A&M-TEXARKANA EAGLES WIN TWO REMAIN ALIVE IN TITLE RACE
Eagles win two, remain alive in RRAC title race
Backs against the wall might be understating Texas A&M University-Texarkana’s championship hopes in baseball. The Eagles rallied for three runs with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to win Saturday’s second game over Houston-Victoria, 11-10. A&M-Texarkana won the opener, 7-1.
A disappointing 7-1 loss to the
Jaguars Friday had put A&M-Texarkana (24-17, 12-6) in the precarious position of falling out of contention for the Red River Athletic Conference title. Saturday’s sweep leaves the Eagles two games back of front-running Southwestern and LSU-Alexandria. LSU-Shreveport is currently third, one-half game ahead of the Eagles.
“We were really disappointed Friday, and feel like we didn’t show up,” A&M-Texarkana coach Steve Jones said. “We got some help with Southwestern dropping two games, which made today’s second game even more important. The sweep keeps us in the mix.”
Texarkana took a 6-2 lead into the sixth inning of the nightcap when Victoria scored twice against Eagles’ starter Neiko Yribe, who was replaced in the seventh by Teddy Henderson.
That’s when the Jaguars (11-20, 7-11) bunched six singles and took advantage of a Texarkana miscue to score five runs and take a 9-6 lead.
It was 10-7 going to the bottom of the ninth when Cameron Frost walked to ignite the Eagles’ rally.
One out later pinch-hitter Ethan Davis singled to left, and
Texarkana was successful with a double-steal. Losing pitcher Andrew Richards struck out the next batter, but yielded a run-scoring single to pinch-hitter Michael Moore. Pinch-runner Heath Eubanks stole second and Kolton Perfect was intentionally walked. A passed ball followed moving the runners to second and third.
Cole Beckham fought off a two-strike count, with a line drive single to left that scored Eubanks and ended the game. Neiko Martinez was the winning pitcher in relief.
Derek Maciejeski was the Jaguars’ offensive leader with three hits and four RBIs. SECOND GAME UH-Victoria 002 002510 —10 16 3 A&M Texarkana 013 021103 —11 13 3 Two outs in 9th when game ended.
Nathan Pena, Fernando Pena (5), Ross Bludau (7), Andrew Richards (9) and Chase Almendarez. Neiko Yribe, Teddy Henderson (7), Mike Herrera (7), Caleb Baker (7), Neiko Martinez (8) and Bronson Butcher. WP-Martinez (2-1); LP-Richards (0-4).
First game
A&M-TEXARKANA 7,
UH-VICTORIA 1
Righthander Jacob Cobb-Adams handcuffed the Jaguars on three hits, holding them scoreless until the sixth inning.
The crafty Cobb-Adams got all the offense he would need in the first inning when was hit by losing pitcher Andrew Richards’ first offering. One out later Beckham scored on Frost’s double to right-center. He raced home later on Zach Boehler’s single to right.
“Victoria’s pitchers were keeping us off-balanced at the plate in the first two games of the series,” Jones said. “They’re not like most teams because they’ll throw their off-speed stuff at anytime, and we weren’t doing a great job of handling it. The nice thing is we had some runners and were able to execute some things and move runners along, and that’s why we scored seven runs on only six hits.
“You’ve got to figure out how win any way you can. Today we did it that way and got good pitching and defense in the first game. I thought we played a good game in the opener, and we showed some fight in the second game.”
The Eagles scored three insurance run in the fifth on one hit, a hit batsman, infield error and walk.
Two more Eagles scored in the sixth after Boehler singled to center. Pinchrunner Chase Beebe stole second and scored on George Gugino’s single to right, advancing to second on the throw home and going to third on Bronson Butcher’s sacrifice bunt. He scored on Alex Kugler’s squeeze bunt.
Cobb-Adams got his fifth win against no loses, allowing six hits, walking two and striking out seven. Jon Michael Cunningham retired the final five Jaquars to end the seven-inning contest. UH-Victoria 000 001 0 — 1 6 2 A&M-Texarkana 200 032 x — 7 6 0
Andrew Richards, Bo Sheridan (6), Luke Alexander (6), Allen Westmoreland (6) and Chase Almendarez. Jacob Cobb-Adams, Jon Michael Cunningham (6) and Bronson Butcher. WP-Cobb-Adams (5-0); LP-Richards (0-3).