STEPHENVILLE – Tarleton State earned their ninth and 10th wins of the season and now boast a 6-1 home record.
The Texans (10-7) walked off the Panthers (4-13) in two different ways on Tuesday. In Game 1 of the doubleheader, Katy Schaefer hit a walk-off single to left field run-ruling the Panthers 10-2 (5). In Game 2, sophomore Hayden Fox walked off the Panthers 7-6 with a single up the middle in extra innings.
Tarleton State is now a perfect 10-0 vs. Prairie View A&M dating back to the two teams’ first matchup on Feb. 24, 2021.
“I thought our offense finally got going today,” said head coach Mark Cumpian. “It was nice to see us be patient in the box and take free bases. Our pitchers were a little off today but I’m proud of how they battled and fought for outs. I thought Makenzie Dunbar did a great job of keeping Game 2 within striking distance for us.”
Tarleton State 10 Prairie View A&M 2
The Texans came into Game 1 with a perfect 8-0 record vs. the Panthers and looked to move it to 10-0 at the end of the day.
The first inning of the day saw zeros on the board for both teams. That didn’t last long as the Texans put up a three-spot in the bottom of the second giving Tarleton State the early lead. Kayla Wallace doubled to right center scoring Ashlee LaRue and Kiana Gibson, putting the Purple and White up 2-0. Kelci Hill then hit a sacrifice fly to center scoring Austin Germain from third making it 3-0 Texans.
Things once again went quiet in the third before the Texans put up three more in the bottom of the fourth. Gibson hit a leadoff home run just to the right of the scoreboard making it 4-0. This marked Gibson’s first home run of the season and second of her Texan career. Kelci Hill hit her first home run of the season with a two-run shot to right center moving the score 6-0 Texans.
The Panthers scored two in the top half of the fifth moving the run-rule margin to four heading into the bottom of the frame. This was no problem for the Texans as they would score just that walking off the Panthers for win No. 9 of the season.
LaRue got things started in the fifth hitting a sacrifice fly to center field scoring Bella Hernandez who pinch ran for Kalyn Hill after she reached with a single up the middle. Hernandez moved to second off a bunt single from Jordan Dickerson and then advanced to second as Gibson singled up the middle.
Dickerson slid over to third on the sacrifice fly from LaRue before she came in to score, and Gibson stole second. Austin Germain reached on a fielder’s choice and then moved to second on an error by the Panthers shortstop moving Gibson to third and pushing Dickerson across the plate putting the Texans two runs away from a win.
Kelci Hill singled through the right side scoring Gibson putting Tarleton State just one run away from win No. 9.
Schaefer came to the plate and knocked in the final run for the Texans as she hit a single to left field scoring Germain.
This was Schaefer’s second walk-off hit as she hit a walk-off double in the Texans 4-3 win over Summit League Champion Nebraska-Omaha.
Hannah Blincoe earned the win moving to 4-1 on the season after going 4.1 innings. Blincoe gave up two runs on five hits, striking out four and walking one. Kendall Daniel closed things out for the Texans going 0.2 IP.
Tarleton State 7 Prairie View A&M 6
After securing their ninth win of the season as well as their ninth win over Prairie View A&M, the Texans looked to remain perfect vs. the Panthers and get a third of the way to 30 wins on the season.
The Texans’ bats stayed hot from Game 1 with Tarleton State busting out two runs in the bottom of the first. Germain reached base with a single through the left side but she wasn’t there long. After Kayla Wallace grounded out, Kelci Hill hit a double to left center scoring Germain making it 1-0.
Tristyn Trull hit a single to right center pushing Kelci Hill across the plate scoring the Texans second run of the game.
The Panthers got things going in the top of the second as they put up a four-spot and took their first lead of the day over the Texans. Prairie View A&M then tacked on one more in the third making it 5-2 Panthers.
In the bottom of the fourth Kelci Hill did it once again putting one over the right field wall making it 5-4 Panthers as Wallace reached base after being hit by a pitch.
Tarleton State once again saw the Panthers cross the plate making it 6-4 after a single to center field scored one for Prairie View A&M.
The Texans tied things up in the bottom of the sixth as Trull walked with the bases loaded scoring Wallace before Kelci Hill scored after Kalyn Hill reached on an error by the shortstop and everyone moved up a base for the Texans.
The score remained tied at six through the seventh and the Purple and White headed to their second extra-inning game of the season. The first was the Texans 2-0 (8) win over the Lions of Texas A&M-Commerce.
The Panthers went down in order in the top of the eighth giving the Texans the chance to walk things off once again, this time in the traditional walk-off fashion.
Schaefer opened the inning with her fourth walk of the game tying Jordan Dickerson for the most walks in a single game in the Texans Division I era.
Trull singled up the middle moving Schaefer to second putting the winning run in scoring position. Both Trull and Schaefer advanced a base on a passed ball by the Panthers.
Cumpain went to his bench pinch running Kynlee Marquez for Schaefer. With Marquez sitting just 60 ft. away, Hayden Fox came to the plate with two outs after Kalyn Hill flew out to right and Dickerson grounded out to the pitcher.
Fox showed no signs of stress in the box and hit a single up the middle scoring Marquez and earning her first walk-off hit in her collegiate career.
The Texans won Game 2 of the day 7-6 keeping the perfect record over the Panthers alive and well. The Texans are now one-third of the way to 30 wins for the third straight season.
The Texans will now head to Austin for the Longhorn Invitational hosted by No. 2 Texas. Tarleton State will play a five-game tournament schedule with matchups vs. No. 2 Texas, Big 10 Penn State, Coastal Athletic Association champions Hofstra and Northwestern State.
All but one of the Texans games will be broadcast on the Longhorn Network as well as stream live on ESPN+. Live stats will also be available for all five games.
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