FORT WORTH, TX: The Texas Wesleyan University baseball team (20-14) swept a doubleheader from LSU-Alexandria (15-17) at Sycamore Park on Tuesday. The Rams took game one 5-1 and then prevailed 8-7 in extra-innings in game two.
In game one, the Generals threatened after Trace Ovila was hit to lead off the game. With Ovila at second, PJ Leto singled through the left side, but
Ryan Adam nailed Ovila at the plate for the final out of the inning.
The Rams got on the board in the fourth. After
Casey Moses recorded Texas Wesleyan's first hit against Kael Jones, the Rams put runners at the corners with two down. Jones struck out
Hayden Muns, but the Rams' DH reached on a dropped third strike and Moses scored from third. Jones was then lifted in favor of Corey Gaulden, and a wild pitch allowed
Jonathan Bravo to score and make it 2-0.
A two-run triple from
Alex Gudac followed by a wild pitch gave the rams a 5-0 lead in the fifth.
LSUA struck back with an RBI double from Leto in the sixth, but Adam again got the ball in in time to cut down Will Costinett trying to score from first.
The Generals put two on in the seventh creating a save situation for
Wade Regas, who locked down his fifth save of the season with one pitch.
Ryan Chen (2-2) picked up the win after tossing five scoreless innings, allowing four hits and striking out three. Kael Jones (0-1) took the tough-luck loss after allowing two unearned runs on one hit while striking out 4 in 3.2 innings of work.
In game two, the Rams took advantage of an LSUA error in the first, scoring runs with an RBI single from
Erick Quesada and a ground ball from
Jonathan Bravo.
Casey Moses doubled in the third and scored on a two-out RBI single from Bravo.
Lorenzo Lynch added an RBI single to push the advantage to 4-0.
Back-to-back singles from Logan Constantine and Winn Smith got the Generals on the board in the fourth inning.
Moses doubled again in the fifth inning and scored on a single up the middle from Bravo. Again Lynch followed Bravo with an RBI knock, and a sac fly from
Jake Davis gave the Rams a 7-1 lead.
LSUA scratched a run in the sixth inning with an RBI single from Nick Ber.
Two more runs in the seventh created another save opportunity for Regas. It looked like Regas might only need one pitch to log a second save on the day, but the Rams' throw to first pulled
Tanner McMahon off the bag to extend the inning. LSUA took advantage scoring five runs on four hits, a walk, and an error to tie the game 7-7.
The game, scheduled for 7 innings, rolled into the ninth frame with both teams having 7 runs on 12 hits and 1 error and 2-3-4 due up in the order.
Constantine ripped a double in the right-center gap, but was thrown out at third base by Bravo in the Generals half of the inning.
Alex Gudac led off the bottom of the ninth with a single. Moses pushed Gudac to second with a ground ball on the right side. The Generals then uncorked a wild pitch. Catcher Garrett O'Friel collected the ball and threw to third, but his throw sailed down the line and Gudac trotted home with the game-winning run.
Both teams recorded 13 hits in the game.
Erick Quesada (who was at bat when the game ended) was 4-for-4. Moses, Bravo, and Lynch all went 2-for-4. Bravo had three RBI, while Lynch knocked in a pair.
Wade Regas (4-5) picked up the win with 2.1 innings of relief. He allowed an unearned run on two hits while striking out two. Jacob Gomez (2-1) took the loss after allowing an unearned run on three hits in 2.1 innings.
The Rams will return to action with a three-game series with Dallas Christian Friday and Saturday. Friday's contest is scheduled for a 3:00 p.m. start with Saturday's doubleheader set for a 12:00 p.m. first pitch. All three games will be played at Sycamore Park.
Ramblings
- Gudac's triple in game one was the Rams' 19th triple of the season. The Rams are second nationally to Georgia Gwinnett's 20 triples. The school record is 23 triples in a season (2005). Gudac has four triples on the season. The school's individual single-season record is 6.
- The walk-off win in game two was Texas Wesleyan's 4th walk-off of the season. With darkness beginning to fall at Sycamore Park, the final run negated what might have become the program's third tie since 1967.
- Texas Wesleyan leads the all-time series with LSUA 9-3. The Rams lead Dallas Christian 12-4, although the Crusaders have won each of the last four meetings.
