BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Tarleton led Texas A&M for six innings of play on Tuesday evening at Blue Bell Park, but a late three-run home run from the Aggies paired with a close call in the top of the ninth saw the Texans fall 6-5.
With the bases loaded in the top of the ninth and the Texans trailing 6-5 with one out,
Jordan Andrade stepped in to pinch hit for
Payton Pennington. Andrade hit a ground ball to the Aggie third baseman who turned the 5-4-3 double play to seemingly end the game.
However, upon replay it appeared the play at first base was closer than it looked, and Andrade may have beaten the throw or at least touched first base as the ball was arriving in the glove. The umpires went into an official review for a few minutes, but ultimately decided the call on the field stood. Had it been overturned,
Alec Williams would have scored from third and the game would have been tied 6-6.
Tarleton got the scoring started with a run in the second inning as
Dylan Kurahashi-Choy Foo sent a rocket over the left field wall, a no-doubt solo home run, his third of the season.
A&M tied the game at one with a sacrifice fly from Trevor Werner in the third inning.
The teams traded scoreless fourth and fifth innings.
Piercen McElyea got the start on the mound for Tarleton and had a quality start, throwing 5.0 innings allowing one run on one hit. He walked five and struck out three.
The sixth inning saw the most action of the game for both teams. The Texans took a 4-1 lead as
Jack Wagner hit a three-run home run, his team-leading 12th, to left field to score a pair of Mason's in
Mason Hammonds and
Mason Crews.
A&M answered back with two runs off back-to-back RBI singles from Jordan Thompson and Max Kaufer, but the Texans left the sixth inning with a 4-3 lead.
Zach Poe entered in the bottom of the sixth and pitched through the seventh. He threw 1.1 scoreless innings, allowing a lone hit while striking out two and walking one.
The eighth inning ultimately did the Texans in as Aggie shortstop Hunter Haas hit a three-run home run off Tarleton's
Jake Burcham to take a 6-4 lead.
Zane Badmaev entered in the eighth and got the final two outs, striking Trevor Werner out and inducing a groundout to Wagner at first base.
Tarleton scored in the ninth as Crews hit an RBI infield single to the shortstop with the bases loaded to score Choy Foo.
Choy Foo and Crews each led the Texans with two hits while Wagner paced the team with three RBI.
Tarleton returns to Stephenville for a three-game WAC series this weekend as the Grand Canyon Lopes come to town. The series kicks off Friday at 6 p.m. Friday is Cinco de Mayo and there will be live music and free koozies before the game.
