STEPHENVILLE, Texas (Interstat) — A dominant relief performance by Anthony Treto and a relentless offensive attack powered Tarleton State to a 10-5 victory over Abilene Christian on Thursday at Tarleton Baseball Complex.

The Texans (22-11) erased an early five-run deficit, scoring in five of their eight offensive innings to secure the series opener. The Wildcats fell to 16-16.

Abilene Christian struck quickly, loading the bases in the first inning against Tarleton starter Caden Lowry. Maddox Jones delivered a two-run double down the left-field line, plating Zandt Cardenas and Miller Ladusau, who had been hit by a pitch. The Wildcats extended their lead to 5-0 in the third on a solo home run by Logan Watkins and an RBI double from Alex Brzozowski.

Tarleton State immediately began chipping away in the bottom of the first. Brady Englett singled, stole second and scored on Slade McCloud’s single. McCloud then stole second and came home on a double from Ike Shirey, cutting the deficit to 5-2.

The Texans completed their comeback with a three-run second inning. After Cole Ricard walked, Jake Tatom launched a two-run homer to left field. Colby Lorch followed with a double and scored on Englett’s single to tie the game 5-5.

Tarleton took the lead for good in the third. Shirey doubled, advanced on a flyout and scored on a single by Cole McCloud for a 6-5 advantage. They added another run in the fourth when Rayner Heinrich doubled and scored on McCloud’s second RBI single.

The Wildcats scored an unearned run in the fifth on Brzozowski’s groundout, making it 7-5, but would get no closer. The Texans broke the game open with three runs in the sixth, capitalizing on two Abilene Christian errors and a passed ball. Englett tripled and scored on Heinrich’s single. Heinrich later scored on a throwing error, and Shirey came home on a passed ball to extend the lead to 10-5.

The most important part of the game was the shutdown work of the Tarleton State bullpen, particularly Anthony Treto. After Ethan Jaques provided 2 2/3 scoreless innings of relief with five strikeouts, Treto entered in the sixth and was flawless. He retired all 12 batters he faced over the final four innings, striking out four, to seal the victory. Treto has now thrown 8 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings over his last four appearances.

Offensively, the Texans racked up 14 hits. Englett led the way, going 3 for 5 with a triple, an RBI, three stolen bases and three runs scored. McCloud drove in two runs, Shirey had two hits and an RBI, and Tatom’s two-run homer provided the early momentum shift.

For Abilene Christian, which managed nine hits, Watkins’ home run was the highlight. Ladusau and Brzozowski each had two RBIs.

The two teams continue their series Friday.