FORT WORTH, TX: The Texas Wesleyan University baseball team (7-10) swept a twin bill from McPherson College (6-5) at Sycamore Park on Saturday.
Stephen Yancey pitched the Rams to an 8-1 win in game two.
Julio Ibarra then delivered a walk-off two-run home run in the bottom of the 12th to secure a 7-5 win in game two.
In game one, Yancey (2-1) tossed a complete game (7 innings) and allowed just one run on six hits while striking out six.
After trailing 1-0 early, the Rams took the lead with RBI from
Caden Williams and
Brooks Wallace in the third inning. The Rams got a run in the fourth, and then a grand slam from
Luis Roman highlighted a five-run fifth inning.
Texas Wesleyan outhit McPherson 11-6.
Kiki Menendez (2-3),
Caden Williams (2-3) and
Casey Moses (2-4) each had a pair of hits for the Rams.
In game two, the Bulldogs took a 3-1 lead with a three-run third. The Rams got one run back in the bottom of the third when Roman doubled and scored, but the Bulldogs stretched the advantage to 5-2 with two more in the fifth.
Texas Wesleyan chipped away in the bottom of the fifth. Roman followed a double from
Garrett Crook with a triple. An RBI single from
Julio Ibarra made it a one-run game at 5-4.
In the bottom of the seventh of the scheduled seven-inning ballgame,
Casey Moses touched off a game-tying leadoff home run to send the game to extra innings.
Wade Rega and
Evan Rogers held the Bulldogs scoreless for the remainder of the contest. In the 12th, Roman led off with a single, and Ibarra walked it off with a two-run bomb.
Rogers (3-1) earned the win with 4 innings of scoreless relief work. He did not surrender a hit while walking one and striking out five. Dylan Klava (1-1) took the tough luck loss after allowing three runs on eight hits in six innings of relief work.
Roman set the table for the Rams, going 4-for-6 with a double, a triple, and three runs scored out of the leadoff spot. Ibarra, Menendez, and Williams each had a pair of hits. Those four players combined to go 10-for-21 at the top of the Texas Wesleyan batting order.
The Rams and Bulldogs will complete their four-game series with a doubleheader on Sunday. In anticipation of rain in the forecast on Sunday, game one has been moved up to a 10:00 a.m. start.
Ramblings
- Roman was a home run short of the cycle in game two.
- Ibarra is the lone Ram who has hit safely in all 10 games this season. He is batting .342 (13-38) with 3 home runs and 8 RBI.
- Yancey lowered his ERA to 2.50, while
Evan Rogers improved to 1.72 on the season.
- This was the first ever meeting between Texas Wesleyan and McPherson on the baseball diamond.
