Offense comes alive as Eagles avoid being swept in Austin
A&M-Texarkana earned a split of Monday’s doubleheader which allowed the road weary Eagles to avoid a three-game sweep at the hands of ninth-place Huston-Tillotson in Austin.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 1 |
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0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | X | 5 | 6 | 1 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 16 | 3 |
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2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 0 |
AUSTIN, Texas — A&M-Texarkana earned a split of Monday's doubleheader which allowed the road weary Eagles to avoid a three-game sweep at the hands of ninth-place Huston-Tillotson in Austin. The host Rams (11-25 overall, 8-13 RRAC) won the first game Monday by a 5-3 count, but the Eagles (18-18, 12-9) stayed firmly in the top half of the conference table and averted a sweep with an 8-6 win in the series finale.
GAME 1
As they did in Sunday's series opener, the Eagles let an early lead slip away in the first game of Monday's doubleheader. The Eagles took a 2-0 lead on Kyle McMullen's two-run homer in the first inning, his fourth home run this season. The Rams were ahead 4-2 before the Eagles scored again on a wild pitch in the fifth but couldn't put enough together to retake the lead.
McMullen's homer was the only Eagle hit to go for extra bases as the other six resulted in just one bag apiece, giving the Eagles one extra base hit and 10 singles thru the first two games of the series. Oscar Sanchez fell to 2-5 this season after taking the loss in a five-inning performance that saw him allow five runs, five hits, three walks and just three strikeouts. Joe Digiacomo tossed a scoreless inning of relief.
GAME 2
The final game of the series saw the Eagles pound 16 hits, including Hunter Reid's team-high sixth home run and doubles from Dakota Leopold and Eric Spencer. Six different players had at least two hits and two players (Reid and Shraedon Naeole-Starkey) each had three hits.
The Eagles fell behind by two runs in the first inning but tied it in the second and took a 6-3 lead in the fourth that would hold up through the rest of the game. They added runs in the seventh and ninth for good measure.
Gage Mason (5-2) picked up his fifth mound win with a five-inning performance that included six strikeouts and just five hits, two runs and two walks. Nathan Hunter threw 2.1 innings of relief, allowing just two hits and one run, and Saneil Patel picked up his first save of the year, closing out the final 1.2 innings without a run or hit.
NEXT UP
The Eagles continue their road trip with a three-game series in New Orleans starting Friday against Xavier (15-16 overall, 7-14 RRAC). Game 1 is Friday at 5 pm followed by a Saturday doubleheader scheduled for 2 pm and 4:30 pm.