PLAINVIEW, TX:  There was no wilder place to be than Wayland Baptist University's Wilder Field Saturday afternoon.  It took 46 runs, but the 19th ranked Texas Wesleyan University Baseball team (31-9, 17-4 SAC) managed a split of a Sooner Athletic Conference doubleheader at Wayland Baptist (26-17, 13-11 SAC).  Twenty-one runs in the opening game proved not to be enough as the Rams fell by a wild 23-21 final score.  In game two, the Rams put 25 on the board and took a 25-8 victory.
 
Once again, pitching staffs from both sides battled 30 mph winds in Plainview.  In game one, the Rams scored nine runs in the top of the first, and the offensive onslaught never let up.
 
A dropped third strike, a Wayland Baptist error, and four walks gave the Rams the early lead.  The big inning (Texas Wesleyan's first of two 9-run innings on the day) was highlighted by Donnie Lopez who blasted a three-run homer in his second at-bat of the frame.
 
The big lead was short-lived; Wayland's Yaniel Vargas led off the bottom of the first with a home run, and the Pioneers went on to cut the margin down to 9-6.
 
Back-to-back jacks from Kiki Menendez and Jacob Barfield pushed the score to 11-6 in the fourth, but the Pioneers plated seven runs on three hits, three walks and four hit batters in the bottom of the inning.
 
The Rams' offense was up to the task, batting around for a second time and scoring seven runs to lead 18-13 in the fifth.
 
Wayland batted around for a third time in the bottom of the fifth, scoring five more runs to tie the game at 18-18, but the Rams tallied three in the sixth to lead 21-18.
 
The game was destined to come down to the last bat after Wayland got within a run in the sixth inning.  In the seventh, senior Matt Flores touched off a three-run walk-off home run on Senior Day at Wilder Field.
 
The two teams combined for 44 runs on 34 hits including five home runs in game one.  Kiki Menendez tied Texas Wesleyan's single-game record with five hits, going 5-for-5 with a double, home run, and three RBI.  He is the 12th Ram to record a 5-hit game.  Donnie Lopez went 2-for-5 with 5 RBI, while Ted Wisdom was 3-for-5 with 4 RBI.
 
Both teams combined to use nine pitchers and none escaped without allowing at least three runs.  Jacob Barfield (0-1) took the loss for the Rams, while Carlos Dominguez (1-0) picked up the win for the Pioneers.
 
How do you respond after scoring 21 runs and failing to come away with a win?  Scoring 25 is certainly a positive reaction.
 
Wayland took a quick 3-1 lead in the first inning of game two, but the Rams scored four in the second and then put together their second 9-run inning of the day in the third.  That nine-run frame featured a two-run homer from Julio Ibarra and a grand-slam from Kiki Menendez.
 
For good measure, the Rams scored three in the fourth and four more in the fifth.  Aiden Laurini homered to lead off the fourth, and Chandler Schoelkopf notched a two-run triple in the fifth.
 
Menendez added a three-run homer during a four-run seventh to push the score to 25-8.  The home run marked Menendez's third of the day and his 18th of the season, surpassing WBU's Gregg Veneklasen for the national lead in the NAIA.
 
Texas Wesleyan's 25-runs in game two matched the second-highest scoring output in program history while the 46 runs on the day marked the program's highest scoring doubleheader of all-time.  The school's single game record is 26 against the University of the Southwest in 2009.  That game was part of the program's previous highest scoring doubleheader at 42 runs on the day.
 
Even the SAC's leader in ERA was not immune to the high-powered offense, although Brad Sugg (9-0) did come away with the win.  Sugg tossed all seven innings in game two, allowing eight runs, seven earned, on 12 hits.  His ERA rose from 1.56 to 2.37, knocking him down to second in the SAC.
 
The Rams will return to action on Tuesday, when they travel to Texarkana, TX, to take on Texas A&M-Texarkana.  That game is scheduled for a 5:00 p.m. start.
 
Ramblings

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- The Rams batted around three times on Saturday, while they scored in 10 of the 14 innings played and scored multiple runs in nine innings.
 
- The team's 23 hits in game two marked the third highest single-game total in program history.
 
- Texas Wesleyan has scored 20 or more runs on four occasions this season. 
 
- Kiki Menendez notched his fourth multi-home run game of the season while extending his current hitting streak to 19 games.  During the streak he is batting .553 with 13 home runs and 45 RBI.  He has hit safely in 37 of 40 games played.
 
- The Rams lead the all-time series with the Pioneers 17-11 while they are now 79-35 all-time in SAC play.
 
- Texas Wesleyan now trails No. 7 USAO and No. 9 Oklahoma City by a single game in the SAC standings.