STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Tarleton baseball debuted its newly renovated complex on a chilly Friday afternoon and earned a victory in its home opener, 12-4 over Stonehill College.
 
The Texans (3-2) used smart baserunning (eight stolen bases), timely hitting and had four pitchers with scoreless appearances in the victory. They only outhit Stonehill (0-1) by just one hit, nine to eight, but the Skyhawks scored in just one frame, the seventh inning.

Will Stevens earned the start for the Texans, hurling 4.0 shutout innings allowing just two hits. He struck out seven and walked three and was just an inning shy of picking up the win.
 
That honor went to freshman and Stephenville native Reece Elston (W, 1-0) who earned his first collegiate win, pitching 2.0 scoreless innings and striking out three.
 
Offensively, the Texans were led by Alec Williams' two hits and three RBI and Payton Pennington's three RBI, two walks and a hit. Jack Wagner also added two RBI.
 
The Texans opened the game up with two runs in the bottom of the first as Mason Hammonds tagged up to score on a Cris Enriquez foul out to right field. Jaime Perez later scored in the inning as Kooper Shook reached on a throwing error by the Skyhawk shortstop to make it 2-0 Tarleton.
 
Tarleton plated four in the third to stretch its lead to 6-0 as Wagner, Williams and Dylan Kurahashi-Choy Foo picked up RBI.
 
The biggest inning for the Texans offensively was the eighth when they scored five runs. Wagner hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score Hammonds, Williams hit a two-run double to left center field and Pennington placed a single in right center field to score two.
 
Ryan Jacobs tossed two scoreless innings for Tarleton, entering in the top of the seventh and pitching through the ninth. He had four strikeouts and walked three. Jake Burcham entered for the Texans in the ninth and punched out the side, getting three straight Skyhawks swinging.
 
Stonehill starting pitcher Brendan Kelly (L, 0-1) was tagged with the loss as he pitched 5.0 innings allowing five earned runs on five hits to go with three walks. Stonehill shortstop Jack Marshall finished with two hits to lead the way for them.
 
The Skyhawks put a scare into the Texans in the seventh inning, bringing across four runs in the inning to make it a two-run deficit for Stonehill at 6-4.
 
The two teams will return to action on Saturday for a doubleheader with first pitch of game one set for 2 p.m. CT. Game two will follow 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one. Both will be streamed on ESPN+.