STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Tarleton State Baseball (5-9) took down the New Mexico Lobos (8-6) 10-4 during Friday evening's matchup at the Tarleton Baseball Complex.

Each team tallied 10 hits apiece. The Texans had zero errors opposed to the Lobo's three errors. Tarleton State drew four walks while New Mexico only drew one.

Jake Burcham struck out his first batter of the evening to achieve his 100th career strikeout. The Lobos then notched a double and a home run to give them a two-run lead early in the ballgame.

Slade McCloud responded with two outs in the bottom of the first with a triple to left field that drove in Jaime Perez, bringing the Purple and White within one. This marked McCloud's fifth extra base hit of the season.

Burcham tacked on two more strikeouts to keep New Mexico scoreless in the second inning. The Texans couldn't score despite a leadoff single and a stolen base from Trace Morrison, keeping the game at 2-1.

Both teams remained scoreless until the top of the fifth inning when the Lobos scored thanks to a leadoff double from Khalil Walker. New Mexico left the inning with a two-run advantage and kept Tarleton State scoreless in the bottom of the fifth.

With runners on second and third with no outs, Aden Lucas came onto the mound for the Texans. Lucas produced two critical groundouts and a strikeout to keep the ballgame at a stalemate.

The Texans came out swinging in the bottom of the sixth. McCloud and Ike Shirey recorded back-to-back singles to load the bases with Perez on third. Morrison then hit a base-clearing triple to left field that completely turned the tables in Tarleton State's favor. Sergio Guerra sacrificed to drive in Morrison, giving the Texans a 5-3 lead after six.

The Lobos tallied a home run in the seventh inning to cut the lead to one. Tarleton State, however, kept their momentum from the previous inning and tallied five more runs in the seventh stanza. Tyson Drake hit a triple to left field, a two-RBI shot that scored Carson Lorch and Rayner Heinrich. This marked Drake's 12th extra base hit of the season and his third triple of 2025. Perez then flew out to drive in Drake, extending the lead to four.

Ike Shirey capped off the seventh inning with a two-run home run, his second deep ball of the season. The Texans never looked back and held the Lobos scoreless through the rest of the game, taking the opening game of the series 10-4.

Tarleton State Baseball will continue their series against New Mexico tomorrow with a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. Get tickets here.