SACRAMENTO, California — Tarleton State dropped the series finale to Sacramento State, 8- 4, on Saturday afternoon at John Smith Field. The Texans finished the regular season 34-19 overall and 12-6 in WAC play.
Tarleton State struck first in the second inning when Cage McCloud launched a solo home run to right field to give the Texans a 1-0 lead.
The Texans' pitching staff kept Sacramento State off the board through the first five innings behind strong outings from Cort Lowry and Ashton Bassett. Lowry allowed just two hits across two scoreless innings, while Bassett tossed three shutout innings with four strikeouts.
Sacramento State broke the game open in the sixth inning, scoring eight runs on six hits to take an 8-1 lead. The Hornets used timely hitting throughout the inning, highlighted by a two-run double from Ryan Ellis and a two-run triple from Luis Pimentel-Guerrero.
Tarleton State answered in the seventh when Raphael Smeenk crushed a two-run homer to right field, scoring Chris Ricard and cutting the deficit to 8-3. The Texans added another run in the eighth after Slade McCloud doubled and later scored on an RBI single from Ricard.
Ricard finished 2-for-3 with two RBI and a walk, while Slade McCloud went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored. Kendyl Johnson also recorded two hits for the Texans.
Carter Coffin took the loss for Tarleton State, falling to 0-2 on the season. Sean Carey earned the win for Sacramento State after throwing three scoreless innings with five strikeouts.
The Texans will be back in action as they travel to Mesa, Arizona, for the WAC Tournament. Tarleton State earned the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye and will begin tournament play on Thursday, May 21, at 3 p.m. CT.
