Eagles one win from RRAC Championship game after Mason's pitching gem

STERLINGTON, Louisiana — A&M-Texarkana finds itself just one win away from the RRAC Championship game after Friday's 3-0 win over Houston-Victoria at the Sterlington Baseball Complex. Gage Mason fired a complete game shutout with 11 strikeouts while Hunter Reid hit his second home run in as many games in the tournament to lift the Eagles (24-24) over the defending conference tournament champions.

Mason improved to 5-3 on the bump, allowing just five hits and one walk while throwing 116 pitches – 78 for strikes. UHV fell to 33-16. The Eagles will take on Louisiana Christian tomorrow at 5 pm with a championship game berth on the line. In the double-elimination format, the Eagles still have a chance to make the final no matter the outcome, but a win would certainly be the best scenario.

All three runs came in the fourth inning in a scoring situation that looked very similar to the Eagles' opening scoring sequence in the first-round win over Southwest. Dakota Leopold hit an RBI double to put the Eagles on the board, then Reid blasted a two-run shot (his 13^th of the season, tying the program single-season record) to make it 3-0. From that point, it was all Mason and some stellar defense.

Mason had just three strikeouts over the first four innings, but the junior fanned two in the fifth, two more in the sixth, got all three swinging in the eighth, and whiffed the final batter of the game to complete the gem.

The Eagles had eight hits from seven different players, with Brandon Riley posting a two-hit day and scoring the first run on Leopold's double.