STEPHENVILLE, Texas – The Texans fell victim to Utah Valley after bad weather slowed down the Purple and White's offensive efforts.
Tarleton State (25-25, 15-10 WAC) dropped the opening game of the series to Utah Valley (25-25, 16-9 WAC) after poor weather brought the Texans' momentum to a halt with a 9-6 final for the evening.
A competitive offensive matchup saw the home team lead through the first four innings and retake the lead in the fifth, but the storm clouds rolled in, washing away the Texans' steam at the plate.
Piercen McElyea took the mound to start things off for Tarleton State with 2.1 innings pitched, giving up three runs on two hits, one walk and one strikeout. Grant Garza (L, 8-1) took his first loss of the season after a 2.2 inning outing, giving up four runs on six hits, one walk and three strikeouts.
Chase Hennessey got the start for the visitors, securing two outs, giving up no runs on one hit, one walk and one strikeout. Braden Boisvert (W, 6-2) went 4.1 innings on the mound, giving up six runs on eight hits, two walks and three strikeouts. Mitch Mueller (S,2) got the save with 2.1 innings on the bump, giving up no runs on two hits, no walks and one strikeout.
Tarleton State compiled six runs on 12 hits with a two-run home run from Mason Crews to lead the offensive efforts for the Texans. Mason Hammonds contributed a double and Slade McCloud stole the only base of the evening. The home team left 10 runners on base.
The Wolverines rounded out Game 1 with nine runs on 10 hits with a two-run home run, a triple, and a pair of doubles to make up the Utah Valley offense. The visitors left 12 runners stranded.
The Purple and White were first to draw blood with a three-run second inning. McCloud walked as the leadoff and Ike Shirey singled to keep things moving for the Texans. A sacrifice bunt advanced the pair of runners and a two RBI double from Hammonds made some noise for the home team. With two outs recorded, Cole Miears reached on a hit, driving in the third run as Hammonds crossed home plate to give the Texans a 3-0 lead.
After the first weather delay, Utah Valley welcomed in a trio of runs to start off the third. As the leadoff was hit by a pitch, the innings' two-hole doubled, leaving a pair of runners in scoring position. A pop up tallied the first out but a second hit by pitch followed to load the base path. A third Wolverine was hit at the plate to bring across their first run and the second run followed in the same fashion. With the bases still loaded, a flyout to left field recorded the second out but made room at home for the tying run to come in.
In the home half of the third, the Texans got back to business, retaking the lead by a run. Hunter Smith singled as the leadoff and a sacrifice bunt from Kooper Shook put Tarleton State in scoring position. A second out followed but an RBI single from Shirey placed Smith at home to bring the total to four for the Purple and White.
A couple of runs came in for the guys in green in the top of the fifth. With a lone out on the board, a double followed by a single and a hit by pitch loaded the diamond for the visitors. A second out was secured but a single to right gave the lead to Utah Valley as a pair came across for a 5-4 score.
The Texans continued to battle back and retake the lead in the bottom of the inning. With two outs tallied, McCloud singled to set things up for Mason Crews as the catcher for the Purple and White left the yard to bring in two runs to put Tarleton State up by one at 6-5.
Utah Valley followed the Texans lead in the sixth with a leadoff single and a two-run home run retook the lead for the visitors at 7-6.
After a scoreless half of the seventh for the Wolverines, the bad weather returned to the 'Ville, bringing the game to a halt at approximately 6:45 p.m. The game resumed at 9 p.m. after the weather conditions had subsided.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Texans left a pair on.
The eighth inning saw each team leave a lone runner stranded.
In the top of the ninth, two outs came immediately but a hit by pitch kept the inning alive for the visitors. An RBI triple extended the lead to two for Utah Valley and a single followed to give the Wolverines some insurance headed into the bottom of the inning.
A three up, three down bottom of the ninth ended the nearly seven hour game with a 9-6 final in favor of the visitors.
With poor weather conditions expected throughout the remainder of the weekend, Saturday will see a doubleheader and Sunday will leave all the attention to the mothers! Senior Day festivities will begin Saturday at 11:30 a.m. as 12 seniors will be honored prior to the 12 p.m. game time. The series finale will follow the conclusion of Game 2.
