WACO, Texas – Tarleton State was overtaken by a relentless Baylor offense late in the game on Tuesday evening at Baylor Ballpark. Tarleton State (25-24, 15-9 WAC) dropped the midweek meeting at Baylor (21-26, 9-15 Big12) with an 11-4 final.
The Bears used two four-run innings to their advantage, including a four-run eighth that ultimately did the Texans in.
Jake Burcham got the start for Tarleton State with 1.0 inning pitched, giving up two runs on two hits, one walk and two strikeouts.
Nile Foss (L, 0-1) took his first loss after securing a pair of outs but giving up four runs on two hits, three walks and one strikeout.
Jared Matheson took the mound to start things off for the Bears with 2.1 innings pitched, giving up two runs, three hits, one walk and one strikeout. Mason Green (W, 2-6) saw 1.2 innings on the bump giving up no runs on one hit, no walks and three strikeouts. Grant Golomb (S,1) earned his first save with 1.1 innings pitched, giving up no runs on no hits, one walk and one strikeout.
Tarleton State finished the evening with four runs on 10 hits.
Mason Hammonds,
Cole Miears,
Kooper Shook and
Austin Russell each contributed doubles to carry the Texan offense.
Baylor closed out the matchup with 11 runs on 10 hits with a home run, a triple, a pair of doubles and a trio of stolen bases.
In the bottom of the opening inning, a pair of runs came across for the home team to put the Bears up early. A leadoff double was followed by a walk to put a couple of runners on. With two outs recorded, another double made room for the guys in green to come home.
The top of the second saw the Texans get to work, tying things up with a couple of runs coming across.
Cris Enriquez walked and a single up the middle from
Trace Morrison put a pair of runners aboard. A sacrifice fly brought Enriquez home and a second sacrifice fly put Morrison across to tie things up at 2-2.
In the Bears' half of the second, four runs came across to give the home team a healthy lead. A leadoff walk followed by a single and a pair of stolen bases saw two runners in scoring position with one out recorded. A second walk loaded the diamond, and a second single sent a pair home. The second out came in the form of a sacrifice fly, bringing in the fifth run for Baylor. The final run of the inning came on a wild pitch to bring the total for the inning to 6-2.
The bottom of the fourth saw a lone run tallied for the Bears. With one runner on and two outs, a pair of stolen bases saw the lead runner at third, when a wild pitch made room at the plate for the runner to come across.
Tarleton State continued to chip away at the score with another run added in the sixth. Miears doubled to start off the inning and a single from Enriquez put another run on the board for the Purple and White.
The Texans continued to battle, adding another run in the seventh. Russell led things off with a double and a wild pitch placed him at third.
Sergio Guerra singled to bring Russell home, making it a three-run ballgame at 7-4.
Baylor did damage at the plate in the bottom of the eighth, ultimately shutting down the comeback for Tarleton State. A leadoff homer to right center opened up the inning for the Bears. A couple of outs followed by a walk kept the inning alive for the home team. A single to right and a triple to center brought a pair of runs across. A hit by pitch added another to the base path and a single to right brought the total to 11-4.
A scoreless top of the ninth secured the victory for the Bears.
The Texans will be back in action for their final home series of the season against Utah Valley beginning Friday. Senior Day will be Saturday prior to the start of Game 2 of the series.
