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Box Score
STEPHENVILLE – The Tarleton baseball team hosted the top team in the nation in St. Mary's on Wednesday, but came out on the wrong end of a 9-2 final decision.
The Rattlers pulled out to an early lead after scoring on a wild pitch in the top of the third inning, making it a 1-0 contest. Things got even worse for Tarleton after a two-run error gave St. Mary's a 3-0 advantage on just one-hit.
The Texans threatened in the bottom half of the inning after a lead-off single by Chris Patton and a walk by Evan Robinson, but Tarleton was unable to capitalize against the No. 3 pitching staff in Division II.
In the bottom of the fourth, Ryan Small homered for the second straight game as he turned on an inside fastball and placed it over the left field fence. The solo blast cut Tarleton's deficit to 3-1.
A Texan error in the fifth resulted in a fourth run while an RBI double extended St. Mary's advantage to 5-1. Another two-run double later in the inning made it 7-1 as Tarleton found themselves in a tough situation.
The St. Mary's pitchers were difficult to figure out for the Texan offense, led by starter Derek Moczygemba. Tarleton managed base runners, but besides the home run, it was unable to take advantage.
The Rattlers would go on to add two more runs to cap things off in the ninth.
Baseball vs St. Mary's Gallery
Ethan Stuckly added a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning, but it would not be enough of a comeback. After all was said and done, the Texans fell to No. 1 St. Mary's, 9-2.
Tarleton reliever Taylor Christian (1-1) was saddled with the loss after giving up three runs, one earned, on one hit in the third.
Moczygemba (3-2) picked up the win after holding the Texans to a single run on four hits in seven innings of work.
As a team, Tarleton recorded just four hits, with RBI's coming from Small and Stuckly. Two errors also hurt the Texans' cause.
Tarleton (12-10, 5-3) will try to rebound this weekend when it hosts Texas A&M-Kingsville for a four-game Lone Star Conference series at the Cecil Ballow Baseball Complex.
For more information regarding the 2012 Texan baseball season, check out TarletonSports.com.
