- Box Score, Game 1
- Box Score, Game 2
ABILENE – The Tarleton Texans went into the final two games of the 2010 season, needing just one more win to earn a berth into next weekend's Lone Star Conference Championships and got exactly that, recording a split over No. 9-ranked Abilene Christian at Crutcher Scott Field in Abilene on Saturday.
The Texans downed the Wildcats 7-4 in game one, earning the right to advance to next weekend's tournament, but dropped the night cap 6-3. With Friday's sweep over ACU, the Texans picked up their fifth series win of the season and third overall after taking three of four from the Wildcats.
Tarleton improved to 25-23 overall and earned ts first winning season since 2003 (31-24). The Texans end the season at 21-19 in LSC games, earning the No. 6 and final seed in the championship tournament.
Chris Casazza delivered the first punch in game one with a three-run home run off of ACU's Zack Sneed, which gave the Texans an early 3-0 lead.
Nathan Hille drove in a run in the fourth inning on a fielder's choice and Junior Dishmey followed with single to make it a 5-0 game. Tarleton then added two more runs in the inning on Charlie Ulbricht's sacrifice fly and Casazza's RBI-double to center field to put the Texans up 7-0.
ACU finally got on the board in the bottom of fourth, scoring three runs and forcing Tarleton head coach Bryan Conger to relieve Texan starter Mike Ramirez after 3.2 innings of work. Kenneth Stockton came into the game to get the final out of the fourth, but after giving up a run in the fourth, he was relieved for Nathan Lewis in the middle of the fifth inning.
Lewis came and worked the final 2.2 innings, allowing zero runs on just two hits while striking four batters to earn his eighth save of the season. Stockton picked up the win, his fifth of the season, allowing the one run on just one hit in 0.2 innings of relief work.
Sneed was handed the loss, his first of the season, after giving up all seven runs on eight hits in 4.0 innings of work. Josh Crockett worked a pair of innings and Brad Rutherford pitched the final inning in relief efforts.
An RBI-single from Zane Hensley put the Texans on top 1-0 in the first inning of game two, but ACU's Aaron Oliver blasted his second first-inning home run of the series to tie the game 1-1. Willie Uechi then gave the Wildcats its first lead of the series with an RBI-single in the fifth to make it a 2-1 game in favor of the home team.
Tarleton counted with a two-run top of the sixth inning on Andy Wolfe's double to take a 3-2 lead. But, a three-run bottom of the inning and an insurance run from ACU in the seventh was more than enough as the Widcats secured the 6-3 win in the series finale.
Brandon Van Riper was on the hook for the loss for the Texans, giving up five runs on nine hits in 5.1 innings of work. ACU's Aaron Lambrix stayed perfect on the season, netting his eighth win of the season. Rutherford worked the final 3.0 innings to get his ninth save of the season.
ACU finished the season at 42-13 overall and 28-11 in LSC games. The Wildcats earned the No. 1 seed and will host the Texans in the first round next Saturday.
Stay connected to TarletonSports.com for more information, seedings and pairings for next weekend's tournament.
