HATTIESBURG, MS: The 12th ranked Texas Wesleyan University baseball team (45-14) suffered a heartbreaking 4-3 defeat at No. 20 William Carey University (39-27) as they opened play in the Hattiesburg Bracket of the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round on Monday.
Junior pitcher
Stephen Yancey was superb for 8.2 innings before the Crusaders rallied in the ninth. Yancey and William Carey hurler Cole Edgens both took no-hitters into the seventh inning.
In the top of the seventh, Yancey faced his first hurdle of the day when William Carey got back-to-back singles to put two on with one out, but a strikeout and a groundball quickly ended the threat.
After
Luis Roman broke up Edgens' no-hit bid with a single in the seventh,
Blake Seaton finally cracked the scoreboard in the bottom of the eighth. Seaton followed a two-out walk to
Garrett Crook with a two-run home run to right field. Roman then followed a William Carey error with an RBI double, and the Rams headed to the ninth with a 3-0 lead.
In the ninth, the Crusaders loaded the bases with one out. Yancey recorded his sixth strikeout of the game before the Rams turned to the bullpen for the final out. WC's Tyler Odom ripped a two-run single and Cody Christian followed with a two-run double that gave his team a 4-3 lead.
The Rams managed a two-out single from
Alex Gudac in the ninth, but could not push another run across.
Yancey (9-5) went 8.2 innings and allowed three hits while striking out six. Edgens (9-1) worked eight inning, allowing three runs on three hits while striking out nine. Lane Frazende notched his eighth shutout of the season with a scoreless ninth inning.
The NAIA National Tournament Opening Round features nine different five-team double-elimination brackets. The Rams will play an elimination game against LSU-Alexandria at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday.
Ramblings
- The Rams are making the program's fifth appearance in the NAIA National Tournament since the association went to the Opening Round format in 2009. They reached the opening round finals in 2009, 2010, and 2013.
-
Blake Seaton's home run was the team's 63rd long-ball of the season, marking the program's highest total in head coach
Mike Jeffcoat's 16-year tenure.
- Texas Wesleyan's 45 wins are the third most in program history, trailing only the 1980 (53) and 1978 (52) teams.
- Head Coach
Mike Jeffcoat reached the 500-win milestone this season. His record currently stands at 527-357-1. He has led the Rams to the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round or equivalent regional tournament in eight of the last twelve seasons and reached the final of that tournament four times (2007, 2009, 2010, and 2013).
