STEPHENVILLE – Tarleton needed a bounce-back win against Cameron on Saturday and
Nathan Hickey came through on the mound with the best outing of his career by tossing a complete game, two-hit shutout in a 7-0 win.
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It's the longest outing of Hickey's career, as the junior right-hander threw all nine innings. Hickey (8-2) matched a career high with eight strikeouts and only walked one. The only hits Hickey allowed were a two-out, soft-lining double in the fifth and a two-out single to shallow right field in the seventh.
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Hickey ran into trouble only once in the nine innings and it came in the first. Cameron reached base on a throwing error and the runner later advanced to third with one out, but Hickey retired the next two Aggie hitters in order. It was the only time an Aggie base runner reached third in the game.
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Hickey had five innings in which he retired the side in order and posted an impressive stretch where he sat down 12 Aggies in order after he gave up his first hit. Hickey got stronger as the game went on, too, recording five of his eight strikeouts in the final three innings.
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Offensively, Tarleton gave Hickey all the run support he needed in the first two innings.
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In the first,
Francisco Rodriguez's speed and base running abilities came into play, as Rodriguez led off the inning with a single and would come all the way around to score on a Cameron throwing error.
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The Texan bats opened the gates in the second inning, scoring five runs to give Hickey plenty of cushion to work with.
Trevor Inman led off the inning with a single and
Jose Reyes walked to set the Texans up in a bunting situation. But Rodriguez laid down a perfect bunt down the third-base line to load the bases for
Austin Call. Call triple to center and cleared the bases for a 4-0 lead.
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Tarleton would score two more runs on a fielder's choice ground out by
Ben Mauseth and
Dylan Lemons scored on a wild pitch.
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The Texans added one more run for good measure in the eighth, when Inman singled to lead off the inning and later scored on Reyes' sacrifice fly.
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The Texans pounded out 10 hits in the ballgame, led by Rodriguez (2-for-5, two runs), Call (2-for-4, three RBI) and Inman (2-for-4, two runs).
Dylan Lemons,
Blake Adams,
Jake Hasbrouck and
Ben Mauseth all had hits in the game as well.
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Tarleton will close out the regular season with senior night on Sunday with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. The Texans will honor its seniors before the first game.