FORT WORTH, TX: The 20th ranked Texas Wesleyan University Baseball team (31-13, 17-7 SAC) pushed No. 5 Oklahoma City University (38-5, 21-3 SAC) to extra innings in the series finale, but fell 5-3 and 4-3 in a doubleheader at Sycamore Park on Friday.
In game one,
Donnie Lopez drilled a one-out double in the first and scored the game's first run after a pair of passed balls.
The Stars took a 3-1 lead with a two-run home run off the bat of Elliott Cary and an RBI single from Joe Lytle in the second.
In the bottom of the second, the Rams loaded the bases with no outs after three straight singles from
Jacob Barfield,
Ted Wisdom and
Julio Ibarra, but the Stars were able to escape with no damage when a sac fly turned into a double play after the runner at third was ruled to have left early.
OCU tacked on a two-run homer from Lytle in the fourth.
The Rams got the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh.
Michael Davila made it 5-3 with a sac fly, but, with one out,
Donnie Lopez hit a rope to first base that was fielded by a diving Shaun Corso who was able to turn a game-ending double play.
That double play left
Kiki Menendez in the on-deck circle, 0-for-2 on the day, ending his school-record 21-game hitting streak. Menendez did walk in the first inning extending another streak to 22 consecutive games having reached base, seven shy of tying another school record.
Bryce Milligan (7-1) got the win after allowing two runs on six hits in six innings, while Tanner Andrews picked up the save.
Stephen Yancey (7-4) was tagged with the loss after allowing five runs on eight hits in six innings of work.
Lopez was 2-for-4 in game one.
Parker Robinson finished game one with a scoreless inning for the Rams and came back to start game two where he contributed two more scoreless frames.
The Rams jumped ahead in the first.
Kiki Menendez and
Donnie Lopez led off with back-to-back singles and later scored on a base hit from
Cory Gallegos. Lopez singled again in the third and scored on an OCU error to make it 3-0.
An error on a likely double play ball in the sixth led to a bases loaded no out situation for the Stars. OCU got on the board with a walk to Daniel Costello and tied the game with a two-run double from Garrett Foster before
Alex Davis came out of the pen and ended the threat with a popup and a pair of strikeouts.
The Rams got the winning run to second in the seventh, but OCU recorded the final out at the plate when
Logan Bistrup tried to scamper home from second on a single to shallow center.
In the top of the eighth Costello led off with a double, moved to third on a close play at third after a sacrifice bunt from Garrett Foster, and scored the go ahead run on a groundout from Hunter Aguirre.
Andrews struck out the side in the bottom of the eighth to lock down his second save of the day and his fifth of the season. Doug Holloway (7-0) worked seven innings allowing three runs, two earned, on seven hits for OCU.
Alex Davis (3-2) got the tough luck loss after allowing just one run on three hits while striking out three in three innings of work.
After seeing his streak come to an end in game one, Menendez started a new streak by going 2-for-4 in game two. Gallegos was 3-for-4 with two RBI, while Lopez again went 2-for-4 at the plate.
The Rams will be back in action next weekend in their final regular season competition. They will host Mid-America Christian University in a three-game SAC series at Sycamore Park. Friday's contest is scheduled for a 4:00 p.m. start while Saturday's doubleheader will begin at 12:00 p.m.
Ramblings
- The Stars lead the all-time series with the Rams 37-9-2. The Rams are 11-3 all-time against their next opponent, MACU.
- Texas Wesleyan fell to 79-38 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 40 of 44 games played this season. During his streak, he batted .536 with 15 home runs and 48 RBI while slugging 1.202 with an on base percentage of .554.
