- Box Score - Game 1
- Box Score - Game 2
STEPHENVILLE – The Tarleton baseball team defeated McMurry for the second and third times this season as the Texans swept the War
Hawks in Sunday's doubleheader, 3-1 and 6-2.
Tarleton improves to 3-0 on the year in just the first weekend of action.
Game 1 – Tarleton 3, McMurry 1
The Texans got out to an early lead and held on to defeat the War Hawks 3-1 in the first game of the doubleheader Saturday.
McMurry started the game with a lead-off single and a stolen base to put a runner in scoring position with nobody out. Tarleton starter Pete Perez settled in though and got the next three batters out in consecutive fashion, including a pair of swinging strikeouts.
In the bottom half of the first, the Texans managed to load the bases with a Noah Ringenberger single, an error that allowed Evan Robinson to reach and a walk for Ryan Small.
Senior second baseman Ethan Stuckly then stepped up and laced a line drive single to centerfield, scoring Ringenberger and giving Tarleton a 1-0 lead. McMurry's starter David Towler retired the next two batters though and kept the score at that.
Both teams went silent of the second and third innings before Tarleton struck again in the fourth. Landon Thompson reached on a walk before a pair of errors scored him. Jared Musgrove then followed that up when he scored on a passed ball, making it a 3-0 ball game.
McMurry threatened in the top of the fifth by putting a runner on third base, but Perez was able to get out of it once again.
The Texans brought in closer Britt Robertshaw in the seventh, but the junior transfer allowed the only War Hawk run of the ball game on a single to center. Despite the run, Robertshaw still managed to close out McMurry.
In the end, Tarleton's early lead proved to be too much for the War Hawks as they took game one, 3-1.
Perez (1-0) tossed a gem for the Texans, going six innings, giving up just one hit and zero walks while striking out six. McMurry's David Towler suffered the loss after giving up the initial lead to the Texans.
Stuckly provided Tarleton's lone RBI while Ringenberger added a hit and score a run.
Game 2 – Tarleton 6, McMurry 2
The Texans jumped out ahead early by taking a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Evan Robinson and Ryan Small reached on a single and a walk respectively. Then with Garrett Hardey at the plate, Small stole second and the throw down ended up in centerfield. As a result, Robinson and Small both scored on the error.
McMurry answered with a run in the top of the second when an error resulted in a War Hawk run, making it 2-1.
Tarleton added another run in the bottom of the third inning when Small's sacrifice bunt was tossed over the second baseman's head and into right field, allowing Robinson to score. Hardey then drove in Small with a single to left, bumping the Texans' lead to 4-1. Two batters later, Hardey scored himself when a throwing error by the third baseman also ended up in right field.
The War Hawks managed to cut the deficit to three in the top of the fourth when a sacrifice bunt plated McMurry's second run of the game. Tarleton still led though, 5-2.
Keeping with the tempo of the game up to that point, the Texans scored again in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Robinson, plating Andy Wolfe. That made it a 6-2 ball game heading into the fifth.
The War Hawks threatened in the top of the seventh with the bases loaded, but Hardey out-ran the batter to first and ended the inning unscathed.
Neither team was able to better their position from the fifth inning on as the pitching settled in for the Texans and War Hawks.
Austin Coble pitched the final inning for the Texans and blanked McMurry to end the game, the doubleheader and the series.
Tanner Ross (1-0) earned the win for Tarleton after tossing three innings and giving up just one run on three hits.
Zach Matthys (0-1) suffered the loss for McMurry.
Andy Wolfe finished the game 2-for-3 with a run scored, while Robinson and Hardey provided the RBI's.
Tarleton returns to action on Feb. 10 at the Texas-Permian Basin tournament in Odessa.
For more information regarding the 2012 Texan baseball season, check out TarletonSports.com.
