FORT WORTH, TX: The Texas Wesleyan University baseball team (12-11) dropped a 12-6 decision against UT-Dallas (8-10) at Sycamore Park on Tuesday.
The Rams were originally scheduled to play at Texas Lutheran on Tuesday, but that doubleheader has been rescheduled for March 25, in Seguin, TX.
The Comets threatened immediately with a leadoff double from Jimmy Norris, and a bunt single from Tim Cole.
Stephen Yancey induced a double-play ball, but Norris scampered home with the game's first run.
Tyler Kamtz doubled with two outs in the bottom of the inning, but was stranded at second.
UTD loaded the bases with three straight singles to start the third inning. Cole laid down a sac bunt to drive in a run, and a sac fly from Brandon George and a Texas Wesleyan error brought in two more runs. The Comets added another two runs with an RBI double from Haden Johnson and another Ram error to push their lead to 6-0.
Rod Lewis singled with one out in the fourth inning and later scored on a single from
Ryan Mendez to get the Rams on the board. However, the Comets came right back with two runs on two hits and two errors in the fifth inning.
In the bottom of the fifth,
Jake Howeth and Kamtz got a rally started with back-to-back singles to put runners at second and third with one out, but Tristin Demargosian limited the damage to just an RBI groundout from
Rod Lewis.
An RBI single from Cole in the top of the sixth brought the score to 9-2. In the bottom of the inning,
Dusteyn Suttle plated two runs when his shot to center got past a diving Josh Covey in centerfield for a triple.
Jake Howeth followed with a home run to right center and the gap was closed to 9-6.
With two outs in the seventh, UTD's Bobby Garner ripped a two-run double to extend the lead to 11-6. In the ninth, Haden Johnson was hit by a pitch, stole second and third, and scored on a throwing error by the TWU catcher, marking the first opponent of the season to score against
Avery Sullivan.
Both teams had 11 hits in the contest. The Rams committed five errors and stranded 10 baserunners while the Comets committed three errors and left five on base.
Yancey (0-3) took the loss after allowing five runs, three earned, on five hits in 2.2 innings. Matt McKennon (1-0) earned the win with a scoreless inning of relief work.
Mendez went 3-for-5 in the loss, while Suttle, Howeth, and Kamtz each had a pair of hits.
The Rams will return to action with a three-game Sooner Athletic Conference series against the University of Science & Arts (OK) Saturday and Sunday. Saturday's doubleheader is scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. start in Chikasha, OK. Sunday's finale will be played at Sycamore Park at 3:00 p.m. Texas Wesleyan will be the home team in all three contests.
Ramblings
- Sullivan has allowed just the one unearned run on three hits in nine appearances (11.2 IP) while opponents have batted just .077 against him.
- The Rams have been outscored by 19 runs this season (145-126) although they have scored two more earned runs than their opponents (105-103).
- Howeth has hit safely in five straight games and reached base in eight in a row.
- 12 runs was the highest scoring output of the season for the Comets.
