Box Score ABILENE, Texas – The Tarleton baseball team scored a run in all but one inning en route to a 15-5 run-rule win over Abilene Christian in the first game of the ACU/Whitten Inn Classic Thursday night at Scott Crutcher Field in Abilene.
 
Pete Perez (2-0) pitched a complete-game in the victory, giving up five runs on seven hits in his full 7.0 innings of work. He struck out nine batters and walked just two while picking up his first complete-game of the season.
 
The Texans opened the game scoring its first run with two outs in the top of the first inning when Alvaro Moreno singled and then came all the way around to score on Colten Boothe's triple to the right field gap. Moreno touched home plate to give the Texans an early 1-0 lead.
 
After Perez shutdown the Wildcats in order of the bottom half of the first inning, Matt Olive led off the top of the second inning getting hit in the calf and taking first base. Olive then scored a few pitches later when Fola Lajide tripled him home making it a 2-0 game. Lajide later scored on a single from Nico Moran to give the Texans a three-run advantage.
 
Tarleton opened the flood gates in the top of the third inning, scoring six runs on seven hits to make it a 9-0 game. Boothe doubled in the inning and came around to score on a double from Ryan Small. Olive singled to the right field gap to score Small on the play and he later came home to score on an RBI-single from Jared Musgrove. Evan Robinson later scored a run on his sacrifice bunt and Moreno later singled, scoring Nico Moran in the process giving Tarleton a 9-0 lead.
 
Moran highlighted the Texan fourth inning with his two-run single up the middle, but the Texans scored four runs altogether in the inning to extend the lead to 13-0.
 
The Wildcats finally got onto the board with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the fourth inning to pull within 11 runs of the Texans, down 13-2.
 
Musgrove led off the sixth inning with a walk and he moved to second when Evan Robinson was hit by a pitch. Moran drove in his third run of the game with a single to center field making it a 14-2 game in favor of the Texans.
 
ACU led off the bottom half of the sixth inning with a pair of singles and then those runners came around to score on Kyle Conwell's double down the left field line, making it just a 10-run game with the Texans up 14-4. Conwell later scored on an unassisted out by the first baseman, but Perez then got out of the inning with a fly out to center field and Tarleton leading 14-5.
 
Lajide singled home Small in the top of the seventh inning to give Tarleton back a 10-run lead over the Wildcats, 15-5, and Perez shutdown the ACU batters down in order in the bottom of the frame to give the Texans the win by run-rule.
 
Tarleton won its fourth consecutive game over the Wildcats dating back to last season and have now won five out of the last six contests over ACU. The Texans moved to 7-6-1 on the season with the win, while the Wildcats fall to 7-7 overall.
 
Moran led the Texans at the dish on Thursday, tallying four hits in five trips to the plate. He knocked in a game high four runs on the evening as well. Moreno and Lajide each tallied a pair of hits for the Texans in the game, while Boothe, Small and Olive eache recorded two base hits apiece.
 
The Texans will be back in action tomorrow with the second game of the ACU/Whitten Inn Classic. Tarleton will take on Cameron with a first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. in Abilene. Miguel Ramirez (1-0) is scheduled to the mound for the Texans tomorrow.