HOUSTON – An eight-run bottom of the first inning proved too costly for Tarleton to overcome Saturday night as the Texans dropped their second straight game of the Winter Invitational 12-3 to No. 6 St. Cloud State.
 
The Texans (2-3) will wrap up its fourth annual trip to Minute Maid Park with a rematch against No. 16 Henderson State at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow afternoon. Tarleton took two of three from the Reddies in Arkadelphia, Arkansas last weekend to open the season 2-1.
 
Jake Hasbrouck, a sophomore from Ault, Colorado, got things started for Tarleton in the top half of the opening frame when the Rocky Mountain Slugger blasted away to deep right field for a two-run homer to put Tarleton up 2-0. The blast came following a two-out, ground-rule double into the right field corner from Elijah Christenson.
 
After that, things turned sour.
 
Starter Zach Freeman would record only one out as the Huskies got to him for six runs on three hits and two walks, three hits, and a fielder's choice. He was relieved by Alex Gagne, who got the final two outs the first and one out in the second for 1.0 inning of four-run work on four hits and six walks. Tarleton trailed 10-2 after the first two frames.
 
Troyal Yosko brought stability out of the pen, beginning by serving up a double play ball on his first pitch out of the pen to end the second inning. He surrendered two more runs in the third, but that would be the last of the Huskie runs. Yosko finished the game with 3.2 innings of work, allowing two runs on three hits and two walks.
 
The senior gave way to Michael Biasello in the sixth inning and the redshirt sophomore pitched three scoreless innings of relief in his Tarleton debut, giving up just two hits and a walk.
 
Meanwhile, the Tarleton offense stepped up and kept the game alive in the seventh when Dylan Kuhn singled to left field in his first Texan at bat. He moved to second on a wild pitch and to third on an infield hit from Landon Thompson. The run that kept the game alive came when Kuhn scored on a bang-bang play at the plate on another Huskie wild pitch.
 
Hasbrouck recorded two of Tarleton's five hits on the night before being lifted for a pinch hitter. Christenson, Kuhn, and Thompson had the other three hits.