HATTIESBURG, MS: The 12th ranked Texas Wesleyan University baseball team (46-14) advanced to the semifinals of the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round Hattiesburg Bracket by winning a pair of elimination games on Tuesday. The Rams defeated LSU-Alexandria (33-24) 5-1 and then romped to a 9-1 victory over Lyon College (35-24).
vs. LSU-Alexandria
A 9:00 a.m. start against LSUA was not too early for senior pitcher
Alex Lopez. The righty from Ovilla, TX, turned in a terrific performance, working eight innings and allowing just one run on five hits while walking none and striking out career-high 10.
The Rams looked like they would jump ahead early when they loaded the bases with no one out in the top of the first. However, LSUA's Fernando Martinez was up to the challenge, keeping the Rams off the scoreboard with a pair of groundballs to third and a strikeout.
The Generals scored first when Logan Constantine led off the fourth inning with a single and later scored on a sac fly.
The Rams took the lead with back-to-back RBI singles from
Casey Moses and
Julio Ibarra with one out in the sixth.
Blake Seaton added an RBI double in the seventh that brought
CJ Ateek home with an insurance run. A leadoff double from
Kiki Menendez and a two-out single from
Aidan Laurini pushed the score to 4-1 in the eighth. Texas Wesleyan capped the scoring with a sac fly from
Caden Williams in the ninth.
Williams, who went 1-for-4 with an RBI at the plate, then moved from second base to the mound, making just his third pitching appearance of the season. The junior right-hander from Houston worked a perfect ninth to close out the 5-1 victory.
Seaton (2-5) and Menendez (2-4) each recorded a pair of hits in the morning contest.
vs. Lyon
Against Lyon College, the Rams exploded for six runs in the second inning.
Alex Gudac and
Casey Moses drove in runs in front of a two-run double from
Luis Roman and a two-run bomb off the bat of
Kiki Menendez .
Texas Wesleyan added an unearned tally in the fourth and RBI singles from Gudac in the fifth and
Julio Ibarra in the sixth to put the game well out of reach.
Alex Davis (2-1) got the win after working 3.1 scoreless innings of relief.
Andrew O'Brien started the game and allowed just one run on five hits while striking out six in 4.2 innings.
Moses (2-4), Roman (2-4), Menendez (2-5), Ateek (2-5), and Gudac (2-3) all had multi-hit games as the Rams racked up 13 safeties against the Scots.
Up Next
With the pair of wins on Tuesday, the Rams advance to the Opening Round Semifinals on Wednesday. They will take on the host team, 20th ranked William Carey University, at 10:00 a.m. in a rematch of their tournament opener. The winner of that semifinal game will play No. 8 Southeastern University (FL) at 1:00 p.m. with the hopes of forcing a winner-take-all final on Thursday.
Ramblings
- In his four-year career,
Alex Lopez has made 59 appearances (40 starts) and struck out 203 batters in 268 innings pitched.
- The Rams are now 10-3 vs. LSUA and 1-0 vs. Lyon all-time. The Rams lead the all-time series with William Carey 3-2.
- 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, and now hold an all-time record of 10-9 in the tournament.
- Texas Wesleyan's 64 home runs on the season mark the program's highest total in head coach
Mike Jeffcoat's 16-year tenure.
- Texas Wesleyan's 46 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 529-357-1. 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).
