Texan Baseball drops series opener to Seattle U

SEATTLE, Washington - Tarleton State Baseball (13-18, 2-2 WAC) fell on Friday to the Seattle U Redhawks (11-18, 2-2 WAC) at Bannerwood Park, losing 11-6.

The Texans tallied nine hits while the Redhawks notched 11. Tarleton State's bullpen registered eight strikeouts opposed to four from Seattle U.

blasted a lead-off triple to get the Texans rolling in the first inning. This marked Drake's sixth triple of the season, tying him for the top spot for total triples across all of NCAA Division I Baseball. singled to center field immediately after, scoring Drake and giving Tarleton State the first run of the ballgame.

Kenny Ishikawa hit a lead-off home run for the Redhawks in the bottom of the first frame to tie the game up at 1-1. In the top of the second, and hit two singles to put runners on first and third with no outs. sacrificed to drive in Morrison, giving the Texans a 2-1 lead.

Drake walked and the Purple and White orchestrated a double steal with Drake and Shirey to put both runners in scoring position. Heinrich accounted for his second RBI of the afternoon with a single that scored Shirey, extending the lead to two runs. The second stanza was capped off by an RBI single from that scored Drake for his second run of the day.

Vincente Feliciano notched a double for the Redhawks and was eventually driven in via a sacrifice fly from Hunter Komine, cutting the Texans' lead to two. Seattle U continued to turn things around in the bottom of the third inning, accumulating four runs on four hits and an error. The Redhawks led 6-4 after three innings of baseball thanks to RBIs from Feliciano and Jared Stevenson.

The game remained at a stalemate until the bottom of the sixth stanza when Sam Kane launched a two-run home run that extended Seattle U's lead to four runs. Heinrich was hit by a pitch to lead off the seventh, but the Texans were unable to capitalize and left the inning scoreless.

Seattle U loaded the bases with no outs to start the bottom of the seventh. Feliciano hit a sacrifice fly, followed by a sacrifice groundout from Komine that made the ballgame 10-4. The inning was capped off by an RBI double from Ishikawa that extended the Redhawks' lead to seven runs.

Morrison hit a single on the first pitch of the eighth inning, followed by a single from . Shirey was hit by a pitch to load the bases and Brewster grounded out to score Morrison, putting the Texans back on the board. Guerra was able to score on a wild pitch from the Redhawks, cutting the lead to five. Seattle U escaped the eighth frame with a groundout and a flyout, preventing Tarleton State from bringing in any more runs.

The Purple and White ultimately dropped the opening game of the series 6-11. Tarleton State Baseball will look to bounce back on Saturday when they play their fifth doubleheader of the season at Bannerwood Park.