STEPHENVILLE – The Tarleton Texans trailed by three runs coming into the bottom of the ninth inning. That was no matter to them as they plated three runs and tied the game at seven-all to force extra innings.
The Wofford Terriers (21-9, 0-0 SOCON) did not let that faze them though as they pushed across four runs in the 10th and held Tarleton (9-17, 5-7 WAC) scoreless in the bottom half to take the 11-7 midweek victory.
Trailing 7-4 coming into the ninth, the Texans desperately needed some runs. They found them quickly as freshman Jake Escalon led the inning off with a solo home run to left field. Alec Williams proceeded to triple to the corner in left field and Kemuel Thomas-Rivera singled through the left side of the Terrier defense to score Williams and make it 7-6 Wofford.
With the bases loaded and Tarleton trailing by one, London Green stepped to the plate. He was hit by a pitch that sent Zach Mesa home and knotted the game up at seven.
It was time for free baseball in Stephenville.
Matthew Hickey (1-1) entered to pitch for Tarleton in the 10th and gave up four runs on four hits, thus tagging him with his first loss of the season. The Terriers had four singles in the inning and used their savvy base running to push runs across and extend their lead.
Devon Sharts (1-0) picked up the win for Wofford as he pitched the 10th inning. He struck out two and forced a fly to end the game.
Tarleton trailed throughout the entire game, with the only tie coming in the ninth inning. The Texans were led offensively by Green as he had three hits, missing only a triple for the cycle. His four RBI led the team. Williams, Jaime Perez and Escalon all posted two hits.
Tarleton was down by three runs four different times in the game. Every time they would answer the Terriers, Wofford stepped on the gas and regained their lead. The biggest deficit in the game was when Tarleton was down 7-3 in the seventh inning.
To gain that lead, Wofford first baseman John Dempsey unloaded on a pitch to right field for a two-run home run and Lawson Hill hit an RBI double to score another run. This came after Tarleton made it a 4-3 game thanks to a London Green two RBI double off the top of the right field wall in the sixth.
Green then hit a solo home run to right field, just a few feet father this time, in the eighth to make it 7-4.
Tarleton threw six pitchers. Starter Luke Baley made it 2.2 innings, allowing three runs on three hits to go with three strikeouts. Zane Badmaev pitched 1.0 innings in relief of Baley allowing just a lone run on three hits. Zach Poe threw a scoreless inning in the fifth as he struck out the side. Devon Patel entered in the sixth after Poe. His final line was 1.2 innings pitched, three runs (two earned) on three hits and two strikeouts. Zach Gagnon hurled 2.1 scoreless innings in the eighth and ninth.
The Texans return to action at the Tarleton Baseball Complex on Wednesday, April 6, for a game with the UTA Mavericks. The game will be streamed on the WAC Digital Network.
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