SACRAMENTO – Tarleton State Baseball secured their second win over Sacramento State to remain perfect in Hornet territory and take the weekend series.
Tarleton State (24-19, 14-9 WAC) took the second game of the series against Sacramento State (21-23, 9-11 WAC) with a 5-2 final on Saturday at John Smith Field.
A two-run inning in the fourth put Tarleton State ahead and the Hornets couldn’t keep up. A pair of two-run innings from the Texans gave the visitors some insurance while a couple of one-run innings from Sacramento State left the home team behind.
The second win over Sacramento State secured the best WAC record for Texan Baseball in program history at 14-9 under head coach Fuller Smith. In the 2021 season, the Purple and White went 13-23 in WAC play. The past two seasons for Tarleton State ended with 10 wins in conference play. The Texans still have seven conference games to build on their mark.
Matt Haley got the start for the Purple and White with 4.0 innings on the mound, giving up one run on four hits, two walks and five strikeouts. Reese Bassinger (W, 4-1) earned his fourth win with 5.0 innings pitched, giving up one run on five hits, no walks and two strikeouts.
Tyler Stewart (L, 4-3) took the mound to start things off for the Hornets with 4.1 innings on the bump, giving up two runs on nine hits, one walk and four strikeouts.
Tarleton State completed the afternoon with five runs on 14 hits, with three RBI from Mason Hammonds and a double from Tyson Drake. The Texans left 12 runners stranded throughout the duration of the afternoon.
Sacramento State closed out Game 2 with a pair of runs on nine hits, with one double. The home team left a total of nine runners aboard.
The first three innings went scoreless on both ends with five runners left on for the Hornets and six for the visitors.
Tarleton State found their groove at the plate in the top of the fourth with a pair of runs tallied to put the Texans in the lead. With two outs recorded, a pair of singles from Mason Crews and Ike Shirey put a couple of runners on and Shirey stole second to see two Texans in scoring position. A two RBI single from Hammonds brought in Shirey and Crews to take the lead for the visitors at 2-0.
A pair of singles and a hit by pitch loaded the bases for the Hornets in the bottom of the fourth. A sac fly made room for a lone run to come in for the home team, making it a one-run ball game.
Another couple of runs came in for Tarleton State in the Texans’ half of the sixth. With one out on the board, Shirey singled to right field and advanced to second on an error. A groundout saw Shirey at third base and Drake walked then stole second to put two Texans in scoring position. Cole Miears singled to center to bring in another pair of runs to bring the Purple and White’s lead to 4-1.
The final run for the visitors came in the seventh. A groundout led off the inning, but Brandon Howell singled to right and stole second to keep things moving for Tarleton State. A flyout made room for Howell at third. Shirey walked to join the base path and an RBI single from Hammonds brought Howell home to make the score 5-1.
In the bottom of the ninth, Sacramento State found some fight, but the Texan defense closed the door on the Hornets’ rally attempt. A couple of singles from the leadoff and the two-hole put the home team in a great spot to open the final inning. The three-hole reached on a fielder’s choice, leaving runners at third and first. An RBI single kept the Hornets alive, adding another run to the board. A pair of outs followed to close out the afternoon in favor of Tarleton State, 5-2.
The Purple and White will go for the sweep Sunday at 12 p.m. CT.
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