LAWTON, Okla. (March 10, 2017) – Late home runs and another strong start from Nathan Hickey lifted Tarleton to a win in the first game of Friday’s doubleheader opener to this weekend’s non-conference series at Cameron.
A pair of late solo home runs backed another stellar pitching performance from Nathan Hickey to lead Tarleton past Cameron in the series opener 2-1 at McCord Field Friday afternoon.
Hickey, who entered the game boasting a team-best ERA among starters at 1.93 in 23.1 innings, was superb once again as the junior right-hander tossed 5.2 innings while only allowing a third inning run on a fielder’s choice. For the game, Hickey allowed five hits, walked one, and struck out one.
Blake Adams came to Hickey’s aid in the sixth inning when the junior left fielder teed off for a solo home run to left to tie the game at 1-1 heading into the Aggie half of the sixth.
With two outs and runners on first and third, Hickey gave way to Eli McLane out of the bullpen and the sophomore right-hander came out and fired five straight strikes before getting a ground ball to third base to keep the score tied at 1-1 into the seventh inning.
Francisco Rodriguez quickly untied it with a blast to left field to put Tarleton on top. McLane stayed in the game and sat the Aggies down in order to earn his first career win at Tarleton.
Tarleton’s offense had five hits on the day with one each from Adams, Austin Call, Rodriguez, Jon Tauzin, and Hunter Seales.
In the second game, Tarleton couldn’t take of advantage of a late-inning opportunity to overcome a three-run fifth inning by the Aggies in a 3-2 loss.
Tarleton got on the board right away when Blake Adams led off the game with a double and later came in to score on a fielder’s choice RBI by Jake Hasbrouck. From there, the game was a pitcher’s duel over the next three and a half innings.
Evan Pontley tossed the first four innings of the game, allowing no runs on six hits, before giving way to the bullpen. Cameron got three runs on three hits and two walks in the fifth inning off Chris Reed and Conner Fletcher before Eddie Avila worked a scoreless sixth inning.
Meanwhile, Tarleton had a chance to answer Cameron’s fifth with a scoring opportunity in the top of the sixth. The Texans loaded the bases with one away before Hunter Seales coaxed a bases-loaded walk to bring Tarleton within one at 3-2, but a strike out and a pop up ended the threat. After Avila’s flawless sixth, Tarleton went down in order in the seventh to end the game.
Tarleton’s offense managed just four hits in the game, including one each from Adams, Jose Reyes, Hasbrouck, and Rodriguez.
The teams will take the field again tomorrow at 12 p.m. in Lawton.
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