- Box Score
STEPHENVILLE – The Tarleton baseball team won its eighth straight game with an 8-5 decision over East Central Friday night in the first game of the three-game set.
Despite coming into the game with an 11-2 record overall and a 7-2 LSC mark, Tarleton was not the first team to strike. East Central jumped out to an early lead in the top of the first inning when the Tigers leading-hitter Dylan Mascarenas hit a sacrifice fly to center.
ECU added another run to their lead in the top of the third inning with an RBI single, putting the Texans in a 2-0 hole.
It wasn't until the fourth inning that Tarleton's bats woke up, but when they did, there was no stopping them.
Rightfielder Chris Casazza got things started off in the bottom of the fourth when he doubled to left-center to lead off the inning. He was then driven in on an RBI ground-out by third baseman Junnior Dishmey.
Shortstop Travis Hayes and first baseman Zane Hensley followed that up with back-to-back singles to the outfield. Catcher Andrew Kapple then plated Hayes with an RBI ground-out before centerfielder Tim Rainey plated Hensley with an RBI triple to deep left-center. That gave Tarleton their first lead of the game, a 3-2 advantage.
The Texans did not stop there though, adding three more runs the next inning.
Designated hitter Mark Jeffery doubled to left field, driving in Ethan Stuckly for Tarleton's fourth run of the game.
That is when Casazza hit a moon-shot that just cleared the fence in left for his fourth home run in as many games and his sixth on the year. The two-run blast put the Texans up 6-2 through five innings.
East Central still had some fight left in them though, scoring three runs in the top of the sixth. They used a mixture of small ball and clutch hitting to threaten Tarleton's hold on the game and make it a 6-5 contest.
But once again, the Texans extended their lead with two runs in the bottom of the seventh.
Jeffery singled and Casazza drew a walk to put runners on first and second. ECU then threw a wild pitch to put the runners on second and third with two outs. Hayes capped off his day with a two-run single that put Tarleton up 8-5.
Reliever Ryan Salt held the Tigers scoreless in the eighth before closer Ryan Turner came in to close out the ninth, which he did effortlessly.
Turner (S, 4) earned his fourth save of the season with a shut-out ninth, picking up three more strikeouts.
Starter Nathan Lewis (2-1) was awarded the win for Tarleton, despite giving up five runs, only three earned, on seven hits, while fanning four in 5 2/3 innings on the mound.
Head coach Bryan Conger spoke highly of Lewis' performance on the mound.
“Nathan was solid,” said Conger. “He is really starting to make strides for us and we are proud of the way he battled. Each game he is just one pitch away from being at his best and we expect him to be there soon.”
Conger also talked about his bullpen's ability to close out the game.
“Salt did a good job in the middle for us and then Turner was his typical self, shutting them out in the ninth,” said Conger.
Offensively, Casazza and Hayes both drove in a pair of runs, while Casazza also scored three times. Jeffery had a 3-for-4 outing with an RBI, with Kapple, Rainey and Dishmey each driving in a run as well.
The Texans recorded a season-high 13 hits on the day and had seven different batters hit safely.
“We did a very good job with two-strike adjustments,” said Conger. “We fouled some third strikes off and were able to get a couple of clutch hits with two-strikes, which is something we have preached all year.”
Despite the eight-game win streak and the 8-5 victory over ECU, Conger still believes the Texans have room for improvement.
“Defensively we need to get better,” said Conger. “We are not quite were we want to be and I can't wait until we play how we are capable of playing.”
Tarleton hosts ECU for two more game on Saturday, with the doubleheader starting 1 p.m. at the Cecil Ballow Baseball Complex.
