Baseball Falls Short at No. 20 A&M-VIctoria

VICTORIA, Texas — Doane Baseball built an early five-run cushion, then nearly stole the lead back late, but 20th-ranked Texas A&M-Victoria held on for an 8-7 win in the nightcap of a Friday evening's action at Riverside Stadium.

The Tigers struck first in the opening inning. Carter Roth led off with a single, advanced to third on a pickoff throwing error, and scored on a Grant Sommers sacrifice fly for a 1-0 advantage.

Doane added two more in the second. Max Harris opened the frame with a double to right-center, moved to third on a groundout, and came home on a Tanner Nelson sacrifice fly. With two outs, Jett Grossart doubled down the right-field line and scored when Roth drove a single into center to push the margin to 3-0.

The Tigers added two in the top of the third to extend to a 5-0 lead. Harris doubled again to put runners in scoring position, and Brayden Jones delivered a two-run single to left to score both Jordan Bond and Harris.

After TAMUV left the bases loaded in the first, the Jaguars broke through in a big way in the third. A&M-Victoria plated five runs in the bottom of the inning to erase the deficit and take control of the game.

A&M-Victoria tied the game with its five-run third, added one in the fourth, and then pushed across two more in the sixth to take an 8-5 lead.

Down three in their final at-bat, Doane mounted a charge in the seventh. Sam Kwapnioski singled and moved up on a wild pitch before Sommers launched a two-run homer to left, cutting the deficit to one. TAMUV, however, did not need to bat in the bottom of the seventh and secured the 8-7 final.

Doane finished with 10 hits and was led by Harris (2-for-4, two doubles, two runs), Roth (2-for-4, RBI, run, stolen base) and Sommers (2 hits, three RBI, including the two-run homer). Jones drove in two with his third-inning single.

Riley Plummer started for Doane, with Cade Bridges working 3.1 innings in relief.

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