ABILENE, TX: The 15th ranked Texas Wesleyan University baseball team (24-8) suffered a 5-4 loss when McMurry University (10-15) plated a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth inning at Walt Driggers Field on Wednesday. The loss snapped Texas Wesleyan's 11-game winning streak.
The Rams jumped out to a 3-0 lead with RBI's from
Julio Ibarra,
Luis Roman, and
Caden Williams in the third inning. McMurry came back with solo homers from Randy Crevier in the third and Tyler Jenkins in the fourth while a TXWES error allowed the tying run to score in the fourth.
Four McMurry hurlers combined to keep the Rams off the scoreboard until the ninth inning. Texas Wesleyan's
Andrew O'Brien stayed on to pitch a scoreless sixth, while
Alex Davis did the same in the seventh and eighth innings.
In the top of the ninth.
Alex Gudac singled but was later thrown out at the plate for the second out of the inning.
Casey Moses, who had singled to right, advanced to second on that play and then moved to third on a wild pitch. Moses crossed the plate with the go-ahead run on a two-out RBI single from Ibarra.
The bottom of the ninth started with back-to-back singles from Chris Baker and Payton Stokes and a sac bunt from Blaine McCray. The Rams elected to intentionally walk the next batter to set up a potential double-play, but Jordan Speck, the ninth man in the War Hawk order, came through with a two-run game-winning single to leftfield.
Wade Regas (0-1) took the loss after allowing one run on two hits in a third of an inning. Tyler Jenkins (1-3) picked up the win after allowing a run on three hits in an inning of work. O'Brien started the contest for the Rams and allowed three runs, two earned, on three hits in six innings pitched.
Ibarra went 4-for-4 at the plate with two RBI. Moses was 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
The Rams are back in action this weekend when they travel to Plainview, TX, for a three-game Sooner Athletic Conference series at Wayland Baptist University. Friday's doubleheader is scheduled for a 2:00 p.m. start, while Saturday's series finale is set for a 12:00 p.m. first pitch.
Ramblings
- This was the first time the Rams were held under eight runs in the last nine games, dating back to a 5-3 win over the University of Science & Arts (OK) on March 12.
- During Texas Wesleyan's 11-game winnings streak, the Rams outscored their opponents 114-28 while batting .384 as a team.
- The streak was the team's longest since a 17-game streak ended on April 23, of last season.
- Ibarra's four-hit day was the fifth four-hit game for the Rams this season.
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Casey Moses has the longest active hitting streak on the team at 10 games. He is the fourth Ram this season to post a streak of at least ten games joining
Alex Gudac (18),
Julio Ibarra (12), and
Caden Williams (11).
- Overall, the Rams are batting .341 on the season, which ranks third in the SAC and 14th in the NAIA.
