HENDERSON, TN - No. 14 Texas Wesleyan Baseball (46-15) put its back against the wall Monday with a loss to host No. 9 Freed-Hardeman, but after heroics and extremely stingy defense in Tuesday's two wins - a 7-6 victory over Clarke in 10 innings and a 2-1 triumph over Concordia in the nightcap - the Rams have a chance to serve a cold dish of revenge.

For the right to advance to the tournament final, Texas Wesleyan will face Freed-Hardeman again, Wednesday at 12 p.m.

Games down to the wire, TXWES channeled their early-season specialty by performing at their best in the biggest situations. The Rams had to keep fighting off Clarke all day: up 2-0 before Clarke tied the game 2-2 in the top of the second, up 3-2 before the Pride got another tying run in the third and after leading 6-4, Clarke managed to squeeze two runs out in the ninth to force extra innings. But Texas Wesleyan forced the Pride's hand, quite literally.

Brayden Bahnsen started the bottom of the 10th with a walk and then Wallace was able to move him with a sacrifice bunt. Jeddediah Fagg was intentionally walked and then with two outs, disaster struck for Clarke. Caden Williams put the ball in play, a dribbler that didn't have enough speed to get through the left side. Clarke pitcher Tsubasa Maruyama threw wide and inside of first base and as soon as he did, Williams knew it was ball game, holding a hand up in the air, looking back to watch pinch runner Josh Davis scamper from third to home, winning the game on a throwing error.

The dugout rushed the field - the Rams had survived and Clarke's season ended on a 1-3 throw that never stood a chance. It was the fourth time this decade the Rams played extra innings in the NAIA Opening Round but the first won in walk-off fashion. 

Then Concordia met senior pitcher Houston Glad. Glad struck out nine going the full nine frames, walking just one in the Rams 2-1 victory they so desperately needed, and the defense behind him committed no errors catching 12 outs on pops and flies, ending the Bulldogs' season. Glad got all three outs in the bottom of the third swinging and looking, leaving two Bulldog runners stranded. Texas Wesleyan's defense left two runners stranded again in the seventh after Concordia managed to finally drive in a run on a left-field single.

The Bulldogs left 11 runners on base through the nine-innings of elimination-game tension, at least one in every inning through seven before Glad and the defense emphatically shut the door.

In Game 1, Max Martinez earned a season high in strikeouts - eight - while going a season-high six innings. He allowed just four hits and two walks before Josh Brown, Parker Robinson and Garrett Moltzan came in out of the bullpen. Moltzan improved to 3-0, striking out two of the four batters he faced, giving up just one hit.

In the two combined games at the plate, Tanner Amaral went 4-for-7 with 3 RBI, including the two runs driven in that beat Concordia in the defensive slugfest. Amaral used a single up the middle to score Williams and Davila after going a perfect 3-for-3 in the morning against Clarke. Williams finished 4-for-10 with a RBI and Sheadion Jamanika went 3-for-8 with a pair of runs batted in.

The Rams are keeping the dream alive to reach their first NAIA World Series. The squad has finished as Opening Round Runners-up in 2009, 2010 and 2013 and also won two games by one run through the 2009 gauntlet. Sitting at 46 wins, Texas Wesleyan is one away from tying the 47 victories achieved by the 2017 team, the most win for the program since getting 53 back in 1980.

Freed-Hardeman won the first matchup with the Rams on Monday, 3-1 despite just five hits. Live video of the game can be viewed here.

The SAC's top team from the conference tournament - University of Science and Arts-Oklahoma - is unbeaten in the Santa Barbara bracket. Oklahoma City, who possessed the top seed in the Shreveport bracket, was bounced from the opening round after two-straight losses.