WACO – Tarleton led from start to finish in a commanding 6-2 win over the Baylor Bears at Baylor Ballpark on Tuesday afternoon.
The win was a notable one for the Texans (22-16) as it was the program’s first ever win over a Power 5 team. The purple and white have now won five straight and eight out of their last nine.
Tarleton outhit the Bears (15-26) 12 to 6 and held Baylor to just two runs that both came in the fifth inning. The Texans scored one run each in the first three innings, staking an early 3-0 lead that they would never give up. Baylor used seven pitchers in the game with Tarleton using four.
The early momentum on the offensive side was coupled by a stellar performance from Piercen McElyea (W, 2-1) on the mound. The junior right-handed pitcher tossed 5.0 innings, striking out a season-high 10 and walking none. He allowed just two runs and threw a first pitch strike to 18 of 23 batters he faced. The 10 strikeouts are tied with Will Stevens (10 vs. PVAMU on 3/3) for the most strikeouts in a game from a Texan pitcher this season.
As a pitching staff, Tarleton struck Baylor out 16 times which tied a season-high for the Bears. Three pitchers came out of the pen in Matt Haley, Zach Poe and Zane Badmaev with each having scoreless outings.
Haley tossed 2.0 innings in the sixth and seventh, striking out two and allowing just one hit. Poe threw the eighth in setup for Badmaev and worked around two Bear baserunners with a two out strikeout. Badmaev threw the ninth, striking out two and inducing a foul out.
Offensively, Trace Morrison led the Texans, going 3-5 with two RBI. Mason Hammonds was 2-5 with two runs scored and an RBI. Jordan Andrade finished with a hit and two RBI while Dylan Kurahashi-Choy Foo had two hits and a run scored. Cris Enriquez walked twice and scored a run.
The scoring started early for the Texans as they loaded the bases in the first inning with Hammonds eventually scoring from third on a passed ball to give Tarleton a 1-0 lead.
In the second, Morrison singled to right center field to score Hammonds and make it 2-0.
The third inning saw Andrade single to center field to bring home Choy Foo and give the Texans a 3-0 lead.
Both teams brought runs home in the fifth inning. Andrade hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Enriquez, putting the Texans up 4-0. In the bottom half, Baylor designated hitter Walker Polk launched a two-run home run to left center field to cut the Texan lead in half.
Tarleton held the Bears to no runs on three hits over the final four innings to complete the win. The Texans used two insurance runs in the eighth to stretch the lead to 6-2. Hammonds grounded out to the second baseman for an RBI groundout and Morrison singled down the right field line to score Kooper Shook, making it 6-2.
The Texans will look to build off the momentum in an important WAC series this weekend. They travel to Seattle for a three-game series with Seattle U from Friday-Sunday. All three games will be streamed on WACInternational.tv.
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