Eagle men’s, women’s teams in NAIA field
TEXARKANA, Texas — Texas A&M University-Texarkana men’s and women’s basketball teams will be going to the NAIA Tournament this year.
Both will be playing firstround games on Tuesday.
The Eagle men (22-8), runner-up in the Red River Athletic Conference, will face the Tougaloo (Mississippi) Bulldogs (26-1) at 1 p.m. Tuesday in New Orleans.
The TAMU-T women, RRAC champions with a 261 record, will battle Grand View University (21-8) of Des Moines, Iowa, in a first-round game at 6:15 p.m. Tuesday in Indianapolis.
“This is the second time in four years that we’ve reached the NAIA Tournament,” said Eagle men’s coach Ryan Wall. “We lost our first-round game in the tournament two years ago, but we hope to go much further this season.”
The Eagles have a tough opponent in Tougaloo, which has a 17-game winning streak. The Bulldogs’ only loss was a 70-67 setback on the road at Mississippi College on Jan. 9, 2022.
“We’ve got a really good bunch of young men who plays as a team,” Wall said.
“They play good fundamental basketball, they know what to do and how to win. We’re excited about making the NAIA Tournament again.”
Baseball TAMU-T ROLLS 27-0
TEXARKANA, Texas — The Texas A&M University-Texarkana baseball team took batting practice Sunday against overmatch Texas College of Tyler, Texas.
The end result was the Eagles slapped out 30 hits en route to a lopsided 27-0 baseball win over the winless Steers on a sunny afternoon at Dobson Field.
TAMU-T improves to 9-10 overall and 6-3 in Red River Athletic Conference action while Texas College slips to 0-11, 0-9.
The Eagles unloaded on three Steer pitchers Sunday, with Hunter Reid leading the charge. Reid cracked a pair of 3-run home runs to drive in 6 runs on the day.
Other TAMU-T leading hitters were: Eric Spencer (4-for-4, 4 RBI); Gabe Baker (4-for-4, 2 RBI); Jonathan Rios (3-for-4 2 RBI); Pudge Carlisle (3-for-4, 2 RBI); Luke Hyzdu (2 hits, 2 RBI); Kyle McMullen (2 doubles, 2
RBI); Masashi Takegama (2 hits); and Kristoff Swanson and Giancarlo Mijares (1 hit, 2 RBI each). Brandon Riley also had a triple.
Gage Mason (1-2) went 2 innings to notch the pitching win. He allowed 2 hits, struck out 3 and walked 1.
The Eagles will return to action at 3 p.m. Tuesday, playing Tennessee Wesleyan in Shreveport, La.
Softball EAGLES STILL UNBEATEN
GULF SHORES, Ala. — Texas A&M-Texarkana scored 3 runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to rally for a 3-2 victory over No. 20 ranked Campbellsville (Kentucky) in Sunday’s final day action in the Gulf Shores Invitational softball tournament.
The Eagles stay unbeaten at 15-0 with the victory.
TAMU-T starting pitcher Anna Westberry, who picked up the win in Saturday’s first game of a doubleheader, went 4 innings, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits. She struck out 3 and didn’t walk a batter.
Mackenzie Vittitow (50) relieved Westberry in the fifth and pitched no-hit softball the final 3 innings to notch the win. She fanned 2, with no walks.
Campbellsville took a 2-0 lead into the fifth frame. That’s when the Eagles rallied.
Grace Canti doubled in a run, Patti Swimley hit a sacrifice fly to tie the score at 2-2 and Sarah Velasquez grounded out to shortstop, allowing pinch runner Stephanie Chico to score the winning run.
Katie Slamer was 2-for-2 and Cantu was 2-for-3.
Tennis EAGLES WIN PAIR
CLARKSVILLE, Ark. — Texas A&M-Texarkana men’s and women’s team posted 9-0 victories over the University of the Ozarks in tennis action Sunday.