- Box Score
KINGSVILLE – The Tarleton baseball team went into Kingsville Friday night and picked up their eighth win of the season with a 6-3 victory over the Javelinas.
The Texans took an early lead and held off a late A&M-Kingsville rally to improve their record to 8-2 on the year and 5-2 in Lone Star Conference action.
Second baseman Landon McCall exploded out of the gate for Tarleton, starting the game with a lead-off single. He then advanced to second and third on ground-outs before daringly stealing home for the Texans first run of the game.
Both teams remained silent until the fourth inning, when Tarleton added to their lead. With rightfielder Chris Casazza and designated hitter Mark Jeffery reaching base via free passes, centerfielder Tim Rainey hit a clutch single to center field, scoring both runners for a 3-0 Tarleton advantage.
The Texans built on their lead in the sixth when Jeffery stroked a deep shot to left field that cleared the fence for his first home run of the season.
With a 4-0 lead, Tarleton refused to let up and added two more runs in the top of the seventh. McCall got things started when he singled, advanced to third on an error, then scored on an error. Casazza then drove in another run with an RBI bunt single, catching TAMUK off-guard with small-ball from the clean-up hitter.
The Javelinas broke the shut-out in the bottom of the eighth with three runs. They were charged to starter Nathan Lewis, who had pitched a stellar game up to that point, but just ran out of gas.
The late rally did not prove to be enough though as Tarleton held on to win 6-3.
McCall led the offense with a 3-for-5 outing, scoring two runs for the Texans. Rainey drove in two RBI's, while Jeffery and Cassaza both drove in a run for Tarleton. Jeffery and Rainey also had multi-hit games.
Lewis (1-1) was awarded the win after tossing 7 1/3 innings, giving up just three runs on five hits, while striking out eight and walking only one.
Turner closed out the Javelinas with 1 2/3 shut-out innings, picking up three strike outs and giving up just one hit.
David de Leon (1-2) was saddled with the loss for TAMUK after giving up four runs on four hits in six innings, but did manage 10 strike outs.
Head coach Bryan Conger discussed his team's performance after the game.
“Nathan (Lewis) threw really well for us and looked like the Nate we had last year,” said Conger. “Then Ryan (Turner) came in and closed the door once again.”
The offense also had a great night for the Texans.
“Landon (McCall) got us going in the first and executed beautifully on the steal home,” said Conger. “Then Tim (Rainey) stepped up and had a great at-bat in the fourth that was really huge for us. All of our guys grinded out their at-bats against an impressive pitcher for Kingsville. We played a great game overall.”
The Texans play two more against the Javelinas on Saturday with Miguel Ramirez starting game one with a 1 p.m. start time. Check back at TarletonSports.com for further details and results from the 2011 Texan baseball team.
