By Alan Wiederhold
HT Athletic Communications
MARSHALL, Texas – Huston-Tillotson University's baseball team traveled to Northeast Texas for their first league games as an HBCU Athletic Conference member institution Friday, where the Rams split a doubleheader at Wiley.
At Coker Field in southwest Marshall, the Rams (8-8, 1-1 HBCUAC) won the opening game 4-0 on Ethan Walker's three-hit shutout. Wiley (7-8, 1-1 HBCUAC ) took game two 7-1 to salvage a Friday split.
The Rams and Wildcats conclude their series Saturday with a single nine-inning game. First pitch is scheduled for noon.
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GAME ONE: HT Rams 4, Wiley 0
Walker struck out seven batters and allowed just three hits and didn't issue a walk en route to the seven-inning, complete-game victory.
The Rams took advantage of a pair of Wiley errors to score their first two runs of the game. Kadarien Harris scored a throwing error to give HT a 1-0 lead; two batters later, another infield throwing error allowed Danny Hernandez to score from second base.
Noah Alvarez stretched HT's lead to 3-0 with an RBI single in the top of the fifth inning that scored Trey Garza. Alvarez knocked singles in his first three at-bats of the game. Hernandez capped the scoring in the sixth with an RBI single that sent Harris home from second.
The four runs were more than enough for Walker, who improved his season record to 3-1 with his second shutout of the year. After an error and a hit batter put Wiley's first two runners on base in the bottom of the first, Walker recovered and retired the next nine batters.
Amir Mason's leadoff single in the bottom of the fourth was Wiley's first hit. Undaunted, Walker allowed one baserunner or fewer in each of his last four innings.
The win snapped HT's four-game losing streak, as the Rams were coming off setbacks against NCAA Division I Stephen F. Austin and the NAIA's No. 20-ranked team Texas A&M–Victoria. The triumph was also HT's seventh consecutive win against unranked NAIA teams.
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GAME TWO: Wiley 7, HT Rams 1
A pair of fifth-inning homeruns gave Wiley a comfortable advantage in the second game as the 'Cats split Friday's doubleheader.
HT starting pitcher Nathaniel Davila had a solid outing, giving up only two runs and four hits while striking out three in four innings of work. Wiley's Ethan Jones pitched six innings to earn the win for the Wildcats.
Trailing 2-0 in the top of the fourth, Christian Medina put the Rams on the scoreboard with an RBI double to left field that scored Alvarez from second base. The double was HT's first extra-base hit of the day.
Alvarez collected a hit in game two, giving him four singles for the day. Alijah Merkson also had a single in his only at-bat after entering the game as a defensive replacement.
– HT –
