GRAND PRAIRIE, TX: The Texas Wesleyan University baseball team (8-5) split a doubleheader against 9th ranked Oklahoma Wesleyan University (7-2) at The Ballpark in Grand Prairie on Friday. The Rams took game one 7-6 before falling 8-1 in game two.
The Rams jumped all over the Eagles in the first inning of game one. Texas Wesleyan's first four hitters all reached safely.
Alex Gudac,
Casey Moses, and
Erick Quesada all singled.
Lorenzo Lynch followed with a triple and the Rams led 3-0. Lynch later scored on a wild pitch.
Dylan Measells singled and scored on a hit from
Ryan Adam and the Rams pushed the advantage to 5-0.
Zach Aitken worked through the OWU lineup unscathed in the first three innings. The Eagles put together a rally in the third with RBI from Alenandro Hernandez, Andrew Hermanson, and Brendan Garafalo in the fourth.
Gudac led off the bottom of the fourth with a double and later scored on a balk.
Jonathan Bravo added a two-out RBI single to bring the score to 7-3.
That extra insurance run proved to be important as OWU put three more on the board in the fifth, scoring three runs on four singles.
In the seventh, OWU put runners at first and second with two outs, but Quesada made a terrific diving catch coming in a ball in shallow right to end the contest.
Aitken (1-1) earned the win after allowing three runs on three hits while striking out six in four innings of work.
Wade Regas recorded his second save of the season with two scoreless innings of relief work.
Carlos Aldana (1-1) allowed five runs on five hits while recording only one out in the loss.
The Rams outhit the Eagles 11-8. Gudac, Quesada, Bravo, and Adam all had a pair of hits in the contest.
Game two was dominated by OWU right-hander CJ Gregory. Gregory (2-1) worked all nine innings, scattering six hits and allowing just one run.
Ricky Hull (2-1) managed to keep things close for the Rams. The senior lefty allowed two runs, one earned, on six hits in six innings of work.
After Hull exited, the Rams scored their lone run when Lynch doubled and scored in the seventh to cut the score to 2-1. The Eagles came back with a pair of runs in the eighth and then put the game out of reach with four more in the top of the ninth.
Gudac was 3-for-4 in the loss, collecting three of the Rams' six hits.
The Rams and Eagles will complete their three-game series on Saturday. That game is scheduled for an 11:30 a.m. start at The Ballpark in Grand Prairie.
Ramblings
- The Rams recorded two more triples in Friday's doubleheader. They now have 11 on the season, just three shy of last year's total.
- The Rams and Eagles had never met on the baseball field prior to Friday's twin bill.
