STEPHENVILLE – The Texans kicked off the first weekend series at home with a big win over the Northern Colorado Bears.
Tarleton State (3-2, 0-0 WAC) added another to the win column winning the first game of the four-game series 14-4 in seven innings against Northern Colorado (0-5, 0-0 Big Sky) on Friday afternoon at the Tarleton Baseball Complex.
The Purple and White were relentless at the plate in the bottom of second, scoring five runs. A single from Ike Shirey got the inning rolling for the home team. Tyson Drake singled down the right field line to see Shirey on third. Drake stole second to put two Texans in scoring position. With two outs on the board and two runners on, Brandon Howell advanced to first after being hit at the plate, loading the bases for Tarleton State. Cole Miears singled and advanced to second after an error from the Bears’ shortstop, to see Shirey and Drake cross home plate. Cris Enriquez was next to bat and singled to advance the runners and see Howell add another to the board and see Miears score on an error for a 6-0 lead. Hunter Smith was next up for the Purple and White and laid down a triple to see Enriquez cross the plate for the fifth run of the inning.
In the matchup against the Bears, the Texans amassed 14 runs on 17 hits in comparison to Northern Colorado’s four runs on six hits. The home team compiled three triples and a pair of doubles. Drake, Howell and Smith each claimed a triple while Miears and Drake tallied doubles. Trace Morrison and Drake each stole a bag for the Texans. UNC tallied four doubles and one triple. Piercen McElyea (W, 1-0) got the win on the evening, pitching 4.0 innings, earning a new season-high of five strikeouts, giving up only two hits and no runs on 14 at-bats. Dylan Smith (L, 1-0) took the loss for the Bears with 2.1 innings pitched, giving up 10 hits, nine runs, walked two and struck out three on 16 at-bats.
The Texans put the first two runs on the board in the bottom of the opening inning. Drake tripled down the right field line and scored on an error. Howell walked and Miears singled to centerfield to see the home team in scoring position again. Smith singled to centerfield to see Howell add the second run for the Purple and White.
Tarleton State saw their biggest inning in the second with five runs to bring the lead to 7-0.
Shirey got the ball rolling for the home team in the third with a single. Drake laid down a double to see Shirey advance to their and score on an error. A triple from Howell sent Drake home for the ninth run for Tarleton State. A double down the left field line from Miears saw another run for the Texans as Howell crossed the plate to see the Purple and White up, 10-0.
The bottom of the fifth saw three Texans hit at the plate consecutively to load the bases, followed by a walk to see Drake tally another run. With the diamond still loaded, Morrison was walked to see Hammonds cross the plate for a two-run inning.
Northern Colorado found their fight in the seventh, scoring four runs. With two Bears walked, Zain Zinicola laid down a triple to see two runs in and get the visiting team on the board. Brandon Sanchez was next at the plate, with a hit down the right field line for a double to see Zinicola cross home for their third run. With one out on the board, Jake King got in the box and doubled to right center to see two runners in scoring position. A ground out from Carter Monda put Sanchez across the plate for their final run to see a 12-4 score.
In the bottom of the seventh, Smith singled to right field to see the first Texan on base for the inning. Morrison also singled to right field, advancing Smith to third. Morrison stole second and a single up the middle from Sergio Guerra allowed Smith to add another run for the home team and see Morrison in scoring position. The final run of the game came from a sac fly from Slade McCloud to see Morrison tally run 14 for a 14-4 final in favor of the Purple and White.
The Texans will be back in action with a doubleheader against the Bears starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday and the second game will presumably begin at 4 p.m. The Sunday matchup will be the final game of the series and is set to start at 12 p.m. All games within the weekend’s series can be found on ESPN+.
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