ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – No. 21 Tarleton flexed their muscles and added two more tallies to the win column by beating Henderson State and Missouri-St. Louis in the first day of the McGhee/Hawkins Invitational Saturday.
Due to weather in the area, tomorrow's doubleheader has been moved up to 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
Game 1: No. 21 Tarleton 6, Henderson State 5
Tarleton needed a late rally to upend tournament co-host Henderson State in Saturday's opening game.
The Texans struck first when
Morgan Ling blasted off the left center for a one-out long ball to put Tarleton up 1-0. It was the first home run of the season for Ling.
After Henderson State answered with two runs in their half of the second, Tarleton was quick to return the favor. The Texans retook the lead on a two-out, two-run home run from catcher
Shelby Carter to take a 3-2 edge. That lead carried into the bottom of the fourth.
The Reddies put up a three spot in the bottom of the fourth to take a 5-3 lead and took that edge all the way to the sixth inning.
Tarleton would not be denied of their fifth victory this season as the Texans mustered a three-run inning of their own on a two-run double from
Kadyn Kirkpatrick and a sacrifice fly from
Jessica Lee to tie and give Tarleton the lead in back-to-back at bats.
Jordan Withrow retired six of the final seven batters she faced to polish off the win. She completed all seven innings for her fourth win of the season and struck out seven.
Kirkpatrick enjoyed a three-hit performance at the dish with a pair of RBI while
Georgia Capell,
Morgan Medford and Ling each had two base hits.
Destiny Crumpley,
Kristen Zuehl, and Carter had one hit each to round out the 12-hit performance.
Game 2: No. 21 Tarleton 9, Missouri-St. Louis 1 (6)
A six-run third inning sparked Tarleton and
Shelby Carter walked it off early with a sacrifice fly with two outs in the sixth to deliver the eight-run victory for the Texans.
UMSL struck first with a first-inning run but
Tristan Bridges kept them off the board the rest of the way to earn her first win of the season in the circle. Bridges allowed three hits and struck out four in her six-inning complete game.
Kristen Zuehl tied the game with an RBI single in the second and then Tarleton broke it open in the third with the six-run frame.
Destiny Crumpley got it started with an RBI double and then Tarleton added runs on a three-run triple from Zuehl and RBI singles from
Kadyn Kirkpatrick and
Hallie Saintignan extended the lead out to 7-1.
Morgan Medford added a two-out RBI single in the fourth and then Carter ended it with outs in the sixth on a sacrifice fly to plate Saintignan, who led off with a walk.
Zuehl paced the offense with two hits and four RBI while Crumpley and Carter also boasted two-hit efforts. Saintignan, Capell, Medford and Kirkpatrick rounded out the offense with one hit each.
The Texans will close out their weekend road trip with a doubleheader at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. against Mississippi College and Ouachita Baptist, respectively. The Texans will move across the street from Henderson State to Ouachita Baptist for the final two games.
