STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Tarleton State Baseball defeated the Cardinals for the second time this season during the midweek meeting on Tuesday evening in Stephenville.
Tarleton State (13-12, 3-6 WAC) tallied their 11th consecutive win over Incarnate Word (14-9, 1-2 SLC) in a midweek matchup with an 8-4 final.
Jake Burcham (W, 1-2) got the start for the Texans, giving up one run on one hit, one walk and a couple of strikeouts in 3.0 innings on the mound to secure his first win on the season.
Luis Rodriguez made his first appearance of 2024 for UIW with 1.0 inning pitched, giving up no runs, no hits, no walks and one strikeout. Luke Smith took his first loss of the season with 0.0 innings on the mound, giving up a pair of runs on one hit, one walk and no strikeouts.
The Purple and White had a great game at the plate with a homer from
Cole Miears, a triple from
Tyson Drake, and doubles from
Mason Hammonds,
Cris Enriquez and
Kooper Shook. The home team totaled five stolen bases with two apiece from Hammonds and Shook and one from Miears. Tarleton State compiled eight runs on 13 hits.
UIW tallied four runs on nine hits with one double.
The Cardinals were first on the board as a walk and a pair of passed balls saw the lone runner at third base. A groundout saw the first run for the visitors, unearned.
In the bottom of the third, a big four-run inning for the Texans brought the energy back to the game. Shook singled and then stole second to start off the inning.
Ike Shirey walked to see a pair of runners on for Tarleton State and a sacrifice bunt from
Sergio Guerra put both runners in scoring position. With two outs recorded, Drake singled to shortstop to bring Shook home. With two runners on, Miears ripped a homer over the left field wall to bring the score to 4-1 in favor of the home team.
The Purple and White continued to bring the heat in the bottom of the fourth to add three more runs to the board. Shook had a leadoff double to start the inning. With one out, Shook stole third and a fly out from Guerra made way for Shook to cross home plate again. Hammonds took a hit at the plate and stole second. Drake tripled to right center to bring Hammonds home. Miears accompanied Drake on the diamond after taking a hit at the plate. Enriquez doubled to right center to see Drake tally run seven for Tarleton State to put the Cardinals down by six runs.
In the sixth inning, each team put up a single run. UIW saw a single, followed by a walk to put a couple of runners on for the Cardinals. A passed ball advanced the pair of runners and a single brought in a solo unearned run for the visitors.
In the bottom of the inning, Hammonds singled to right center and stole second and a single from Miears followed by a stolen base saw two runners in scoring position for the Purple and White. Enriquez walked to load the bases and a passed ball brought Hammonds home for an unearned run.
The Cardinals found some fight in the top of the ninth, but the fire came a little too late for the visitors. With one out on the board, a single up the middle put Incarnate Word back in the game. A double to left center brought in the third run for UIW and another single up the middle put up the second run of the inning to see four on the board for the Cardinals. A lineout to Shirey shut the door on the run for the visitors, closing out the evening matchup with an 8-4 final in favor of Tarleton State.
The Texans will continue conference play on the road this weekend at Stephen F. Austin. The series will begin Thursday evening at 6:30 p.m. Game 2 will take place on Friday at 6:30 p.m. and the series finale will be Saturday at 2 p.m.
