SAN ANTONIO – Tarleton won its first game of the weekend after knocking off East Central in its tournament opener before the No. 10 TexAnns suffered their first loss of the season in a 1-0 pitcher's duel against St. Edward's.
Game 1: No. 10 Tarleton 6, East Central 3
Tarleton opened the tournament by scoring at least one run in every inning over the final five frames to beat the Tigers 6-3 and start the season 3-0 for the first time since 2011.
After a
Katelyn Conlee double in the first and a
Mikayla Stogsdill walk in the second were the only signs of life for the first two innings, East Central got the scoring started in the bottom of the second with an RBI groundout.
Tarleton's offense came to life with a one-out single from
Melody Mayse and an RBI double from
Savannah Stech that tied the game at 1-1. The Tigers plated one in the bottom of the third and another in the fourth while Tarleton plated a pair of their own in the fourth on
Delaney Wayland's second home run of the season – a two-run shot to left for a three spot, which ultimately sent the game into the top of the fifth in a 3-3 tie.
In the fifth, Tarleton took the lead for the final time when Mayse scored on a
Nyka Wood sacrifice fly.
Meanwhile,
Haley Freyman, who entered the game in the fourth and recorded the final two outs of the inning, kept the Tigers off the board over the final three innings of work while her offense tacked on one in the sixth on a bases-loaded walk by Stech and one more in the seventh when
Avery Mullendore scored on a passed ball.
Freyman earned the win out of the bullpen for her second victory of the season with 3.2 innings of shutout work, allowing just two hits and a walk. She came on in relief of starter
Shelby Hedrick, who went the opening 3.1 innings and allowed three runs – two earned – on seven hits and two walks.
The offense totaled six runs on seven hits, including two from Mayse in the leadoff spot. Stech, Conlee, Allen,
Taylor Fitzgerald, and Wayland had one each.
Game 2: St. Edward's 1, Tarleton 0
In an immediate turnaround from their win over East Central, No. 10 Tarleton found itself on the wrong side of a pitcher's duel against the Hilltoppers.
St. Edward's struck for its only run of the game in the top of the first on an error that ultimately came around to score with two outs. With two away, the Hilltopper cleanup hitter reached on a single to the infield and got stuck in, what turned out to be, an inning-ending rundown that allowed the runner to score from second base to give St. Edward's a 1-0 lead.
That would be all the scoring action this game would see, although the TexAnns had their chances – none bigger than a bases-loaded chance in the third.
Lauren Powers and Mayse went back-to-back with a single and a double before Stech walked to load the bases with one away. A strikeout and a fly out, however, would end the TexAnn threat.
Tarleton loaded them up again in the fifth with one away, but couldn't cash in, while the Hilltoppers loaded the bases for the only time in the game in the sixth before Freyman got a groundball to shortstop to end the inning. Freyman continued her dominance in the seventh by striking out the side to give the TexAnns one final shot to extend or win the game.
Mayse singled to lead things off and moved to second on a Stech sacrifice before Conlee was walked to set up first and second with one away, but a pop up and a line drive right into the glove of the Hilltopper third baseman finished the game and handed Tarleton its first loss of the season.
Freyman took the tough-luck loss, allowing one unearned run on three hits and three walks with a career-high nine strikeouts. Her nine K's topped her previous career best of seven against Southern Nazarene on February 6, 2015.
Despite the shutout, Tarleton outhit the Hilltoppers 5-3 with Mayse going 2-3 at the dish and Conlee, Stogsdill, and Powers accounting for the other three hits.
Tarleton will return to action at 10 a.m. against Heartland Conference rival Lubbock Christian Friday morning.
