STEPHENVILLE, TEXAS – Despite allowing the Tarleton Texans to come back and tie the game in the bottom of the ninth, the Wofford baseball team responded with four runs in the top of the 10^th inning to bounce back and claim an 11-7 victory Tuesday night at the Tarleton Baseball Complex. The Terriers improve to 21-9 on the season with the result, while the Texans fall to 9-18.
 
This was Wofford's first extra-inning game of the season and the first since falling 4-3 in 14 innings at Georgia State on April 27, 2021. This is the first extra-inning win for the Terriers since a 10-inning 3-2 triumph over ETSU on April 10, 2021.
 
Devon Sharts (1-0) was credited with the win after hurling the final inning for the Terriers. He struck out two and did not allow a run. He tossed 16 pitches, all of which were strikes. Dom Marcoccio started, throwing 3.0 innings with four punchouts and one run allowed. Overall, Wofford utilized eight pitchers in the contest, with three appearing in the bottom of the ninth. Lucas Mahlstedt matched Marcoccio with 3.0 innings as the one to relieve him, allowing two runs and striking out two. Michael Sills and O'Kelly McWilliams IV each pitched 1.0 inning. Dalton Rhadans, Zach Byron and Carter Bailey combined to pitch the ninth inning before Sharts closed the door in the 10^th.
 
The loss was charged to Texan reliever Matthew Hickey (1-1) after he surrendered four runs in just 1.0 inning of work – that decisive 10^th frame.
 
The game was a slugfest, with the sides combing for 28 total hits. Wofford held the advantage, 15-13. Each squad clobbered two home runs. Eight of the nine batters in Wofford's starting lineup recorded at least one hit.
 
Four Terriers tallied multi-hit games, as Brice Martinez led the charge with four hits and three RBI. Both marks are career-highs. John Dempsey matched Martinez with three RBI, doing so with two hits, one of which was a two-run dinger for his sixth of the campaign. That long ball extended his on-base streak to 17 games, the longest by a Terrier this year.
 
Ryan Galanie and Lawson Hill each totaled two hits and one RBI. Both players had an extra base hit as one of their knocks, the difference being the type. Hill's was a double, and Galanie's was a solo home run, his team-leading seventh of the season. Galanie also swiped Wofford's lone steal of the ballgame.
 
Trey Yunger recorded one hit and reached base a second time via the free pass, drawing the lone Wofford walk of the contest. Marshall Toole and Gunnar Johnson tallied the other RBI for the Terriers, picking up one each.
 
After a scoreless first inning, Wofford struck first in the top of the second. Ryan Galanie opened the inning and the scoring with a bang, launching a solo blast to left field, giving the Terriers an early 1-0 advantage.
 
The lead grew in the third as Wofford manufactured a couple more runs. Two-straight singles placed runners on the corners with one out for John Dempsey, who laid down a sacrifice bunt to plate Brice Martinez from third. A fielding error on a dropped fly ball allowed another run to come across, making the score 3-0.
 
Tarleton took a page out of Wofford's book in the bottom of the frame, using small ball to break into the score column. Mirroring the Terrier half of the frame, a pair of singles gave the Texans runners on the corners with one out, where they, too, attempted to sacrifice bunt. The batter reached safely, however, and it became an RBI single to cut the lead to 3-1.
 
The Terriers got that run right back in the very next inning. After the first two batters were retired, Nolen Hester and Cameron Gill kept the inning alive with back-to-back singles. Martinez then legged out an infield single that scored Hester, making the margin 4-1 in favor of Wofford.
 
The Texans battled to pull within a run in the bottom of the sixth. After a pair of singles put two runners on, a double off the top of the wall in right field just missed home run distance and tying the game, but it did bring both runners across the plate. The score was 4-3 with Tarleton applying pressure.
 
Wofford did not have to sweat long, pulling back away in the top of the seventh. With a runner on and one out, John Dempsey extended his on-base streak to seven in big fashion, blasting a two-run homer to right field. The Terriers were not done there, as later in the inning Lawson Hill doubled down the left field line to bring home another run. Wofford's lead had jumped to 7-3.
 
Needing some life, Tarleton powered home a run to pull closer in the bottom of the eighth. A solo long ball made the score 7-4.
 
The Texans needed a rally to survive entering the final frame, and they got just that. The frame opened with a lead-off solo shot to make it a two-run game. The next two batters were retired, however, but with its back against the wall, Tarleton rallied to get a pair of baserunners, one of which scored on a single through the left side. A walk loaded the bases, and then a hit batter brought home the tying run. With the bases still juiced, Carter Bailey came on to pitch with the hopes of cleaning up the mess. The freshman induced a groundout to third to do just that, forcing free baseball with the score knotted up at seven apiece.
 
Wofford responded quickly in the 10^th, as three-straight singles to begin the inning plated a run, the go-ahead RBI coming from Marshall Toole's bat. A fielder's choice then loaded the bases, and Gunnar Johnson delivered a pinch-hit sacrifice fly to score another run. Martinez continued to have himself a game by singling through the left side for his fourth hit of the ballgame, on which two more runners came around to score. After the offensive explosion, the Terriers were back in front, 11-7.
 
Devon Sharts came on the pitch the bottom of the 10^th, allowing a single before retiring the next three batters to close the game out and secure the 11-7 victory for the Terriers.
 
After four games in the Lone Star State, the Terriers return home to the Palmetto State to begin conference play by hosting UNCG this weekend. The SoCon opener and game one of the series against the Spartans is slated for a 6:00 p.m. first pitch at Russell C. King Field Friday night.