LUBBOCK – Tarleton had a pair of come-from-behind wins in them Saturday at the Lubbock Christian Round Robin as the No. 24-ranked Texans rallied back to defeat Eastern New Mexico and West Texas A&M in non-conference play.
Game 1: No. 24 Tarleton 7, Eastern New Mexico 5
The Greyhounds came out swinging in the first game Saturday, but Destiny Crumpley and the Texans ended the game with five unanswered runs to complete a 7-5 victory over Eastern New Mexico.
Eastern New Mexico took a 3-0 lead in the opening frame on a bases-clearing single in the top of the first. After the Texans scored solo runs in the first and second on a Crumpley long ball and a Kadynb Kirkpatrick sacrifice fly, the Greyhounds tacked on two more with a two-run homer in the third to lead 5-2.
That lead would carry into the bottom of the fifth before Crumpley struck again with her second home run of the game to cut the deficit to two. After Julia Wernet kept the Hounds off the board in the sixth, Tarleton loaded the bases in their half and then plated four runs on a bases-loaded walk from Hallie Saintignan and a three-run double from Crumpley to give her five RBI on the game.
Wernet sat the Greyhounds down in order in the seventh to complete the comeback win. Wernet earned her third win of the season in the circle with four innings of flawless relief, over which she allowed just two hits and didn’t walk a batter. She came on in relief of Tristan Bridges, who threw the first three innings.
Crumpley paced the offense with a 3-for-3 performance at the plate with five RBI and two runs scored. Shelby Carter, Morgan Ling and Kirkpatrick had one hit each to round out Tarleton’s six-hit performance.
Game 2: No. 24 Tarleton 3, West Texas A&M 2
Tarleton’s offensive versatility was on full display as the No. 24 Texans used small ball to spark a comeback win over rival West Texas A&M Saturday night.
The Texans fell behind over the first three innings as the Lady Buffs took a 2-0 lead on a pair of solo home runs in the second and third innings.
Tarleton’s offense came to life with the game-winning three-run innings in the fourth. Morgan Ling and Morgan Medford got the inning started with back-to-back singles to lead off the inning. After a strikeout, Kadyn Kirkpatrick executed the squeeze bunt to plate Ling and get Tarleton on the board 2-1. Jessica Lee followed up with an RBI double as Medford beat the throw to the plate to tie things at 2-2.
The inning was prolonged by back-to-back throwing errors from the WT pitcher and second baseman that ultimately allowed Lee to come in an score the go-ahead run.
After Jordan Withrow kept WT off the board in the fifth, the Lady Buffs led off the sixth with a double and then added a one-out walk to set up with two on and one out. Freshman Shelby Carter hosed the lead runner at third base for the second out of the inning and Withrow got a foul pop to Georgia Capell at first to end the Lady Buff threat. Withrow went 1-2-3 in the seventh to secure the win.
Withrow fired all 7.0 innings to earn her seventh win of the season and 66th of her career. She now is one win shy of tying her former teammate Haley Freyman for the most wins all-time in Tarleton history (67). She struck out six in Saturday’s win.
Tarleton’s offense got one hit from seven different Texans – Saintignan, Capell, Carter, Ling, Medford, Kristen Zuehl and Lee.
The Texans will close out their weekend tomorrow at 2 p.m. against host Lubbock Christian.
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