FORT WORTH, TX;  The Texas Wesleyan University baseball team (13-7, 2-2 SAC) fell by a final score of 8-3 in the opener of a three-game Sooner Athletic Conference series with No. 17 University of Science & Arts of Oklahoma (18-7, 3-1 SAC) on Friday.
 
The Drovers plated six runs in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings to put away what had been a back-and-forth battle to that point.
 
Alex Lopez breezed through the first 2.1 innings before Henry Rodriguez drew a walk in the third inning.  Alexander Cortez followed with a two-run homer.

The Rams came back in the bottom of the third.  Casey Moses led off with a double, and Luis Roman and Aidan Laurini drove in runs to tie the game at 2-2.
 
In the fifth, Moses led off with a single and made his way to third base with one out.  Moses then scored on a dropped third strike to give the Rams a 3-2 edge.
  From that point it was all Drovers.  Wyatt Hull ripped a two-run homer during a three-run sixth.  USAO took advantage of five walks in the following two innings to push three more runs across.
 
Lopez (3-1), the two-time defending SAC Pitcher of the Week, was tagged with his first loss of the season after allowing five runs on eight hits in six innings of work.
 
Francis Ventura (3-0) earned the win after allowing three runs, only one earned, on eight hits in seven innings pitched.
 
Laurini went 3-for-3 at the plate, while Moses collected a pair of hits in four at bats.
 
The Rams and Drovers will complete their series with a doubleheader on Sunday.  Game one is scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. first pitch at Sycamore Park.
 
Ramblings

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- USAO leads the all-time series with Texas Wesleyan 8-6.  The Rams are now 48-30 all-time in SAC competition.
 
- Alex Gudac went 1-for-4 on Friday to extend his hitting streak to 12 games.
 
- Julio Ibarra has reached base safely in 19 of Texas Wesleyan's 20 games on the season.