STEPHENVILLE – Tarleton State moved to 3-1 overall on Saturday as the Texans picked up an 8-2 win over the Golden Lions of Arkansas-Pine Bluff (0-3) in the nightcap following an 8-1 loss to the Marist Red Foxes (3-1) earlier in the day.
After falling in the mid-afternoon matchup with Marist, Sadie Beck made her collegiate debut as she earned the start in the circle for the Texans on Saturday night under the lights. Beck tallied her first win collegiate win as the Texan offense put up eight runs in the nightcap.
Tarleton State 1 Marist 8
After picking up a win each of the first two days of the Texan Classic and starting the season 2-0, the Texans dropped their first contest of the season as they fell to the Red Foxes of Marist 8-1.
Shelby Schultz earned her second start in three days for the Texans after picking up her first win in the Purple and White on Thursday following her collegiate debut for Tarleton State when the Texans took the opening game of the Texan Classic over McNeese State 5-4. In her debut, the freshman from Temple, Texas went 6.0 innings and struck out seven.
Marist came firing out of a canon in the top of the first as they put up a three-spot to take the early lead and never looked back.
In the top of the first with Peyton Pusey and Miah McDonald aboard, Haley Ahr singled to center driving in Pusey giving the road team an early 1-0 lead. Maddie Pleasants then flew out to right field as McDonald was able to score from third to make it 2-0. Ahr then came in to score as Isabella Manory reached on a fielder’s choice.
The following four innings saw both teams put up goose eggs before the Red Foxes blew things open in the top of the sixth. With Kaitlyn Husic, Samantha Rogers and Marissa Scarano on, Ronni Howard hit a bases clearing double to right field to make it 6-0 visitors.
McDonald drove in the final two runs of the day for the Red Foxes as she singled up the middle driving in Howard and Pusey to make it 8-0.
In the bottom of the sixth the Texans mustered just their lone run of the ballgame as Tristyn Trull tripled to right center driving in Austin Germain who reached base on a single to left center to make it 8-1, the final score.
Both teams once again put up zeros in the final frame as the Texans dropped their first game of their young season.
Tarleton State used a trio of arms starting with Schultz (L, 1-1). She tossed 4.0 IP giving up three runs on five hits as she struck out seven for the second time this season leading the Texans with 14 this season. Alexa Rehmeier came out of the bullpen in relief going 1.2 IP giving up five runs on three hits, walking three and striking out two. Hannah Blincoe then handled the final 1.1 IP as she gave up no runs on no hits and struck out two for a total of 11 strikeouts between the trio of pitchers.
Marist used just a single arm in Kiley Myers (W, 2-0) who went the distance giving up just one run on five hits and striking out four.
Tarleton State 8 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 2
Tarleton State straightened things out under the lights as a cold front blew in Saturday evening in front of a wonderful crowd as Beck made her collegiate debut.
In the top of the first, Beck wasted no time putting her name in the history books as she struck out her first ever batter faced in Chasney Cooper.
The Purple and White wasted no time getting on the board this time around putting up a run in the bottom of the first after holding Arkansas-Pine Bluff scoreless in their first attempts at the plate. With Germain on and Isabella Bojkovic at the plate, the freshman grounded out to first base allowing the senior to come across the plate to make it 1-0 Texans early on.
In the top of the second, Tarleton State once again held Arkansas-Pine Bluff at bay before tacking on four runs in the bottom of the frame.
With Hayden Fox and JJ Duke on, Bella Hernandez reached on a fielder’s choice as Duke scored from third to make it 2-0. Alyssa Budisalovich then grounded out to second base in her first ever at-bat for the Texas as Fox came in from third making it 3-0. Germain then doubled to right center scoring Hernandez to build the lead to 4-0. Trull then singled to right field as Germain scored for the second time in two innings to make it 5-0.
In the top half of the next frame, the Golden Lions responded with a two-spot of their own, their only runs scored in the contest. With Cooper on, Lyric Perry sent a two run shot to left field to make it 5-2 on her first long ball of the season.
In the bottom of the fourth, Bojkovic singled up the middle scoring Budisalovich to make it 6-2. Budisalovich reached base safely with a single to the shortstop marking her first hit as Texan after coming to Stephenville following a successful two-year career at Temple College that saw her help lead the Leopards to a third-place finish in the NJCAA World Series.
After making her collegiate debut, Gracie Riney took over things in the circle as Beck left the game tossing 4.1 IP and in line for her first collegiate win.
The Purple and White scored their final two runs in the bottom of the fifth to extend the lead to 8-2, the eventual final. With Fox and Duke on once again, Hannah Reed grounded out to second base as Fox moved to third and Duke scored putting the home team up 7-2. Budisalovich then collected her second Texan career hit as she singled to the pitcher allowing Fox to score from third to make it 8-2.
The final two innings of the ballgame saw sophomore Gracie Riney get six outs over the final two frames to seal the Texans 8-2 victory over the Golden Lions and move to 3-1 on the season.
With the final out in the bag, Beck (W, 1-0) secured her first win in her collegiate debut moving to 1-0 on the season. She went 4.1 IP as she gave up two runs (earned) on seven hits while she struck out two including her first ever batter face in her collegiate era. Riney tossed the final 2.2 innings giving up no runs on no hits as she struck out three and walked one. Her three strikeouts mark a career high for the sophomore from Krum, Texas.
The Golden Lions used just a single pitcher in Danika Bryant (L, 0-1) who went 6.0 IP giving up eight runs (five earned) on eight hits, walked four and struck out three.
Tarleton State returns to action on Sunday for their final game of the Texan Classic as they will host Arkansas-Pine Bluff once again, this time a 12:15 P.M. scheduled first pitch.
Season tickets, tournament passes and single-game tickets are on sale now and can be found at tarletonsports.com/tickets.
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