OKLAHOMA CITY, OK: The 12th ranked Texas Wesleyan University baseball team (27-10, 9-4 SAC) took second ranked Oklahoma City University (36-4, 13-0 SAC) to the edge before falling 9-8 in 13-innings at Jim Wade Stadium on Friday.
The game was the opener of a three-game Sooner Athletic Conference series which will finish with a doubleheader on Saturday. The game saw five tie scores and three lead changes and took four hours and twenty-six minutes to play. The Rams held leads in the ninth and thirteenth innings before OCU came up with the win.
Closer
Wade Regas, in the 43rd appearance of his two-year Texas Wesleyan career, made his first ever start as a Ram, and gutted out 8.1 innings before exiting with the lead in the ninth inning.
The Rams took advantage of an OCU error in the first to get on the board, but the Stars tied the game with an RBI single from Brandon Grieger in the second.
Kiki Menendez knocked in
Casey Moses with a ground ball in the third inning, giving the Rams a 2-1 lead, but OCU responded again in the fourth with a triple from Shaun Corso and an RBI single from Cory Linn.
Luis Roman delivered a two-run homer in the fifth, but the Stars took the lead with a four-run frame in the bottom of the inning.
RBI singles from
Blake Seaton and Roman tied the game 6-6 in the fifth inning.
With tension ratcheting up in the late innings,
Julio Ibarra came through with an RBI double in the eighth, and the Rams took a 7-6 lead into the ninth inning.
Regas started the ninth with a strikeout, but Lane Milligan followed with his third home run of the season to send the game to extra innings.
Brad Sugg held the Stars scoreless through the 12th inning. In the top of the 13th,
Aidan Laurini was hit by a pitch, stole second, and advanced to third on a passed ball. After
Alex Gudac drew a walk, Laurini scored the go-ahead run on a chopper to the mound from
Chandler Schoelkopf.
The bottom of the 13th got off to an unlucky start with a walk and an error. Milligan drew the leadoff walk and later scored the tying run on a passed ball. With one out and a runner at third, the Rams intentionally walked Corso and Cory Linn to load the bases. The Rams nearly got out of the jam as
Alex Davis recorded a strikeout, but a wild pitch brought Joe Lytle in from third with the winning run.
Regas kept the Rams in the game into the ninth inning, allowing seven runs on 13 hits while striking out four.
Brad Sugg (4-1) took a hard-luck loss after allowing two runs, one earned on just two hits in 3.2 innings.
Tyler Milligan (1-1) worked the final two innings for OCU and notched the win after surrendering an unearned run on no hits and two walks.
The Rams recorded 13 hits in the loss. Seaton went 3-for-6 at the plate. Moses, Roman, Laurini, and Schoelkopf each had a pair of hits.
Saturday's doubleheader is scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. start.
Ramblings
- Oklahoma City leads the all-time series with the Rams 32-8-2, although Texas Wesleyan has won four of the last five meetings.
- Texas Wesleyan is now 55-32 all-time in SAC play.
- Texas Wesleyan's national ranking of 12th is the program's high-water mark since 2007 when the team was ranked as high as 8th.
-
Luis Roman extended his current hitting streak to 10 games, joining four other Rams with double-figure streaks this season.
Alex Gudac holds the longest streak of the season at 18-games.
- Texas Wesleyan's 33 home runs this season are the program's most since 2010 when they finished with 55 homers.
