FORT WORTH, TX: The 20th ranked Texas Wesleyan University Baseball team (31-11, 17-5 SAC) suffered a 14-2 loss in the opener of a three-game Sooner Athletic Conference series with No. 5 Oklahoma City University (36-5, 19-3 SAC) at Sycamore Park on Thursday.
There was a bright spot on the day for the Rams. With one out in the bottom of the eighth,
Kiki Menendez extended his hitting streak to a school-record 21 games with his NAIA-best 20th home run, a two-run shot to straight away center field.
The series opener featured two undefeated starting pitchers. Texas Wesleyan's
Brad Sugg entered the game with a 9-0 record and a 2.37 ERA, while Oklahoma City's Matt Young carried a 2-0 record with a 1.84 ERA in five appearances.
The Stars got an unearned run in the first and a two-out RBI single from Garrett Foster in the third to snag a 2-0 lead.
In the fourth, OCU loaded the bases with no outs and put the game all but out of reach at 6-0 with a sac fly from Joe Lytle followed by a three-run homer from Lane Milligan.
Shaun Corso added a two-run homer for Oklahoma City in the sixth. The Stars stretched the margin to 14-0 with a six-run eighth that included home runs from Milligan and Daniel Costello.
Sugg (9-1) suffered his first loss of the season, allowing eight runs, seven earned, on 10 hits and six walks in 5.2 innings. Young improved to 3-0 with a dominant performance, scattering four hits across seven innings while striking out nine.
Michael Davila went 2-for-4 at the top of the Rams' batting order, including a leadoff double.
Ted Wisdom was also 2-for-4 on the day.
The two teams will complete their SAC series with a doubleheader on Friday. Game one is set for a 1:00 p.m. start at Sycamore Park.
Ramblings
- The Stars lead the all-time series with the Rams 35-9-2.
- Texas Wesleyan fell to 79-36 all-time in Sooner Athletic Conference play.
- Menendez's 21-game hitting streak is the program's longest since the stat began being recorded in 2004. The previous record was 18 games, set by
Alex Gudac last season. Menendez has now hit safely in 39 of 42 games played this season. During his streak, he is batting .536 with 15 home runs and 48 RBI while slugging 1.202 with an on base percentage of .554.
- OCU's Lane Milligan has 14 triples on the year, tying an NAIA single-season record set in 1978.