- Box Score

STEPHENVILLE – The Tarleton baseball team faced off against West Texas A&M Friday in the series opener and came up short in a 7-2 final.

Entering the game, WT ranked No. 4 in the the nation in scoring and No. 3 in batting average.  The Texans had their hands full, but got off to a strong start.

The Buffs opened the scoring in the second in an RBI groundout, making it 1-0.

Both starting pitchers in Joseph Aquino for Tarleton and Justin Kuks for WT battled back and forth for position.  By the sixth inning, it remained a 1-0 contest.

Unfortunately for the Texans, the wheels started to come off and WT capitalized.  In just that inning, the Buffs got four singles and a double to record four runs and pushed their lead to 5-0.

WT added two more runs in the eighth inning to make it a 7-0 contest.

Tarleton began their comeback in the next half inning as they broke up the shutout attempt by Kuks.  Andy Wolfe reached on an error that plated Garrett Hardey.

The following inning, Blake Silguero made it a 7-2 ball game after a double ripped down the left field line, scoring Ryan Small.

The Texans managed to load the bases in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and the score 7-2, but their hopes ended as WT picked up the final out of the game.

Aquino (1-3) was saddled with the loss after giving up five runs, four earned, on eight hits in six innings.

Kuks (5-0) remains undefeated on the season with 8 1/3 innings of work and just two runs allowed.

Ethan Stuckly and Silguero finished the game 2-for-4 while Silguero and Wolfe provided the RBI's.  The Texans recorded just five hits in the contest compared to WT's 12.

The series will continue Saturday when the Texans and Buffs meet for a doubleheader starting a 1 p.m. at the Cecil Ballow Baseball Complex.

For more information regarding the 2012 Texan baseball season, check out TarletonSports.com.