PORTALES, NM – Led by Jacob French on the mound and Alec Humphreys at the plate, Tarleton defeated Eastern New Mexico 6-5 at Greyhound Field Friday night.
 
"The boys came out today and did a good job of attacking from the beginning," said head coach Bryan Conger. "We were able to take advantage of some opportunities early and it paid dividends late. Tomorrow will present us with a chance to come out and compete and see how many pitches we can win."
 
The Texans (16-21) jumped out to an early lead over the Greyhounds when Humphreys singled to right to drive in Forrest Perron, who stole second and third after a leadoff walk, for the game's first run. Humphreys would steal second to set up the scoring opportunity for Hunter Seales, who singled to left for a 2-0 Texan lead. The Texans stole a season-high six bases on the night.
 
Perron and Humphreys were at it again in the second inning, with Perron and Humphreys hitting back-to-back RBI doubles to put Tarleton up 4-0. Humprheys finished 4-for-5 at the plate with two RBIs and a run and raised his average to a team-best .352 on the year.
 
Landon Merka would add a third-inning run on a single to center that scored Garrett Kizer. Merka went 2-for-4 at the plate with a walk.
 
The five runs are all French would need on the mound for Tarleton, as the senior went 7 1/3 innings on the hill and tied a season high with seven strikeouts.
 
French (4-3) retired the side in order to lead off the game and allowed a one-out single in the second, but would later pickoff the runner at first for his team-leading fourth pickoff.
 
French faced some trouble in the third inning after giving up his first run on an RBI single and the Greyhounds had bases loaded with one out. But the senior fought his way through by getting a strikeout for the second out and a groundout to third to end the threat.
 
After a three-up, three-down inning in the fourth for French, ENMU had runners at second and third with one out when French once again got out of a jam with a strikeout and ground out.
 
French retired six straight in the sixth and seventh inning before a pitching change in the eighth.
 
Landon Thompson would add a sixth run that proved to be crucial for the final innings when he drove home Jake Hasbrouck for a 6-1 lead.
 
ENMU scored a pair of runs in the eighth and two more in the ninth but Zach Freeman closed the door on a strikeout after the Greyhounds and runners at first and third with two outs.
 
Tarleton, who sits a game and a half behind Cameron for the fourth and final playoff spot in the LSC tournament, will resume the series tomorrow with a doubleheader against the Greyhounds starting a 2 p.m. CT.