PORTALES, N.M. – What started as a pitcher’s duel turned into an offensive explosion in the final innings as the Texans rallied from a one-run deficit in the eighth inning to win the finale 13-8 against Eastern New Mexico.
Sid Payan got the start for Tarleton on the bump and threw a scoreless first inning before turning things over to Ty Jones out of the pen. Payan and Jones combined to keep the Greyhounds off the board for the first four innings while Tarleton got on the board in the top of the fourth with a two-run double from Cody Vannoy.
The Hounds answered back in the bottom of the fifth with a two spot, but the Texans would go on to get those back with two in the sixth on a wild pitch and an RBI single from Jordan Parker. The Texans then pulled away with three in the seventh on an RBI triple from Corey Young and a two-run jack from Blake Burns to extend the lead to 7-2.
Eastern New Mexico had an answer in their half of the seventh, though, as the Hounds went on to score six runs to lead 8-7 after seven.
Tarleton’s resiliency would not be outdone, however, as the Texans answered with four in the eighth on a two-run triple from Tyler Fowler and back-to-back RBI singles from Burns and Luke Morton to take an 11-8 lead. Tarleton tacked on two more in the ninth on an error and a passed ball.
Meanwhile, Zane Badmaev came on out of the pen and slammed the door on the Greyhounds with back-to-back scoreless frames to earn the save. The freshman from Boerne faced one batter over the minimum and struck out two. Tyler Thompson earned the win after getting the Texans out of the seventh with a strikeout and a fly out.
The four veteran captains in the top of the order continued to deal damage in the Tarleton lineup. The first four hitters for the Texans – Fowler, Young, Burns and Morton – combined for nine of Tarleton’s 13 hits. All four of them had at least two hits with Burns leading the way at 3-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored.
Parker, Vannoy, London Green and Dean Frew had one hit each to round out the offense.
The Texans will return home next weekend for a four-game series with Oklahoma Christian, beginning Friday at 2 p.m. at the Cecil Ballow Baseball Complex.
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