STEPHENVILLE – Tarleton dropped its series opener to West Texas A&M 10-6 at Cecil Ballow Complex on Friday.
 
The bats woke up for the Texans, who recorded 11 hits in the game, and the six runs scored were the most since March 20, but the Buffs scored nine runs in the final four innings to pull away.
 
Landon Thompson led off the bottom of the second for Tarleton with a solo homer to left field, his fourth of the season, to put the Texans up 1-0.
 
Jacob French started on the mound and held WT scoreless through three innings before the Buffs tied the game up at 1-1 on a sacrifice fly in the fourth. French came out in the fifth inning and struck out the first two batters that led to another scoreless frame. However, four straight hits by the Buffs and a pair of runs would lead to a pitching change. French took the loss and falls to 3-3 on the year.
 
Tarleton responded with a pair of runs of its own in the bottom half of the six that started with Jake Hasbrouck's single to center. With Hasbrouck on second and Hunter Seales on first, a double steal was called and an errant throw to left field by the WT catcher allowed Hasbrouck to score and moved Seales to third who later scored on a sacrifice fly from Landon Merka to make it a 4-3 game.
 
After WT added two runs in the seventh, Tarleton looked poised for a big inning after three straight hits on a double from Zach Fleet, a single by Forrest Perron and an RBI single by Alec Humphreys that chased starter Brooks Trujillo from the game. However, with the bases loaded and two outs, Tarleton couldn't bring any more runs across. The Texans stranded nine men on base.
 
 The Buffs put up four runs in the ninth on a solo home run by Nick Chapman and two-run double by Roberto Carrasco. Seales would cut into the lead on a two-run home run in the ninth for Tarleton, his third of the season, but the next two hitters were retired to end the game.
 
Humphrey's led the Texans offensively with a 3-for-5 afternoon, while Fleet and Perron added two hits each.

The Texans close out the series against the Buffs with a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 1 p.m.