Adams belts 3 HR as Tarleton baseball splits with WTAMU

Advertisement
Blake Adams hit three home runs in two games Friday, helping No. 15 Tarleton State to a split in a conference doubleheader at Cecil Ballow Baseball Complex. || Courtesy Tarleton Athletics

STEPHENVILLE – Blake Adams spread out three home runs over two games, including two in the second game as the No. 15 Texans took the nightcap of Friday’s series-opening twin bill with West Texas A&M in a non-conference series.

Game 1: West Texas A&M 5, No. 15 Tarleton 3

Errors spelled doom for Tarleton in the opening game of the series as four defensive miscues cost the Texans four unearned runs in a 5-3 loss to the Buffs in the first game of the series.

“In the first game, we had our chances against a good pitcher but we weren’t able to do a few fundamental things to come out on top,” said head coach Bryan Conger. “West Texas A&M did a nice job of taking advantage of our mistakes.”

WT started the scoring with two unearned runs in the second inning off two Tarleton errors and a walk to take a 2-0 lead after two and a half. The Buffs added three more in the sixth, again off of two Tarleton errors and a two-run single up the middle for a 5-0 advantage.

The Texans battled back, however, as Dylan Lemons teed off to left for a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth and Blake Adams added a solo job in the bottom of the seventh for Tarleton’s final run of the game.

Nathan Hickey took the tough-luck loss despite tossing five innings and allowing no earned runs. The junior from Granbury allowed just one hit over his five innings of work. Nathan Jackson, Eli McLane, and Chris Reed finished off the final two innings out of the bullpen.

Tarleton had six hits in the loss, led by a two-hit day from the Lemons. Adams, Francisco Rodriguez, Austin Call, and Luis Rivas each had one.


Advertisement

Game 2: No. 15 Tarleton 9, West Texas A&M 4
In the nightcap, Tarleton appeared to take out all of its game-one frustrations out on the baseball as the Texans pounded out 15 hits and nine runs to even up the series and bounce back to the tune of a 9-4 win.

“The kids really did a nice job of responding after a tough loss in game one,” said Conger. “We’re proud of their ability to bounce back, bring good energy, and play better.”

The Buffs struck first with an RBI double in the top of the second, but the Texans answered back and them some with a six-run bottom of the second – all of which came with two outs in the inning.

After Jon Tauzin and Ben Mauseth singled with a fly ball and a sacrifice bunt sprinkled in the mix, Blake Adams put Tarleton on top with a monstrous home run up the Washington Street netting for a 3-1 Tarleton lead. Francisco Rodriguez kept the inning alive by beating out a juggled ball and stealing second before coming around to score the fourth run of the inning on an RBI single by Jake Hasbrouck through the right side.

An infield single and a walk loaded the bases for the man who started the inning – Tauzin – who commenced to pile it on with a two-RBI single through the left side for a 6-1 lead.

The Buffs answered back with two in the third and one in the fourth to make it a 6-4 game, but Tarleton had the answer.

Tauzin drove in his third RBI of the game with an RBI double down the left field line  in the fourth while Adams went yard again in the fifth to push the lead to 8-4. Tauzin came in to score on a passed ball in the bottom of the sixth for the final run of the game.

For Adams, it marked the 68th time since the program was reinstated in 1988 that a player has recorded a multi-home run game for the Texans.

Evan Pontley improved to 4-0 on the bump after tossing the first three innings before giving way to Conner Fletcher, who allowed one run on two hits in four innings out of the pen to earn his first career save. Fletcher struck out five while Pontley K’d seven over his time on the bump.

Game 3 of the series begins at noon Saturday. The original game time was 1 p.m., but the game was moved up an hour due to a forecast of inclement weather.


Advertisement

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.