FORT WORTH, TX: The 13th ranked Texas Wesleyan University baseball team (41-11, 19-5 SAC) finished a sweep of a three-game Sooner Athletic Conference series against Southwestern Christian University (34-20, 10-14 SAC) with a 7-2 win at Sycamore Park on Saturday.
Texas Wesleyan's 41 regular season victories are the program's most since 1980 when the team posted a school record 53 total victories, and the team's third highest total all-time.
The Eagles struck first with an RBI single from Michael Lowe in the top of the first, but the Rams responded with a two-run single from
Kiki Menendez and an RBI from
Aidan Laurini in the bottom of the inning.
Julio Ibarra delivered a two-run double to push the score to 5-1 in the third inning.
Zach Graham doubled and scored for the Eagles in the fifth inning, and SCU threatened again in the sixth when they loaded the bases with two outs. Head Coach
Mike Jeffcoat turned to
Evan Rogers out of the bullpen, and Rogers ended the inning with a strikeout.
Texas Wesleyan put the game out of reach in the eighth, scoring two runs on three hits and two SCU errors.
The Texas Wesleyan defense turned four double-plays behind Rogers and starter
Wade Regas. Regas (3-1) worked 5.2 innings allowing two runs on eight hits in the win. Rogers recorded his first save of the season by finishing off 3.1 scoreless innings.
Blake Seaton and
Julio Ibarra both went 2-for-4 at the plate for the Rams.
The Rams will return to action in next weekend's Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament in Oklahoma City. Texas Wesleyan will likely be the second seed in that tournament; however, they have not yet been eliminated from owning a share of the regular season title. With a league mark of 19-5, they trail top-ranked Oklahoma City (18-3) by just a half-game in the standings. The Stars will play a three game series with Southwestern Assemblies of God University Sunday and Monday.
Ramblings
- The Rams are now 9-4 all-time against SCU and 65-33 (.663) all-time in Sooner Athletic Conference play.
- Texas Wesleyan's 50 home runs are the program's most since hitting 55 in 2010.
- The Rams have closed the regular season with a 14-game winning streak. The team also won 11 in a row earlier this season.
-
Caden Williams (11) and
Blake Seaton (10) both have active hitting streaks of 10 games or more.
- The conference tournament will be played at Oklahoma City University beginning on Friday, May 5. As the second seed, the Rams will play the seventh seed. Southwestern Christian, Wayland Baptist, and Mid-America Christian are currently tied for that position.
