SACRAMENTO – Texan Baseball rallied in the ninth inning with five runs to come back against Sacramento State and secure the Purple and White’s second sweep of conference play.
Down 5-3 after eight, Tarleton State (25-19, 15-9 WAC) came alive in the final inning to take down Sacramento State (21-24, 9-12 WAC) with an 8-6 final on Sunday at John Smith Field.
In the ninth, Kooper Shook and Austin Russell opened with a pair of walks. The Texans then strung together five singles over their next six at-bats, with hits by Brandon Howell, Ike Shirey, Mason Hammonds, Cole Miears and Cris Enriquez to complete the comeback sweep for Tarleton State.
Devon Patel took the mound to start off the final game of the series. The RHP secured two outs, giving up five runs on two hits, two walks and no strikeouts. Freshman Parrish Beagle (W, 2-0) earned his second collegiate win with 1.0 inning pitched, giving up no runs on one hit, one walk and no strikeouts. Jack Driskell earned his fourth save of the season with 1.0 inning on the bump, giving up no runs on one hit, no walks and one strikeout.
Ian Winterhalder got the start for Sacramento State with 3.1 innings on the mound, giving up a couple of runs on four hits, no walks and one strikeout. Kade Brown (L, 2-3) took the loss with no outs secured, giving up five runs on three hits, a couple of walks and no strikeouts.
The Texans finished the afternoon with eight runs on 10 hits with home runs from Miears and Tyson Drake to lead the offense. Trace Morrison contributed a double for the visitors while Enriquez and Miears each led the team with a couple of RBI each.
The Hornets compiled six runs on nine hits with a trio of doubles to lead the offense for the home team.
Sacramento State’s half of the opening inning saw an electric five-run inning from the guys in green. A leadoff walk followed by a single, another walk and a second single welcomed the first run in for the home team. With the bases loaded, a fielder’s choice tallied the first out but allowed another run across. A wild pitch made room for the third run to come across. The second out followed but a single up the middle with two runners in scoring position brought the inning’s total to five.
The Texan offense got moving in the top of the fourth with a pair of runs to get the visitors on the board. A leadoff strikeout put one away for the Hornets, but Miears left the yard for the fifth time this season to put some skin in the game for Tarleton State. A single from Enriquez followed by a double from Morrison put a pair on the base paths to keep the inning alive. Shook reached on a fielder’s choice to load the bags and Russell was hit by a pitch to see two runs on the board for the Texans. A pair of outs followed, leaving three runners stranded for the Purple and White.
In the bottom of the sixth, a lone run came across for the Hornets to bring their total to six. A leadoff walk was followed by an out. A hit by pitch put a second runner on and a single up the middle tallied the sixth run for Sacramento State. With two outs recorded, an intentional walk loaded the diamond but a fly out to Drake closed the door on what could’ve been a detrimental inning for the Texans.
In the top of the eighth, Tarleton State continued to chip away at the lead with a leadoff homer from Drake for his eighth of the season, cutting the lead in half to see a 6-3 score in favor of the home team.
The Texans kicked down the door in the top of the ninth inning, ending the game with the same energy Sacramento State started with, bringing five across the plate to put Tarleton State in the lead for the first time in Game 3. Shook and Russell walked to start the inning off. Howell singled to load the bases with no outs recorded. An RBI single from Shirey started off the Hornets’ downfall. Hammonds singled to make it a one-run ball game. With a single out recorded, Miears singled to left to tie things up at 6-6. A two RBI single from Enriquez buried Sacramento State as the final pair of runs came home to close out the afternoon with the Texans on top at 8-6, securing the second sweep of WAC play for the Purple and White.
Tarleton State will be back in the Lone Star State for a midweek matchup with No.1 Texas A&M Tuesday at 6 p.m. in College Station, Texas.
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