Tarleton's comeback bid falls just short in game 2 with SFA - Tarleton State University Athletics

NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Tarleton fell behind early again, but this time rallied to make things interesting late. Unfortunately for the Texans, they came up just one run short in an 8-7 loss to Stephen F. Austin at Jaycees field on Saturday afternoon.

The Texans (9-16, 5-6 WAC) gave up a five-run inning to the Lumberjacks (7-18, 3-8 WAC) in the third that put them behind 6-1. The deficit was too much for Tarleton to overcome even after posting 11 hits to the SFA's 12.

Tarleton starting pitcher Riley Boyd (0-3) was credited with the loss after pitching 1.2 innings. Boyd gave up a hit and two walks in the second inning to load the bases before giving way to Zach Gagnon. Boyd's allowed one run on two hits.

He is the second Tarleton starting pitcher to not extend his outing more than two innings in the last two games.

The Texans were led offensively by Kemuel Thomas-Rivera, who had three hits including a solo home run, and London Green who finished with two hits.

Tarleton plated six runs over the final five frames, beginning with two runs in the fifth. Bryan Aguilar hit an RBI double down the left field line to score Corey Young. Later in the inning Dylan Kurahashi-Choy Foo grabbed an RBI of his own on a groundout to the shortstop to score Aguilar.

Thomas-Rivera's solo home run came in the sixth to make it an 8-4 game. The teams were scoreless in the seventh.

The eighth gave life to Tarleton as Jake Escalon pinch hit for Young with two runners on base. The freshman out of Breckenridge, Texas sent a three-run home run out over the left field wall to make it an 8-7 SFA lead in the eighth. The one-run deficit was the closest Tarleton had been since the second inning.

Tarleton held SFA scoreless in the bottom half of the eighth. They came to bat in the ninth down a run. The Texans proceeded to pop up to the second baseman, line out to right field, and strike out swinging to end the game.

Tarleton will try and salvage the series Sunday at 1 p.m. CT at Jaycees Field. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.