MONROE, La. – The Texans showed fight and grit in a game they weren't in offensively early on as they dropped their final game of the Best on the Bayou to SEMO 7-5 on Sunday.
 
The first three innings were a pitchers' dual to its finest as there were just a combined three hits between the Texans and Redhawks with the Purple and White having two of the three.
 
The road team finally broke through in the top of the fourth as Madison Winkler singled through the right-side scoring Tatum Gerwitz to make it 1-0 Redhawks.
 
The score stayed 1-0 through the top of the sixth before the Texans took their first lead of the contest.
 
In the bottom of the sixth with Kalyn Hill and Tristyn Trull on, JJ Duke doubled down the left field line scoring both to make it 2-1 Tarleton State.
 
With just two outs to go to secure the 14th win of the season, the Red and White threw those hopes out the window as Gracie Luna singled up the middle scoring Brooklyn Saysoff to tie it up 2-2 in the top of the seventh.
 
In the bottom of the seventh, the Texans quickly got the winning run on as Hayden Fox walked to lead off the inning. Hannah Reed then placed a beautiful sac bunt to move Fox into scoring position at second. Austin Germain and Haley Hughes then flew out and grounded out to end the hopes of ending things in regulation.
 
In the top of the eighth with Sydney Melton on (ITB), Sydney Dennis singled to the shortstop scoring Melton to make it 3-2. SEMO wasn't done there as Saysoff singled to center scoring Dennis to make it 4-2.
 
The Texans came out fired up in their first extra innings affair of the season as they scored two to tie things once again 4-4. Trull singled to right with Hughes on second (ITB) advancing Hughes to third and then scored on a fielding error by the right fielder to make it 4-3. Duke then hit a sac fly to right field allowing Trull to score to tie things up 4-4.
 
With the score tied once again, the game continued into the ninth inning as the Texans looked to get it done.
 
In the top of the ninth, Luna singled to center field before she was thrown out at second from center but not before Selby Patberg scored to give the Redhawks the 5-4 lead.
 
The bottom of the ninth saw the Purple and White respond once again tying things up for the third time on the day.
 
With Hernandez on (ITB), Germain singled up the middle scoring Hernandez to make it 5-5 in the ninth.
 
The top of the 10th was next up as the Redhawks scored the two winning runs in the top of the frame.
 
Winkler reached on a fielding error and advanced to second on the throw as Melton (ITB) scored to make it 6-5. Addisyn Martinie then singled through the right-side scoring Winkler to make it 7-5, the final.
 
The bottom of the seventh saw the tying run come to the plate in Trull with Hughes (ITB) on second. Trull lined out into a double play (1B to SS) at second as Hughes was tagged out for two quick outs in the 10th. Hill then came to the plate looking to keep things alive before grounding out to end things in the 10th.
 
For the Texans, it was a freshman filled day as Sadie Beck earned the start in the circle as she went six innings giving up two runs (one earned) on four hits as she walked and struck out one. Shelby Schultz took over for the final four innings giving up five runs (all unearned) on seven hits while striking out three and taking the loss moving to 5-2.
 
For the Redhawks, they used a trio of arms in Maddie Carney, Willow Van Haren and Tegan Livesay. Carney got the start in the circle and went four innings giving up no runs on two hits while striking out one. Van Heren then tossed the next 1.2 IP as she gave up two runs (both earned) on two hits while walking two and striking out one. Livesay went the final 4.1 IP and earned the win moving to 1-1 on the season. She gave up three runs (one earned) on three hits as she walked one and struck out four.
 
The Texans are set to return to action in just five days as they will start WAC conference play on the road at Southern Utah. The three-game series is scheduled for a doubleheader on Friday followed by a single game on Saturday. Game times on Friday are set for 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. with Saturday scheduled for a 1:30 p.m. first pitch. All game times are in central time. The three-game series is set to air live on ESPN+ while live stats will also be available.
 
Last time the two met up, the Purple and White took the series 2-1 in the final weekend of conference play to punch their second-straight ticket to the WAC Tournament in as many years as eligible. The final, ticket clinching game saw Kayla Wallace and Trull hit back-to-back homers to opposite fields to walk-off the game 8-7.
 
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