STEPHENVILLE – Tarleton Softball won the battle of TSUs with back-to-back walk-off home runs – one traditional to win a 5-3 thriller in the opener and the other a three-run blast to cap a sixth-inning explosion and end the twin bill early Tuesday afternoon.
Game 1: Tarleton 5, Texas Southern 3
Texas Southern put up quite a fight in the seventh inning, but Tarleton had the answer as the Texans walked off winners in game one with a two-run home run from Brady Rowland to defeat Texas Southern 5-3 in the opening game of Tuesday’s twin bill.
The Tigers entered the seventh inning trailing 3-1 but rallied with two outs to tie things up at 3-3 and force a bottom half of the inning.
Enter, Rowland.
Amanda DeSario led off the inning with a walk and then Rowland ended the game with one mighty swing that put one over the left-center wall to give the Texans a walk-off win. The thrilling seventh inning was the first scoring from either side since the second inning when the Tigers struck first and Tristyn Trull answered back better with a two-run single in the bottom half.
Rowland paced the offense with a 2-3 day and three RBI while Georgia Capell also enjoyed a two-hit performance. Morgan Medford, Katy Schaefer, and Trull rounded out the offense with one hit each.
Capell’s first hit of game was a leadoff double in the second inning was the 57th of her illustrious career, passing Nyka Wood for the program’s all-time lead in two-baggers.
Julia Wernet got the starting nod and went 2.1 innings allowing one run on five hits before turning things over to Reagan Chism, who was masterful until running into trouble in the seventh. Kennedy Ferguson got the final out of the seventh to earn the victory.
Game 2: Tarleton 10, Texas Southern 2 (6)
Tarleton exploded for 10 unanswered runs to end the game in a walk-off again – this time early with a three-run dinger from Alexis Hoang to cap off a seven-run sixth inning and a 10-2 win.
Texas Southern scratched out the first run of the game with two walks and two singles in the top of the second to lead 1-0. That score would hold until the fourth when the Tigers tacked on another to lead 2-0.
After breaking the school’s double record in game one, she decided to begin her pursuit of the program’s triple record with a two-RBI three-bagger off the centerfield wall to tie the game at 2-2 in the fourth. Medford put the team up 3-2 in the fifth with an RBI single that skipped past the outfielder and all the way to the wall.
In the sixth, Tarleton was in search of some insurance runs and gave the Tigers a little more than they bargained for with a seven spot, beginning with a solo home run from Capell with one out to start it. For the doubleheader, Capell hit for the cycle with a double and single in game one then a triple and home run in the nightcap.
After Tarleton loaded the bases and one run crossed on a Tiger error, Medford ripped an RBI single up the middle to drive in one RBI and an error let a second run score to extend the lead to 7-2. Two pitches later, Hoang called game with a tank to deep left field for the final three of the game.
Medford, Capell and Hallie Saintignan each had two hits for the game while Hoang, Schaefer, and Miranda Pruitt had one each. Capell and Hoang each had three RBI.
Tristan Bridges earned her fifth pitching win of the season with a complete-game victory, allowing two runs on five hits and five walks with two strikeouts.
Tarleton will hit the road this weekend for three games at McNeese State, beginning Friday night at 6:30 p.m.
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