- Game 1 Box Score
- Game 2 Box Score
STEPHENVILLE – The Tarleton TexAnns won two Lone Star Conference South Division games Friday in Portales, N.M. defeating Eastern New Mexico, 5-1 and 6-1.
Tarleton hit .328 on Friday while holding ENMU to .140 at the plate. Three different players scored on three separate occasions in the doubleheader while Arianna Rodriguez tallied her sixth home run of the season and Rebecca Wessels had her third triple of the year.
The TexAnn pitching staff had a 1.00 earned run average on the day with a combined 18 strikeouts in 14 innings while allowing just four walks.
The two teams will square off in the third game of the series at noon on Saturday, April 16 in Portales, N.M.
Tarleton 5, Eastern New Mexico 1
Wessels started the top of the fifth with a single to left field before advancing to second on a wild pitch. Rodriguez reached on a throwing error by the shortstop and advanced to second on the throw as Wessels scored on the error. Samantha Swanda then walked before Rodriguez went to third on a wild pitch. Swanda stole second before Katie Welborn singled to left to score Rodriguez. Amy Gabbert then reached on a fielder's choice to center field as Welborn was out at second, but Swanda scored to put Tarleton ahead, 3-0.
The Zias scored one run on two hits in the bottom of the sixth inning to cut the lead to 3-1, but Tarleton added insurance runs in the top of the seventh.
Swanda doubled to left center to leadoff the inning before Welborn singled to left. Marcie Rodriguez pinch ran for the catcher. Then, Gabbert reached on a throwing error on a sacrifice bunt and advanced to second as Marcie Rodriguez and Swanda scored on the error to make it 5-1 in favor of the TexAnns.
Randi Fentress, the starting pitcher for the TexAnns, then shutdown the side in order to finish her complete game victory. Fentress (3-4) allowed one run on three hits with two walks and 10 strikeouts.
Erin Roufosse (6-25) threw all seven innings for the Zias and gave up five runs (two earned) on seven hits with a walk and five strikeouts.
Tarleton 6, Eastern New Mexico 1
Wessels opened the second game with a single to center before stealing second. Arianna Rodriguez then singled on a bunt to put runners on the corners before she was thrown out at second trying to steal, but Wessels scored on the throw to give Tarleton the early, 1-0 lead.
In the top of the third frame, Wessels led off with a triple to right center before Arianna Rodriguez homered to center to put the TexAnns ahead, 3-0.
In the bottom of the inning, the Zias scored one run on a hit to cut the lead to 3-1.
However, Tarleton added runs in the top of the next two innings. Kelsey Latta doubled to left to start the fourth frame before a ground out advanced the runner to third. Brittany Dumas then doubled to left to score Latta to give the TexAnns a 4-1 advantage.
With one out in the top of the fifth, Swanda singled up the middle. With two outs, Gabbert singled to left and advanced to second on a fielding error by the left fielder before moving to third on the throw home as Swanda scored to make it 5-1 TexAnns.
Then in the top of the seventh, Arianna Rodriguez doubled through the right side before Swanda walked. A sacrifice bunt by Welborn moved the runners over before Abigail Tammen singled up the middle to score the runner from third and hand the TexAnns a 6-1 lead.
The Zias had two runners on in the bottom of the inning, but Katie Smith ended the threat by getting the third out. Swanda started the game for the TexAnns and got the victory to improve to 10-11. She pitched 5.0 innings with one run on two hits with two walks and eight strikeouts. Smith pitched 2.0 innings and allowed two hits.
Amanda Lale (0-2) took the loss for the home team after pitching the first 3.1 innings and allowing four runs on eight hits with two strikeouts. Brittany Widner threw 3.2 innings and allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits with a walk and two strikeouts.
