OKLAHOMA CITY - It's been a tournament unlike any other, but No. 14 Texas Wesleyan (43-13) is still in the thick of things. After Mid-America Christian (19-26) gave up an astounding 17 runs in the eighth inning to Oklahoma City, falling 26-2 - a game that needed to finish Monday due to Sunday night inclement weather - MACU couldn't recover against the Rams, as Texas Wesleyan cruised 11-1 to advance to the semifinals.
Texas Wesleyan will face No. 8 Oklahoma City Tuesday at 11 a.m. The Stars remain unbeaten in the SAC Tournament, meaning the Rams will need to win twice to advance to the Championship, where they would play the winner of the Southwest Assemblies of God / University of Science and Arts-Oklahoma semifinal on the other side of the bracket (the Drovers have zero losses and the Lions have one). The if necessary game on either side of the bracket is set for Tuesday at 5 p.m., the date and time of the championship after the rains pushed the tournament start back to Sunday. If either if necessary game is needed, the Championship would move to Wednesday.
The top of the lineup for the Rams gutted the Evangels in a revenge game for TXWES, following MACU's 6-4 upset win Sunday.
Alan Campero (the lead-off),
Jeddediah Fagg (batting second),
Michael Davila (hitting third) and
Tanner Amaral combined to go 12-for-19 from the plate - all four players registering three hits. The Rams forced 180 total pitches out of the Evangels pitching staff, mostly drained after the marathon with the Stars where MACU was forced to throw 232 total pitches.
Still,
Brooks Wallace found a way to earn the highlight of the day. On a 1-2 count with the Rams up 1-0 in the top of the fourth, Wallace blasted a shot to left field over the fence to score two. His homer prompted five consecutive hits from teammtes plus a stolen base from
Craig Mattes.
On the mound, freshman
Jordan Granado gets the win, relieving
Cameron Vige with Texas Wesleyan in charge 6-0. Vige struck out eight of the 13 batters he faced, but only played four innings. Fellow senior
Tres Underwood earned two strikeouts in one inning of work and
Garrett Moltzan got five to walk back to the dugout on their third strike in three frames of action. Granado moves to 2-0 on the season.
The Evangels hit a measly .077 against Vige Monday, the best any pitcher in the tourney has faired. 31 pitchers have seen the mound over the last two days. The Stars and Rams are No. 1 and No. 2 respectively in opponents batting average in the bracket - .261 and .267, respectively, so the semifinal could finally turn into a pitcher's duel the tourney has not yet seen. Texas Wesleyan took two out of three meetings from Oklahoma City in the regular season.
OFFENSE RULING POSTSEASON
- Of the ten games played in the SAC Tournament, seven have been won by a team who has produced 10 or more runs. This has followed a trend. In 2018 and 2017, nine of the 14 matchups needed 10 or more runs to win. In 2016, nine of 13 battles ended that way.
- In the three games played so far this postseason, Michael Davila is hitting .692 - 9-of-13 from the plate, his nine hits tied for the most by any player. Davila's 9 RBI are second most in the field, only bested by Oklahoma City's Tyler Williams, who the Rams may just want to walk. Williams has five home runs in two tournament games.
