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STEPHENVILLE – The Tarleton Texan baseball team hosted the Southwestern Oklahoma Bulldogs on Friday at the Cecil Ballow Baseball Complex. The two teams split the doubleheader with the Bulldogs winning the first game 10-6 before the Texans rebounded and took game two by the score of 14-10.
The Bulldogs started game one off by putting up a three –run first inning. Nelson Espinal came to the plate and took a pitch to straight center field as it cleared over the wall for a solo home run. Ryan Salsbury then got on base as he was hit by a pitch. Nate Coleman then hit a double to move Salsbury over to third base. The next batter, Tyler Overton, hit a single through the left side that brought in both Salsbury and Coleman to give the Bulldogs the 3-0 lead.
In the top of the third inning, the Bulldogs added on another run when Overton singled up the middle to bring Salsbury across the plate again and give Southwestern the 4-0 advantage.
Both teams were unable to get much going until the top of the sixth inning when Louie Lancaster walked. With Lancaster on first, Espinal came to the plate and belted his second home run of the day, this time to left field. Salsbury then reached on a fielder's choice before moving over to second on a single by Coleman. Another single by Overton scored Salsbury as Coleman moved to second base. With two men on, Reggie York strolled up to the plate and hit a double to right-center field that scored both base runners and gave the Bulldogs a 9-0 lead.
Southwestern added one more run in the top of the seventh inning before Tarleton was able to get on the board in the bottom half of the frame. Chris Casazza and Andrew Kapple both walked to start the inning off. Andrew Wolfe then came up and reached first base on an error by the shortstop. With the bases loaded, Tim Rainey hit a single up the middle, scoring both Casazza and Kapple. Junnior Dishmey then doubled to centerfield to bring in Rainey and Wolfe. The next batter, Charlie Ulbricht also doubled to centerfield, allowing Dishmey to score. The streak of doubles continued as Mark Jeffery also hit one to centerfield that brought Ulbricht in and cut the lead to four runs. However, the Texans were not able to put up any more points before the final score was settled at 10-6 with the Bulldogs claiming the victory.
Ryan Salt took the loss for the Texans, dropping his record to 3-4 on the year, by going seven innings with 15 hits, nine earned runs, three walks and three strikeouts. Hector Contin got the win for the Bulldogs as he went 6.2 innings with five hits, five earned runs, three walks and four strikeouts.
In game two, the Bulldogs got an early start again when Lancaster doubled down the left field line before Michael Felton hit a single to right field, bringing Lancaster in for the score, giving the Bulldogs the early lead.
In the top of the third inning, Espinal hit a single down the right field line to reach first base. The next batter, Lancaster, tripled to right center field to score Espinal. With one runner on base, Felton came to the plate and smashed a two-run shot to left field , giving the Bulldogs a 4-0 lead.
In the bottom half of the third inning the Texans were able to load the bases after three straight walks. Ulbricht was then hit by a pitch, which allowed Wolfe to come in from third and cut the Bulldog lead to 4-1.
Tarleton was able to add eight runs in the bottom of the fourth inning when Zane Hensley singled up the middle. He then moved to second after Jeffery was hit by a pitch and advanced to third on an error by the shortstop. Wolfe then had a sacrifice hit to move Jeffery to third and score Hensley. Heath Petty then walked and moved to second on a passed ball. A second passed ball by the catcher moved Petty to third base and allowed Jeffery to come in for the score. Nathan Hillie then walked before Dishmey hit a double to right field, moving Hillie to third and bringing Petty across home. Ulbricht came and popped a ground ball off of third base but on the throw to first was off, allowing Dishmey and Hillie to add two more runs. The next batter, Casazza, came to the plate and hit a single through the left side that brought in Ulbricht. Hensley came up for the second time in the inning and hit a double to left center that moved Casazza to third base. After a Jeffery single that scored both Casazza and Hensley the Texans recorded their third out, with the lead at 9-4.
The Texans tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, increasing their lead to 12-4. The Bulldogs then cut the lead to 12-7 by adding three more runs in the top of the sixth inning and then down to 12-10 after a three-run seventh inning.
In the bottom of the seventh inning the Texans increased the lead to 13-10 on Casazza's 10th home run of the year and added another run before the inning was over making the score 14-10.
Neither team was able to get anything going the rest of the game making the final score was settled at 14-10. Jake Sowell picked up the win for the Texans, improving his record to 5-2 on the year, by going six innings with 16 hits, seven earned runs, one walk and two strikeouts. Chris Rogers takes took the loss for the Bulldogs after allowing three earned runs and surrendering the early lead.
The Texans and Bulldogs will finish their four-game series tomorrow night at Cecil Ballow, where it will be Military Appreciation weekend, with the first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m.
