STEPHENVILLE, Texas – The Texans fell to the Lancers in the series finale Sunday afternoon in heartbreak fashion.
Tarleton State (12-12, 3-6 WAC) made a comeback, but not in time to seal the deal against California Baptist (15-9, 5-1 WAC) closing out Game 3 with a 5-4 final.
Braydon Risley (L, 0-3) got the start for the Purple and White with 5.0 innings on the mound, compiling seven strikeouts and one walk with four runs on five hits.
Brandon Downer (W, 2-2) took the bump for the first 7.0 innings and tallied nine strikeouts and one walk with two runs on six hits. Ryan Hetzler (S, 2) saw 0.1 inning on the mound, giving up no runs, no hits, no walks and one strikeout.
Tarleton State compiled four runs on 10 hits.
Kooper Shook cranked out his first home run of the season and the Texans also saw a pair of doubles from
Cole Miears and Shook.
CBU tallied five runs on nine hits with two home runs and four doubles.
In the top of the second, a homer from the leadoff hitter saw the Lancers take the first run.
The third inning saw a pair of runs come in for the visitors after a player hit at the plate put a runner on for CBU, followed by a single and a double to solidify a 3-0 lead for California Baptist.
In the fifth inning, each team tallied a run. The Lancers found their way back to the board with two outs recorded and a homer from Nick Dumesnil. Shook broke the seal for the Texans in the leadoff spot for the inning with a solo home run to land the Purple and White on the board and secure his first homer of the season.
In the eighth inning, a double down the left field line got the ball rolling for California Baptist. A groundout advanced the lead runner and a single brought him home to see a 5-1 score in favor of the visitors.
Back-to-back singles from
Mason Crews and
Jordan Andrade saw Crews in scoring position and a fly out from
Tyson Drake brought the catcher home to pin the second run for Tarleton State.
The top of the ninth was scoreless but the Texans found some fight in the bottom of the inning to lead the audience on the edge of their seats. With one out recorded, Miears doubled to center field to add a runner for the Purple and White. A strikeout saw the second out on the board, but Shook doubled to left center to bring Miears across the plate.
Ike Shirey singled, advancing Shook to third base. An RBI single from Crews sent Shook home to bring the deficit to one run at 5-4. Andrade walked to see the bases loaded with two outs, but a strikeout swinging closed the door on Tarleton State's comeback.
The Purple and White will be back in action at home on Tuesday at 6 p.m. to face the Incarnate Word Cardinals for the second time this season.
