STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Tarleton cruised to a mercy rule shutout victory in the first game of a rescheduled doubleheader against Grambling State, then lost a big first inning cushion in the second game to split the day against the Lady Tigers.
The Texans (19-17, 3-3 WAC) hosted their first games at the Tarleton Softball Complex in over two weeks, a day later than planned due to an altered schedule out of the Lady Tigers' (20-12-1, 6-3 SWAC) control.
Tarleton is now 11-4 at home this year, while Grambling State moved to 5-3 on the road, 12-8 away from Grambling, Louisiana.
Tarleton 10, Grambling State 0 (6 Innings)
Hits were hard to come by early in the first game before Tarleton exploded in the fourth inning, turning a 2-0 lead into a 7-0 advantage.
Katy Schaefer then hit a walk-off three-run home run in the sixth inning to end the game in run-rule fashion.
Grace Garcia (10-4) went the distance in her shutout victory, allowing just four hits, two walks and a hit batter across six innings, striking out five. In Tarleton's 19 wins, Garcia has accounted for more than half of them.
She sat the Lady Tigers in order to start the game, and the Texans plated one in the bottom half on a
Kelci Hill sacrifice fly, scoring
Austin Germain, to take the early 1-0 lead.
Garcia got out of her biggest risk of an inning in the second, popping out the Lady Tigers to escape a bases loaded jam. Tarleton again plated one in the bottom half, a Germain RBI groundout.
In the fourth, the first four Texans reached, with the first run scoring on a Germain RBI walk.
Morgan Medford followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 4-0 Texans, then back-to-back singles made it 7-0, with Hill earning the first to score one, then Schaefer the next to score two. Schaefer followed up in her next at-bat with the walk-off blast, smoking a ball over the left field wall to give Tarleton a 10-run win.
Tarleton outhit Grambling State 8-4 in the opener. Schaefer went 3-for-3 with a walk, posting five RBI and a run.
Kayla Wallace went 2-for-3 with a run. Hill went 1-for-2 with a walk, two RBI and two runs. Germain had two walks, two RBI and two runs.
Tristyn Trull and
Brady Rowland each had a hit and a run, Medford had a walk, an RBI and a run, and
Ashlee LaRue walked twice, scoring a run.
Grambling State 7, Tarleton 6
Tarleton jumped out to a five-run lead in the first inning and then the bats went cold, allowing the Lady Tigers to come all the way back and plate the go-ahead and eventual game-winning run in the seventh inning.
The Lady Tigers scored their first run of the day in the first inning in the second game, but the Texan deficit didn't last long. Tarleton opened its half with three straight singles, scoring two runs on Hill's to take back the lead. Wallace then scored
Kiana Gibson with an RBI double to make it 3-1, followed by a
Brittany Coe bases clearing three RBI double to put Tarleton ahead 6-1.
Offensively, the Texans had 10 straight outs in-between the first and fourth innings, plus had no hits the rest of the game, getting their lone runner on base over the final six innings via a walk in the fourth.
Grambling State's Dacia Richard (6-3) had the strong outing in relief, coming on in the second, allowing no runs on no hits and a walk in 6.0 IP, striking out four.
Garcia (10-5) took the result for the second time on the day, this time a loss in relief, allowing three runs (two earned) on three hits and a walk in 2.1 IP, striking out three.
Kennedy Ferguson got the start, going 4.0 IP, giving up one earned run on four hits and two walks, with two strikeouts.
Makenzie Dunbar pitched in-between those two, allowing three runs (zero earned) on three hits in 0.2 IP.
Despite the cold bats, Tarleton was still poised to sweep the day. The Texans held a 6-1 lead into the fifth inning until the Lady Tigers sent eight to bat in the frame, scoring three to make it a 6-4 game.
Tarleton held that two-run lead into the final inning. Garcia had back-to-back strikeouts with no damage done and a runner on first, before a single, triple and error plated three Lady Tigers to give them the lead. The Texans went in order in the bottom half to end the game.
Grambling State outhit Tarleton 10-5 in the second game. Germain (one walk, one run), Medford (one run), Hill (two RBI, one run), Wallace (one RBI, one run) and Coe (three RBI) each had a hit. Gibson and Trull each had a walk and a run.
As part of a four-day stretch that sees five games played at the Tarleton Softball Complex, the Texans return to WAC action on Friday against California Baptist at home for a doubleheader beginning at 4 p.m. CT.
