A&M men prevail
Game 1 A&M-Texarkana 7, Friends 5
Texas A&M-Texarkana made the most of their doubleheader with Friends University on Friday afternoon in a light drizzle at George Dobson Field.
The Eagles were able to preserve pitching and come away with the homestand sweep.
A&M-Texarkana got on the board first in the bottom of the first when first basemen Zach Boehler drove in two runs to give the Eagles the early lead.
Boehler finished the game going 1 for 4 with 2 RBIs.
“I thought our guys battled well,” A&MTexarkana head baseball coach Steve Jones said. “They’re a good team so it’s nice to come away with a victory. A few runs and couple errors at the end, this is a different ballgame.”
The Falcons answered at the top of the second when Emilio Navarro smacked a double off the green wall at Dobson Field.
Justin Braziel tied the game for Friends, hitting a dribbler to the Eagles middle infield.
Friends pitcher Sean Cruz had some difficulty in the fourth inning. Cruz walked one Eagle hitter and hit two more to load the bases.
Wyatt Miller drove in two runs at the bottom of the fourth to give the Eagles some breathing room.
Eagle pitcher Nate McGhee began to settle down on the bump for A&MTexarkana. McGhee pitched 5 1-3 innings, giving up five hits and walking three.
Mike Herrera relieved McGhee to get the Eagles out of the inning.
The Falcons also made some pitching adjustments in the middle of the sixth.
Ryan Stockwell relieved Sean Cruz in an attempt to slow down the Eagles.
Bronson Butcher slapped in two runs in the bottom of the sixth to give the Eagles some cushion heading into the final inning.
Chase Beebe followed up by driving in Butcher to give A&M-Texarkana a five run lead over Friends, 7-2.
Herrera was relieved by Caleb Baker in the top of the 7th to close out the contest.
“We played well defensively today,” Jones said. “We have somethings to clean up but we can’t give good teams chances at the end like we did today.”
The Falcons were not detoured in the final inning.
Friends scored three runs in the top of the seventh but the Eagles were able to get out of the inning unscathed to record another home victory.
Game 2 A&M-Texarkana 3, Friends 2
The Eagles and the Falcons flew through rain in the second game of the double-dip.
Both teams couldn’t gain much traction offensively to begin the match.
Chase Beebe broke the game open for the Eagles with his sacrifice fly in the bottom of the second inning, giving A&M-Texarkana the early lead over the Falcons, 1-0.
Evan Rogers started on the hill for the Eagles. Rogers pitched 4 2-3 innings and gave up four hits and Two runs.
Andrew Chartrand finally got the Falcons on the board with his sharp single down the third baseline.
“Our guys did what they needed to do,” Jones said. “We pushed through well, and we’ll work on the things we need to do to shut the door. It was awesome.”
George Gugino gave A&M-Texarkana the lead with his sacrifice fly ball in the bottom of the fourth.
Chase Beebe followed Gugino, driving in another run for the Eagles to increase the lead over the Falcons, 3-1.
Will Moore came to bump to relieve Rogers for the Eagles. Moore stopped the bleeding for A&M-Texarkana and preserved a one run lead, 3-2.