STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Numerous schedule changes later, the Texans finally opened their third and final home tournament, the Tarleton Invitational, on Friday afternoon with a 7-5 win over the Yale Bulldogs at the Tarleton State Softball Complex.
 
The Purple and White (7-4) were a perfect 4-0 when scoring first heading into today's matchup and continued the streak moving to 5-0 after Friday's midday win.
 
Senior Hannah Blincoe earned her third start of the season, and she didn't disappoint as she opened the first-ever meeting with the Bulldogs with four scoreless innings of work.
 
The visitors from the northeast were not so lucky as the home team put up six runs across their first four innings of work.
 
Freshman Casey Schultz got things started in the second inning as she launched her first collegiate long ball to dead center putting Tarleton State up 1-0 early on.
 
The following inning, Blinn transfer Haley Hughes grounded out to second as Hannah Reed scored to make it 2-0 Texans. After Trull reached on a walk and stole second to move into scoring position, fellow senior Kalyn Hill doubled to right field to push the lead to 3-0.
 
After adding one in the second and two in the third, Tarleton State added three more in the fourth inning to make it 6-0.
 
With Reed and Bella Hernandez on, senior Austin Germain doubled off the wall in right scoring both to make it 5-0 Texans. This marked Germain's seventh double of the season as she leads the team in the category.
 
Then with Germain on, Hughes once again stepped to the plate looking to push the Texans lead. She did just that after singling and advancing to second on an error while Germain scored to make it 6-0.
 
As the game entered the fifth inning, the road team looked to make some noise as they were just two runs away from being run-ruled. SJ Mull decided to change that as she doubled to right center scoring Isabella Fortini to make it 6-1 after four-and-a-half in Stephenville.
 
In the bottom half of the fifth, the Purple and White added their seventh and final run of the ballgame as freshman Braylin Pannill pinch hit for Reed. Pannill hit a deep sac fly to center field scoring Casey Schultz to make it 7-0. This marked Pannill's second RBI of her young collegiate career.
 
The sixth inning saw the Bulldogs work to fight their way back, but they came up just short putting up a four-spot to make it 7-5, the final.
 
Ella Cross singled to center field as she drove in two runs in Grace Westmoreland and Sophie Woodridge to make it 7-3. The scoring didn't end there as Fortini singled to left field scoring Elena Ohe to make it a three-run game 7-4. Kaitlyn Oikle then singled as well, this time to right field as she pushed Mull across for the Bulldogs fifth and final run to make it 7-5.
 
Both teams used a pair of arms in the chilly midday affair as the Texans starter outlasted the Bulldogs starter by an inning and two-thirds.
 
For the Texans, Blincoe (W, 2-1) went 5.1 IP as she gave up five runs (four earned) on four hits, striking out eight and walking a pair. Her eight punch outs tied the most by a Texan thus far this season as freshman Shelby Schultz set the mark vs. Akron just this past Sunday. Sadie Beck tossed the final inning and two-thirds as she gave up just two hits while sitting down one as she earned her first save of the season, the fourth Texan thus far to earn a save this season.
 
For the Bulldogs, Emma Taylor (L, 0-1) got the start in the circle for the road team's first contest of the year as she went just 3.2 innings. During her time in the circle, she gave up six runs (all earned) on eight hits while walking a pair as well. Hannah Turner then took off going 2.1 IP as she gave up one run (earned) on one hit, walked five, stuck out one and was tabbed with a wild pitch.
 
Tarleton State is set to return to action on Saturday as they will play host to Texas Southern and North Dakota for two games at 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. respectively. The Texans are 5-0 all-time (4-0 at home, 1-0 neutral) vs the Tigers of Texas Southern outscoring them 36-5 with the latest win coming on April 16, 2024, when the Purple and White took an 11-0 (5) win over Texas Southern. The meeting with the Hawks of North Dakota will mark the second meeting between the two programs as the Texans hold the 1-0 series lead after a 5-3 win over the Green and White in the Furman tournament hosted in Greenville, South Carolina. The 2022 season marked the Texans' first 30-win season of the Division I era while the Hawks ended their 2022 campaign going 14-39.
 
Season tickets, tournament passes and single-game tickets are on sale now and can be found at tarletonsports.com/tickets. Both games on Saturday will air on WAC International. The final two games for the Texans will move to ESPN+ on Sunday. Live stats will also be available for all games as well. For the full 2025 schedule click here.
 
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