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Box Score 2 WICHITA FALLS – Tarleton State dropped both games of the series opening doubleheader at Midwestern State Friday night and will look to turn things around in the regular season finale at 12 p.m. tomorrow from Mustang Field.
Game 1: Midwestern State 13, Tarleton 5 (5)
Tarleton maintained complete control over the first three and a half innings before the Mustangs scored 12 runs – including 10 in the fifth – to end the first game two innings early at 13-5.
Carrying the offensive momentum of scoring 14 runs over two games against No. 23 Texas Woman's last week, Tarleton's offense continued its torrid pace by scoring one in the first, two in the second and two in the fourth to take a 5-1 lead over the Mustangs.
Amber Clifford got Tarleton on the board first with an RBI single up the middle to plate
Kelsey Latta.
After MSU tied the game in the bottom of the first, Tarleton tacked on two more in the second on a pair of two-out, RBI singles from
Kelsey Latta and
Melody Mayse for a 3-1 TexAnn advantage. Meanwhile, Tarleton starter
Randi Fentress kept the Mustang offense in check by posting goose eggs over the next two innings.
Tarleton extended the lead to 5-1 when a 2-RBI single from
Erika Menchaca scored Mayse and
Katelyn Conlee.
After that point, however, the Mustang bats took over by scoring two in the bottom of the fourth on a two-run double and 10 in the fifth highlighted by a three-run home run. The 10-spot is the most runs Tarleton has allowed in an inning this season and was enough to end the game at that point.
Brenna Hennan took the loss after pitching 1.1 innings of relief allowing eight runs – seven earned – on five hits and four walks. Fentress pitched three complete innings allowing five runs on seven hits and two walks.
The Tarleton offense managed seven hits with Latta and Mayse recording two each and Conlee, Clifford and Menchaca accounting for the other three.
Game 2: Midwestern State 12, Tarleton 0 (5)
Midwestern State carried its momentum over from game one by jumping out to an early five-run lead as Tarleton found itself on the wrong side of a perfect game.
The Mustangs scored five in the first, four in the second and three in the third to account for their 12 runs while the Mustang starter tossed a five-inning perfect game.
Hennan took the game two loss as well, this time in the starting role, allowing five runs on two walks and three hits without recording an out in the first inning. Fentress pitched 2.2 innings of relief allowing seven runs on six hits and four walks.
Conlee pitched 1.1 innings of scoreless relief allowing just one hit and striking out one.
Tarleton and Midwestern State will face off in the regular season finale tomorrow at 12 p.m. from Mustang Park in Wichita Falls. The TexAnns have already secured the No. 6 seed in the Lone Star Conference Championship Tournament next weekend.
