Box Score STEPHENVILLE, Texas – The No. 24 Tarleton Texan Baseball team moved two games ahead of Abilene Christian in the Lone Star Conference standings with a 9-2 win over the Wildcats at Cecil Ballow Baseball Complex in Stephenville on Friday.
 
The Texans moved to 26-13-1 overall on the season and are now 15-6 in the LSC standings following the first game of a four-game set. It was Tarleton's fifth-straight win over the Wildcats, who dropped to 25-17 overall and 13-8 in the conference.
 
Matt Buckmaster (W, 7-2) allowed a pair of hits to the first three batters before settling down to record 11 consecutive outs over the next three-plus innings. The senior southpaw gave up one run to the visiting team in the sixth inning and another in the ninth, but his offense backed him up with 16 hits on and all of the run-support that he needed while recording his fifth complete game of the season.
 
The entire Texan line-up recorded at least one hit on the day with Rustin Thomas and Fola Lajide leading the charge after collecting three hits apiece on Friday. All of Thomas' three hits went for doubles and Lajide drove in a pair of runs batted in. Ryan Small tallied a pair of hits and drove in a game-high three RBI.
 
The Texan offense got to ACU starting pitcher Austin Palmer (L, 3-3) early, scoring a pair of runs in the first inning to take a 2-0 advantage. Palmer allowed just one run over the next four innings before his day came to an end in the bottom of the sixth inning after giving up three more runs that gave Tarleton a 6-1 lead.
 
Jordan Herrera relieved Palmer in the sixth and did not allow a run in his 1.2 innings of work, but Nick Palacios came into the game in the bottom of the eighth where he gave up three runs on four hits.
 
The three runs off Palacios pushed Tarleton's lead to 9-1 before ACU got one final run in the game in the top of the ninth inning. Buckmaster closed the game out with a called strike three on Rodge Macy, giving the Texan six K's in the game.
 
Tarleton's Nico Moran, Luke Slentz and Noah Ringenberger were each hit by a pitch on Friday, giving Tarleton a total of 95 hit batters on the season – just one shy of tying the school record of 96 HBP that was recorded in head coach Bryan Conger's first season with the Texans in 2009.
 
Both teams will be back in action again tomorrow for a twin-bill that is set to get underway at 2 p.m. Pete Perez (3-1) is set to take the mound for the Texans in game one with Miguel Ramirez (6-1) scheduled to start game two.
 
Tomorrow's action will be aired live in the Stephenville area on KTRL 90.5 FM, or can be heard via webstream by logging onto www.ktrl.fm.