CHICKASHA, OK:  The 12th ranked Texas Wesleyan University baseball team (45-12) swept a pair of games at 19th ranked University of Science & Arts (41-15) in Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament action on Sunday.  The Rams took game one 8-4 to force an if-necessary game which the Rams took by a final of 14-9.
 
With the wins, the Rams advance to play the nation's top-ranked team, Oklahoma City University (44-8), in the SAC Championship Game on Monday.  That game is scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. start at USAO's Bill Smith Ballpark in Chickasha, OK.  The game can be viewed live here.
 
Playing in their fourth and fifth games in the last three days, six Ram pitchers came up with 18 innings of work on Sunday.  Meanwhile, the Rams' offense delivered 22 runs on 27 hits.
 
Working with a shorthanded pitching staff Evan Rogers provided just what Head Coach Mike Jeffcoat needed by working eight strong innings in game one.  Rogers (10-2) allowed four runs, only one earned, to earn the win.
 
Caden Williams set the tone offensively with a solo homer (his 9th of the season) in the bottom of the first inning.
 
USAO took advantage of a Texas Wesleyan error to score two runs in the second, but Garrett Crook ripped a solo homer to tie the game in the third.
 
USAO took a 3-2 edge in the fourth inning, but the Rams regained the lead with an RBI single from Kiki Menendez in the sixth and an RBI single from Alex Gudac in the seventh.
 
After the Drovers tallied a run in the top of the eight, the Rams put the game away with four runs on five hits in the bottom of the inning.  Caden Williams and Luis Roman started the frame with back-to-back-doubles.  After singles from Menendez and Blake Seaton, Dylan Measells delivered an RBI double and Alex Gudac capped the rally with a sac fly.
 
Brad Sugg came on and worked a scoreless ninth to seal the win.
 
Sugg then turned around and started game two, just 40 minutes later.  Unfortunately, the Drovers plated six runs on six hits and an error in the first two innings to chase Sugg from the contest.
 
The Texas Wesleyan offense came to Sugg's aid however.  The Rams notched an unearned run in the top of the second.  In the third, Texas Wesleyan exploded for six runs on four hits, two walks, and a USAO error while sending ten men to the plate.  The big inning was highlighted by a two-run bomb from Kiki Menendez and a bases-clearing double from Alex Gudac.
 
Casey Moses gave the Rams some breathing room with a three-run homer in the sixth inning, pushing the score to 10-6.
 
A two-run single from Gudac in the seventh made it 12-6.  USAO got one back in the bottom of the seventh and the two teams traded runs in each of the final two innings.
 
Menendez blasted his second home run of the game in the eighth inning, and Moses knocked in Texas Wesleyan's 22nd run of the day with a single in the ninth.
 
Parker Robinson (2-0) worked three scoreless innings to earn the win.  Chris Terry worked two innings of relief, allowing a run on three hits, and Wade Regas, who worked six innings against Wayland Baptist University on Saturday, closed out the final two innings.
 
Gudac, Williams, and Menendez all had four hits on the day.  Menendez was 4-for-9 with two home runs and four RBI.  Gudac went 4-for-7 with a double and seven runs driven in.
 
The format for the SAC Tournament this season features a pair of double-elimination brackets followed by a winner-take-all championship game.  The Rams will now take on the nation's top-ranked team with the SAC crown on the line on Monday.  The Stars hosted the tournament's other bracket and breezed through with three consecutive wins.
 
Ramblings

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- Oklahoma City took 2-of-3 games from the Rams this season; however, one of those wins came in 13-innings.
 
- Texas Wesleyan won the SAC regular season championship last year and finished second in the standings this season (one game behind OCU).
 
- The Rams now lead the all-time series with USAO 10-9.  Texas Wesleyan is 7-6 all-time in SAC Tournament play.
 
- With four home runs on Sunday, the Rams pushed their season total to 61.  That is the program's highest total since hitting 62 in 2009.
 
- Caden Williams has hit safely in 16 consecutive games.  That is the second-longest streak on the team this season, trailing only an 18-game stretch from Alex Gudac earlier this year.  Meanwhile, Blake Seaton has hit safely in 14 consecutive games.