HENDERSON, TN - An incredible baseball season for No. 14 Texas Wesleyan (46-16) came to a close Wednesday as No. 9 Freed-Hardeman's reign over the NAIA Opening Round at home continued. After giving the Rams their first loss of the tournament 3-1 on Monday, the Lions managed a 5-1 victory on Wednesday, giving up only three hits.

The 46 wins this season were the fourth most in team history. The Rams finish the decade with five NAIA Opening Round appearances - the most national playoff appearances of any decade.

TXWES trailed only 2-1 in the top of the eighth before Freed-Hardeman pulled away (the Lions served as the away team). Unearned runs scored Will McCall and Colin Baber on a passed ball and wild pitch. Hunter Beecham scored earlier in the frame off of McCall's single and subsequent fielding error, another unearned run. 

The Rams scored in the third off of Jededdiah Fagg's single that brought Alan Campero home after he reached base on a fielder's choice. Fagg had two of the three hits for TXWES on the afternoon, getting another in the bottom of the ninth in an attempted comeback.

Texas Wesleyan's defense did all it could, stranding 10 runners on base, turning two double plays. The pitching staff had nine total strikeouts, led by Cameron Vige's five (in 7.1 innings) plus Parker Robinson's three against five batters and Tres Underwood's strikeout against his lone opponent at the plate.

Freed-Hardeman went on to top Oklahoma Wesleyan in another elimination game later in the day, 7-3, forcing a winner-take-all game with OWU tomorrow at 12 p.m. to wrap up the opening round schedule.

SEASON HIGHLIGHTS

Walk-offs in all shapes and sizes - Texas Wesleyan beat teams aplenty this season and every game seemed to be just as unique as possible. TXWES defeated Texas College with a walk-off walk on January 27, beat LSU-Alexandria February 1 on a walk-off sac fly and topped Bethany College February 8 on a squeeze play to end the game. Texas Wesleyan took down Arlington Baptist on March 19 on a walk-off home run from Alan Campero and against Clarke University in the NAIA Tournament, Caden Williams dribbler down the left infield forced a throwing error to bringing in the game's winning run.

Strikeouts record - Not every season has a program record broken, especially not one that is so valuable to wins and losses. This season, Texas Wesleyan's pitching staff destroyed the old record of team strikeouts - earning a whopping 533 Ks. The old record from 2013? 421, over 100 less than the eventual monster-of-a-season on the mound for a staff that included SAC All-Conference players Houston Glad and Parker Robinson. With Vige's five against the Lions in the final game, he ends up as the team's strikeout leader in 2019 with 103. The 533 mark has moved up to best in the country as the Rams moved ahead of Oklahoma City's 527 Wednesday. 

Long-winded win streaks - When the Rams got in a rhythm, they did not let off the gas. The team started with 10 wins in a row before putting together an 11-game victory train from February 20-March 8. TXWES won seven in a row in April. 

Home sweet home - The Rams finished 30-6 at Sycamore Park in 2019, the most home wins of the home game records readily available, which date back to 2006. The team won 29 games at home in 2007, part of a 41-10 campaign.