Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 SHREVEPORT, LA – Texas Wesleyan Baseball (10-2) hit the road this weekend and without Sycamore Park as the backdrop, the Rams dropped two games to start the LSUS Invitational – one to Ecclesia College, 4-2, and the other to the host Pilots, 9-4.
GAME 1
In the first-ever meeting between Ecclesia and Texas Wesleyan, the Royals got off to an early 2-0 lead with TXWES playing them even the rest of the way. Eight different Rams earned a single hit Friday, including the first five in the order:
Tanner Amaral,
Caden Williams,
Jeddediah Fagg,
Brayden Bahnsen,
Michael Davila,
Craig Mattes,
Mark Schreiner and
Casey Brownlow.
The latter – the homer. In the top of the seventh inning, Brownlow swung on a 3-0 pitch and blasted the ball over the left-field fence to get the Rams two runs away from forcing extras. A couple of pop ups and a line drive to third base kept the rally a short-lived one.
Brownlow, a sophomore from Grandview, Texas and a transfer from East Texas Baptist got his first home run as a Ram on just his third at-bat of the season. Davila's hit was a double to deep left-center to start the bottom of the second.
Josh Brown pitched six innings, allowing six hits with two strikeouts.
Steven Frederick relieved him in the seventh and caught one batter swinging. The Rams out-hit Ecclesia 8-6 in a game that only took one hour and 52 minutes to play.
GAME 2
In a game filled with offense, the No. 25 LSU-Shreveport Pilots just had a little bit more of it. The Rams' most successful frame was the second, driving home three runs to take a 3-1 lead at the time.
Amaral singled shallow down the left-field line and after a fielder's choice at second, Brownlow singled through the in-field gap at shortstop. Mattes reached on a walk and the scoring streak began.
After Barfield scores, Schreiner singled to shallow right-center, bringing home Brownlow and Mattes. The Rams grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning. The Pilots scored two runs in the bottom of the frame to even things up.
Houston Glad pitched the first 4 2/3 innings, striking out five of the 24 batters he faced, walking just one.
Caden Williams was 3-of-4 at the plate with a RBI in the fifth to bring in Bahnsen.
It was the 43rd meeting between the two programs – the Pilots have now won 25 of them in what has been a back-and-forth tussle for bragging rights. The Rams have only faced 12 other opponents more than LSU-Shreveport since the program started in 1967.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Rams get back on the diamond tomorrow with games against today's opponents – Ecclesia at 3:30 p.m. and LSU-Shreveport at 7 p.m.
