Texans put up eight runs in narrow loss to Abilene Christian

The series is now evened up at 1-1. During Saturday's contest, the Purple and White tallied eight hits while ACU had 12. The Wildcats had eight strikeouts opposed to five from Tarleton State.

The Wildcats gained control of an early 3-0 thanks to a two-RBI single from Diego Cardenas and an RBI double from Reese Borho. Despite two walks from and in the top of the second, Tarleton State remained scoreless. Abilene Christian tacked on another run off an RBI double from Benjamin Greer that extended their lead to four runs.

The Purple and White couldn't put up any runs in the top of the third frame. Cardenas blasted a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the stanza, marking his third RBI of the ballgame and propelling Abilene Christian to a 5-0 lead.

The Texans responded with an absolutely massive fourth inning, scoring seven runs off four hits and five walks. set the tone with a lead-off home run, notching his seventh deep ball of the season. Following Saturday's game, McCloud leads the entire squad with a .354 batting average.

After McCloud homered to center field, the Purple and White drew three walks in four at bats to load the bases with one out on the board. scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-0, followed by a two-RBI single from that scored and . kept the momentum going with a single that reloaded the bases, then walked in a run to tie the game up at 5-5.

The top of the fourth was capped off by a sacrifice fly from McCloud and an RBI single from Guerra, turning the tables in the Texans' favor and making the game 7-5. The ballgame remained at a stalemate until the bottom of the fifth inning when Bohro lifted a solo home run to bring ACU within one.

Neither team registered a baserunner in the sixth stanza. In the top of the seventh, Shirey launched a two-out double but was unable to be scored, leaving the contest at 7-6. During the bottom of that same inning, the Wildcats got back on track with a two-run scoring spurt that was highlighted by an RBI double from Bohro, who finished the game with a team-high three RBIs.

Abilene Christian scratched off another run when Zandt Payne singled to center field, driving in Braden Regala and extending the lead to two runs. Now trailing 9-7 heading into the top of the ninth, Tarleton State had one last opportunity to rally back. McCloud knocked in a lead-off single for his second hit of the day, followed by a one-out single from Perez that advanced him to third. drove in McCloud via a sacrifice fly, cutting the lead to one.

The Purple and White were unable to complete their rally, striking out to end the game and ultimately losing by one .They will look to clinch the series victory tomorrow afternoon in a winner-takes-all matchup. Get tickets here.