STEPHENVILLE – A Katelyn Conlee walk-off in game one and a 17-hit offensive explosion in game two lifted Tarleton to a day-one sweep of Eastern New Mexico in Friday's Lone Star Conference doubleheader.
 
"Our seniors really did a great job of stepping up tonight," said head coach Julie Mata. "I was proud of our defense against a very good hitting team. We barreled up the ball and did a great job with quality at bats."
   
With two outs and extra innings looming on deck, Lauren Powers, Nyka Wood, and Katelyn Conlee strung together three straight hits – including a walk-off double off the left field wall by Conlee – to deliver Tarleton a series-opening win 3-2 against the Greyhounds Friday.
 
Tarleton got on the board first when an RBI double down the left field line from Nyka Wood plated Melody Mayse, who led off the inning with a walk and two stolen bases. After that, however, Tarleton went the next four innings without a run while the Greyhounds built a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the sixth.
 
That's when Nyka Wood stepped up to the dish.
 
Not feeling the thought of being behind anymore, Wood crushed a tape-measure home run ball over the scoreboard with a deep left-center shot to knot the game up at 2-2 heading into the final frame. For Wood, it improved her team-high lead in home runs to eight and RBIs to 44.
 
After Haley Freyman worked around a one-out single to keep it tied at 2-2, Tarleton faced a two-out situation despite nearly getting a walk-off home run from Melody Mayse. She blasted a towering fly ball down the right field line that was called foul by inches.
 
Following a groundout gave Tarleton two outs, Lauren Powers kept the game alive by dropping a single right in front of the centerfielder. Wood followed up with a single up the middle to bring up Conlee, who wasted no time in getting her pitch. Conlee ripped a double off the opposite-field wall to plate Powers and send Tarleton into the win column 3-2.
 
Tarleton had eight hits in the game, led by a 3-for-4 night at the plate by Wood. Lauren Powers also had a multi-hit effort with two singles while Conlee, Alyssa Ringhausen, and Savannah Stech rounded out the Tarleton offense.
 
Meanwhile, Haley Freyman notched her 22^nd win of the season and the 45^th of her career with a complete-game effort. The sophomore allowed two runs – only one earned – on nine hits while striking out six.
   
Tarleton pounded the Eastern New Mexico pitching staff to the tune of 14 runs and 17 hits while Shelby Hedrick hurled a four-hit shutout from the circle to sweep day one.
 
Nyka Wood continued her dominance of the Greyhound pitching early on with an RBI single up the middle in the opening frame of game two to put Tarleton up 1-0.
 
In the second inning, the entire TexAnn lineup went to work on Greyhound pitching.
 
Tarleton scored nine runs on nine hits in the inning, coming up one base hit shy of tying a 20-year old record of 10 base hits in a single inning. The inning erupted when Lauren Powers unloaded the bases with a triple to the right-center gap for a 4-1 Tarleton lead.
 
After the Powers triple, the TexAnns continued to power base hits across the park. Katelyn Conlee singled into left for an RBI. Rebeka Allen ripped a two-RBI double into left center to chase the ENMU starter. Avery Mullendore double to right center to bring home Allen and then Taylor Fitzgerald capped off the surge with a home run to left center for the ninth run of the inning and a 10-0 Tarleton lead.
 
While Shelby Hedrick continued to keep Eastern off the board from the circle, Tarleton continued to pour it on with three more in the third. Wood, Conlee and Stech loaded the bases with one out before Allen drove in her third run of the game with a sacrifice fly to center. Mullendore stepped up with a two-out double into left field for her fourth RBIs of the contest and a 13-0 Tarleton lead.
 
Tarleton tacked on its final run of the game in the fourth when Mayse led off the inning with a triple and Powers singled her home for a 14-0 advantage.
 
Meanwhile, Hedrick polished off her complete game shutout with three straight outs in the fifth. Hedrick only faced four over the minimum for the game, allowing four hits and not walking a batter en route to the win.
 
She got plenty of run support from the 17 base hits from the TexAnn offense. Mayse and Mullendore each had three hits while Powers, Conlee, Hedrick, and Stech had two hits each. Wood, Allen, and Fitzgerald had one hit each to give every Tarleton starter at least one hit for the night.
 
Tarleton will look to take the series tomorrow with a 2 p.m. doubleheader against the Greyhounds, after which they will recognize their five seniors.