Box Score CANYON, Texas – The Tarleton Texan Baseball team's run in the Lone Star Conference Championship Tournament came to an end Sunday evening following a 10-9 loss to Texas A&M-Kingsville at Wilder Park in Canyon.
 
Tarleton fell behind 10-5 following a six-run sixth inning from the Javelinas, but the Texans battled back and came within a run of TAMUK on Rustin Thomas' grand slam with two outs in the top of the eighth inning.
 
Texan reliever Britt Robertshaw worked the final 2.1 innings for the Texans and he shut down the side in the bottom of the seventh inning to give Tarleton one more shot heading into the top of the ninth.
 
TAMUK's Jeremy Flores entered the game in the top of the ninth inning for the Javelinas and he got Colten Boothe to foul out to the first baseman for the first out of the inning. Fola Lajide then battled Flores and nearly hit the ball out of the yard twice, but both attempts went foul. Lajide ended up grounding out to third base, giving way to pinch hitter Mike Keegan. Keegan fought off a host of fastballs from Flores before striking out and ending the championship run for the Texans.
 
Flores picked up his 12^th save of the season, working the final inning of the game ahead of two Javelinas relievers. Matt Rhodes (W, 7-3) got the win as he gave up five runs on eight hits in his six full innings of work. Cody Williams worked 1.2 inning in relief of Rhodes and was on the mound when  Thomas hit his four-run bomb.
 
Kody Thiebaud (L, 1-1) was saddled with the loss for the Texans, giving up five runs on three hits in 1.1 innings of work. Troyal Yosko got the start for the Texans while both Garrett Kelly and Landon Thompson saw action on Sunday evening as well.
 
The Texans, ranked No. 18 in the nation heading into the weekend, dropped to 34-16-1 overall on the season. The Javelinas improved to 38-15 overall and will face Angelo State tomorrow at 1 p.m. in the championship final.
 
Tarleton will await an at-large bid from the NCAA into the South Central Regional, which will be announced next Sunday, May 12. Tarleton ranked No. 5 in this week's latest regional rankings. The top six teams in the region will earn a trip to the regional.