Senior Caleb Baker made his debut as a starting pitcher for Texas A&M University-Texarkana Thursday at George Dobson Field.
Baker spent his first season with the Eagles in the bullpen, where he was 2-1 with eight saves in 2018. He was the winning pitcher Thursday. A&M-Texarkana rebounded to win the nightcap of a doubleheader with Lindenwood University-Belleville (Ill.), 2-0. The Lynx won the opener, 8-0.
The same two schools play another doubleheader Friday at Dobson with first pitch at noon.
Jones expects Eagles to be up and down early
“This time of the year it’s all about pitching,” Eagles’ mentor Steve Jones said. “We’ve got to come out and pitch better than we did in the first game. We’re learning as we go with so many new faces. We just got beat in the first game, but we came back and battled in the second contest.
“We got a big hit to score a run, while Baker and (Mike) Herrera pitched the heck out of it. Those two have improved a lot since last season. We need to play better baseball tomorrow (Friday), and swing the bat better. Today’s games were good for us, showing us what level we need to be at to compete. Our guys still need to get dialed in and understand how we do things around here.”
The Eagles managed only three hits in the opener, and five in the second game. They had one error in each game. Junior Jared Davis was the losing pitcher, allowing three runs and six hits in four innings of work.
“There’s going to be some ups and downs early,” Jones said. “Once our players get what we’re doing, we’ll be alright.”
Texas A&M-Texarkana’s softball season unfolds Friday at Spring Lake Park. The Eagles play Sterling College at 11 a.m. The host team plays Webber International in its second game at 3:30 p.m.
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