- Box Score
STEPHENVILLE – The Tarleton baseball team crushed St. Edward's on Tuesday night in Stephenville and earned its 30th win of the season.
The Texans got on the board early on a hot afternoon at the Cecil Ballow Baseball Complex when second baseman Landon McCall doubled to lead off the bottom of the first, then scored on leftfielder Ethan Stuckly's RBI single to center.
Tarleton was not done though as they went on to load the bases with just one out in the inning. A wild pitch allowed Mark Jeffery to score and moved runners to second and third. The Hilltoppers continued to hurt themselves with a fielding error, giving the Texans their third run of the game.
St. Edward's answered with two runs in the top of the second, courtesy of a wild pitch and a pair of errors, making it a 3-2 contest.
Jeffery got those runs back in the bottom of the second with a two-run blast to left, putting the Texans back ahead by three.
Tarleton added another couple of runs in the third on Jared Musgrove's RBI single that just dropped in front of the centerfielder and McCall's bunt that was just deep enough for Tim Rainey to score from third. The Texans threatened further, but a diving play in center resulted in a double play that stopped the home team from piling on runs in the third.
The Hilltoppers managed a single run in the top of the fourth to make it a 7-3 ball game.
Neither team was able to improve their position in a scoreless fifth inning.
Tarleton loaded the bases again the bottom of the sixth with just one out. An RBI single by Zane Hensley put the Texans ahead 8-3. That sparked a six-run inning for Tarleton, composed of four walks, an error, and a bases-clearing, three-run double by pinch hitter Reagan Janda.
After trailing 13-3, St. Edward's prevented the ten-run rule decision in the top of the seventh with a solo home run to make it 14-4.
Unfortunately for the Hilltoppers, the Texans would get that 14th run in the next half inning. McCall walked to lead off the inning and was followed by Stuckly's single. The rightfielder picked up Stuckly's hit and threw it past the third baseman, allowing McCall to score the walk-off run.
With the 14-4 victory, Tarleton improves its record to 30-10 on the year.
Brandyn Greer (4-0) stays undefeated this season with another win on Tuesday. Greer was stellar out of the bullpen with two shutout innings.
Starter Ryan Salt pitched a perfect first inning before giving way to Kenneth Stockton. Chuck Brown followed Stockton to pitch the fourth, while Greer took over for the fifth and sixth. Jake Sowell pitched the seventh for the Texans.
As a team, Tarleton collected 14 runs on just nine hits, but drew seven walks in the contest. Janda led the way with three RBI's, while Jeffery added two RBI's and three runs. Hensley finished the game 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored.
Head coach Bryan Conger talked about the total team effort.
"The coaching staff is very proud of the way the team responded today," said Conger. "They did a great job of bouncing back and committing to our next 200 feet."
Tarleton returns to action for their final home series of the season, hosting Eastern New Mexico Friday and Saturday. Friday night will be senior night and autograph night, so come out and show your support and pick up an autographed photo of the 2011 Texans.
