STEPHENVILLE – Tarleton State (14-19, 2-4 WAC) walked off UT Arlington (11-19, 2-3 WAC) 9-1 (5) for the series win after dropping Game 2 of the series 4-3 (8) Saturday.
The Texans are now 5-1 (2-1 home, 3-0 away) all-time vs. the Mavericks and have outscored them 39-25 over the six contests.
“I thought we got better as a whole team this weekend,” said head coach Mark Cumpian. “We got better in all three phases of the game and were one hit away from sweeping a series. We have a quick turnaround so now we turn our focus to ACU.”
Game 1 of the day saw the Texans go to eight innings for the fifth time this season as they fell 4-3. The Purple and White are 2-3 when going eight innings this season with wins over Texas A&M Commerce (2-0) and Prairie View A&M (7-6). The three losses have come from Penn State (8-7), Utah Valley (10-9) and UT Arlington (4-3).
Game 2 of the day ended up a home run derby with long balls in three out of the five innings played. Brady Rowland, Jordan Dickerson and Katy Schaefer all sent one deep in the game. Schaefer now has hit 36 home runs while donning the Purple and White and is now just five away from tying Arianna Rodriquez (41, 2010-13) for second all-time in program history for home runs.
Tarleton State 3 UT Arlington 4 (8)
The Texans ended up on the wrong side of things in a game that was tied at 1-1 as it headed into extra innings. Tarleton State was 2-2 when they headed to extra innings and are now 2-3 following the loss to the Mavericks.
Things were quiet through two and a half innings before the Texans put a run on the board to take the 1-0 lead. Tristyn Trull doubled to left center scoring Dickerson who reached base on on a hit by pitch.
The fourth was quiet for both teams before UTA tied things up in the top half of the fifth inning 1-1. Zaia Castruita scored as Cameron Cooper reached on a fielder’s choice.
The Texans threatened with two outs as Kelci Hill reached third following her double to left center but failed to retake the lead as Trull lined out to third base. The sixth and seventh saw zeros for both teams sending the game to extra innings, the Texans second home game this season thus far to go to extras.
In the top of the eighth the Mavericks took the lead and never looked back scoring three runs on five hits. Kaitlyn Sailor made it 3-1 with her homer to right field. Morgan Westbrook reached on a fielder’s choice as Nikki Donahue scored the final run for UTA making it 4-1.
Facing a three-run deficit going into their half of the eighth, the Texans came up short only being able to push across two runs as they fell 4-3 to UT Arlington. Trull doubled scoring Kayla Wallace making it 4-2 Texans. Katy Schaefer then hit a sac fly to center field as Trull tagged up and scored the final run for the home team making it 4-3 UTA. Germain then flew out to left field before Bella Hernandez popped out to the shortstop ending the Texans comeback threat.
After making an appearance in relief on Friday for the Texans, Alexa Rehmeier (3-4) got the start and went the distance of regulation and then some going 7.1 IP. She gave up four runs on 10 hits, struck out two and walked one. Makenzie Dunbar took over for the final 0.2 IP but the damage was already done. She gave up just one hit during her time of work.
For UTA, they only used one pitcher in freshman left hander Abi Gutierrez. She went 8.0 innings (a season high) giving up three runs on six hits, striking out three and walking one. The three strike outs marked a season high for Gutierrez.
Tarleton State 9 UT Arlington 1 (5)
Game 3 was all Texans as the Purple and White won in dominating fashion 9-1 in five innings featuring eight runs over the final two innings.
The Texans once again got the scoring started scoring a single run in the bottom of the third. Brady Rowland homered (second of the season) to left field on a 1-0 count making it 1-0 Tarleton State.
The following inning the Purple and White went up 4-0 following a three-run shot by Dickerson (10th in her Texan career) over the left field wall pushing across Hannah Reed and Germain. Reed came in to run for Kalyn Hill who reached with a single down the left field line. Germain reached with a single to third base.
UT Arlington pushed just a single run across in the top of the fifth before they faced their awaiting fate in the bottom of the fifth inning falling 9-1 dropping the series to the Texans. The Mavericks’ lone run came as Sailor doubled (second of the season) scoring Marley Neises.
The bottom of the fifth was all Texans as they scored five runs on seven hits. Schaefer got the scoring going in the fifth hitting her 36th home run for the Purple and White moving her closer to second all-time in program history as she currently sits third. She also now has 168 RBI as she sits third all-time as well and is just 23 away from tying former Texan catcher Nyka Wood (191, 2015-18) for second all-time.
Rowland then singled to left field scoring two more in Kalyn Hill and Germain making it 7-1 Texans and moved Bella Hernandez to third. Kalyn Hill reached on a single just as Germain did the at-bat before. Following Rowland’s single, Avery Songer went in to pinch run for her.
Dickerson then singled through the right-side scoring Hernandez who reached on a single as well making it 8-1 Tarleton State as the Texans could taste the run-rule.
Kelci Hill was the hero as she doubled to left center scoring Songer walking-off the Mavericks 9-1 in five innings.
Redshirt freshman Kendall Daniel (3-4) went the distance going 5.0 IP giving up just a single run on seven hits, striking out two and walking one. Daniel boasts a perfect 2-0 record at home as her first home win came in her home debut as she threw the 11th no-hitter in program history in the Texans 9-0 win over Mississippi Valley State. She is also just the second freshman to ever do so for the Purple and White as Caryn Holbrook tossed the first perfect game in program history in just Tarleton’s second year as a program on March 29, 1997, in Stephenville vs. Eastern New Mexico. It was a 14-0 (5) win for Tarleton State.
Gutierrez (4-2) was one of three pitchers the Mavericks used as she got the start for the second game in a row. She went 4.0 IP giving up four runs on eight hits taking the loss as she struck out three matching her season best for strikeouts set in Game 1 of the day.
The other two pitchers in Jade Moreno and Emilie Hoelscher went a combined 0.1 IP. Moreno went 0.1 IP giving up five runs on five hits, not striking out or walking a single batter she faced. Hoelscher wasn’t credited with any innings of work as she gave up two hits, including the game winning hit by Kelci Hill.
The Texans have a quick turnaround as they are set to host the Abilene Christian Wildcats on Tuesday for a WAC doubleheader at 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Both games will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and live stats will be available for both contests as well. The last time the Texans and Wildcats took the field it saw Tarleton State take the three-game series 2-1 outscoring the Wildcats by just a single run 22-21. This will mark the first trip to Stephenville for ACU since April of 2022 when the Texans swept the series 3-0 winning 2-1, 4-1 and taking the final game 7-3.
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