to right field that dropped between three Texans before an error on the throw went behind everyone and scored Gibson. The very next batter, Brad Shankle, hit a single up the middle that brought Oller around to score and to give SE Oklahoma the 6-4 lead. The Texans were not able to get anything going in the bottom half of the final inning as they took the loss 6-4.
Wyatt came in for more relief work in the second game and earned his second win of the day by going two innings with no hits, no runs and three strikeouts. Nathan Lewis took the loss for the Texans as he went one inning with four hits and two runs.
The Texans will travel to Fort Worth on Tuesday, March 9 to take on Texas Wesleyan. The first pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
