STEPHENVILLE – After Mother Nature put its imprint on this series by delaying it two days, Tarleton made a statement of its own by sweeping the Sunday afternoon doubleheader against Eastern New Mexico.
 
The teams will meet tomorrow at 12 p.m., which is a change from the originally scheduled 1 p.m. first pitch, for the final two games of the series at Cecil Ballow Baseball Complex.
  
Led by four-RBI performances from the top two hitters in the lineup, Tarleton blasted Eastern New Mexico 14-3 in the series opener.
 
After Eastern New Mexico scored the first run of the game in the opening frame, Tarleton evened the score with a sacrifice fly from Garret Kizer. It was in the second inning, however, that Tarleton took control of the game for good.
 
The Texans broke the game open with their first four-run inning of the game when Landon Merka plated the first two of his four RBIs with a two-run double to left center. After Stacy Heinatz came in to score on a wild pitch, Tarleton extended its lead to 5-1 with an RBI single from Alec Humphreys to cap off the Tarleton frame.
 
Tarleton tacked on two more in the third on an RBI hit by pitch from Heinatz and an RBI fielder's choice from Merka to take a 7-1 advantage before the Greyhounds managed to crack the run column for the second time in the top of the fourth.
 
In the bottom of the fourth, the Texans saw the Greyhounds one run and raised them two more with a three spot in the inning with a two-RBI single from Zach McCown and a bases-loaded walk from Merka to push the Tarleton lead to 10-2 after four innings.
 
While the Greyhounds managed only one more solo run in the top of the seventh, Tarleton had one more big inning left in the tank with a four spot in the bottom of the sixth. The Texans scored one on an RBI single from Heinatz before Humphreys cleared the bases with a three-RBI double to put the finishing touches on the Tarleton run column.
 
The 14 runs came in support of Trevor Renfro, who improved to 4-0 on the season with four innings of work over which he struck out seven. Troyal Yosko pitched an inning of scoreless relief before Daniel Bogue handled the final six outs of the game.
 
Merka and Humphreys each drove in four RBIs while McCown and Heinatz each drove in two RBIs on the day. Humphreys went 3-for-5 at the dish while McCown, Matt Olive, and Heinatz each had two hits in the bottom of the order. Merka, Thompson, and Wrye had one hit each to round out the 12-hit Tarleton attack.
  
In the nightcap, Jacob French turned in a dominant performance from the mound while his offense provided plenty of support in a 10-3 win over the Greyhounds to complete the day one sweep.
 
Over the opening four-and-a-half innings of work, the game was an absolute pitcher's duel as the only difference in the run column was a Jake Hasbrouck sacrifice fly to straight away centerfield.
 
In the bottom of the fifth, Landon Merka got things going with a single to centerfield that ultimately came around to score, along with Landon Thompson, on a two-run single from Garret Kizer. Tarleton tacked on two more in the fifth on a McCown two-run single up the middle to extend the Tarleton lead to 5-0.
 
Eastern New Mexico answered in the sixth with an unearned run off French, which turned out to be his only blemish in an otherwise stellar performance from the mound. The senior from Kingwood dealt for eight innings with seven strikeouts for his first win in over a full calendar year.
 
The Texans continued to pile on two innings later by scoring five runs with two outs in the inning.
 
After McCown was hit by a pitch, Zach Fleet singled, and Hunter Seales reached on an error to load the bases, Heinatz came up with a two-RBI double down the left field line. Merka plated two on a hit and an error to third base before Humphreys drove in the final run of the night with an RBI double down the left field line for a 10-1 Tarleton lead. Eastern scored two in the final inning before Will Blanchard record the final out.
 
Humphreys had his second straight three hit performance while Merka, Thompson, and Kizer each had multi-hit efforts with two each. McCown, Fleet, Olive, and Heinatz had one hit each to round out the 13-hit attack.