FORT WORTH, Texas – The Texas Wesleyan baseball team dropped back to .500 in conference play after a weekend series against the Northwood University Knights. The Rams lost Friday’s game 8-7 in 10 innings, then split a Saturday doubleheader, losing 11-0 in the early game and winning 6-3 in the nightcap.

Game 1 (Friday): Despite allowing 13 hits and 18 base runners, the Rams still nearly won the game. In the bottom of the 10th, Eric Casias blasted a two-out, two-strike fastball over the fence in left for what would have been a walk-off home run, but the ball, which appeared to have hooked around the foul pole, was ruled foul by the umpire. Casias then popped out to end the game, giving the Knights an 8-7 win at LaGrave Field.

Northwood got on the board first, scoring on a pair of first inning singles.

The Rams came back in the second to take the lead with a two-out rally. Trey combs led off with a walk but was erased on Travis Clifford’s double play. Matt Putman was then hit by a pitch, Casias singled, and Derek Armstrong walked to load the bases. Cole Henry followed with a line drive to the gap in left-center, plating two runs. A throwing error on the Knights’ centerfielder allowed Armstrong to score on the play as well, and the Rams were up 3-1.

The Knights immediately tied the score, sandwiching a pair of singles around a Joe Beck triple in the top of the third.

Neither team scored again until the seventh, when Northwood put three more on the board. Anthony Lopez connected for his third single of the day, and Beck followed with a single to put runners on the corners with no outs. Quinn Goldman’s sacrifice fly scored a run, then consecutive walks loaded the bases for Paul Ylda, who drove home two with a single.

The Rams countered with a pair in the bottom of the inning. Henry led off with a walk and scored on Billy Eaton’s triple. After a pitching change, Aaron Ellis knocked Eaton in with a smash that caromed off a diving shortstop’s glove into left field.

Down 6-5 heading into the bottom of the ninth, Cole Henry continued to come up big for the Rams. He led off with a looping double to left. Eaton then bunted back to the pitcher, whose throw to third was not in time to get Henry. Now with runners on the corners and no outs, Anthony Bolivar grounded into a 6-4-3 double play, but Henry was able to score, tying the game at six.

In the extra frame, Joe Beck walked with two outs, stole second and scored the eventual winning run on Goldman’s single.

Bryant Wilson took the loss for Wesleyan, allowing just the one run in three innings of work. He allowed three hits, struck out three and walked one. Andy Hughes started and threw the first seven innings for the Rams, allowing five runs on ten hits. He struck out two and walked three.

Game 1 (Saturday): While the Wesleyan offense couldn’t get anything going, Northwood scored four in the fourth and five in the fifth, cruising to an 11-0 victory in a shortened game.

The Knights opened the scoring in the first inning. Anthony Lopez walked to begin the game and came around to score on a two-out error by the Ram defense. An inning later, Lopez put Northwood up 2-0 with an RBI single.

In the fourth, Northwood opened up a commanding lead, scoring four times on four hits and a walk – and all of it with two outs. Carlos Narvaez and Paul Ylda began the inning with a ground out and fly out, respectively. Randy Sykes followed with a single and Lopez walked. Joe Beck loaded the bases with a single, then Quinn Goldman drove home a pair of runs with a single up the middle. Clark Baggett followed with a double off the wall in center, knocking in two more runs. Tim McWilliams then relieved Brad Schiller, and struck out Shaun Ashman to end the inning.

In the fifth with McWilliams still on the mound for the Rams, Narvaez, Ylda, and Sykes hit back-to-back-to-back doubles to score a pair of runs. Lopez walked, Beck singled in Sykes, then after a past ball, Goldman singled in Lopez and Beck to raise Northwood’s lead to 11-0.

The Rams managed only three hits in the game, singles by Andy Hughes, Travis Clifford, and Billy Eaton. Shiller takes the loss for the Rams, giving up six runs (four earned) on six hits in 3.2 innings. He walked three and did not strike a batter out. Greg Kalldin pitched five innings of shutout ball to earn the win for Northwood.

Game 2 (Saturday): Despite a constant drizzle that made the playing conditions less than perfect, the Ram offense found a way to break out of the early game slump. Wesleyan grabbed the early lead and never trailed in the final game of the three-game series, winning 6-3.

The Rams scored twice in the bottom of the first to take a 2-0 lead. Nathan Murrell led off with a walk, then moved to third as Anthony Bolivar reached on an error. He scored on a wild pitch. After a pair of strikeouts, Trey Combs ripped a single up the middle, scoring Bolivar.

The Knights responded by cutting the lead to 2-1 in the top of the second on a pair of hits, but the Rams came back in their half of the inning to again take a two-run lead. Eric Vaughn and Murrell hit back-to-back two-out singles, and with runners on the corners, Vaughn stole home when Murrell allowed himself to be caught in a rundown between first and second.

The Rams added to their lead in the fourth. With one out, Matt Putman walked, Cole Henry singled, and Aaron Ellis was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Vaughn then hit a fly ball to medium-dep right field, and Putman beat the throw to the plate for a 4-1 Wesleyan advantage.

In the fifth, Putman closed out the Rams’ scoring with a two-out, two-run single that plated Bolivar and Andy Hughes.

The Knights came back to score a pair in the sixth on a line drive opposite-field home run by Shaun Ashman, but could get no closer as the Rams went on to take the 6-3 victory.

Shea Harrison started and got the win for Wesleyan. He gave up one run on four hits in four innings of work, walking one and striking out five. Despite allowing the home run, Seth Manning pitched extremely well over the last three innings to earn his first save of the year. He allowed just two hits, striking out six and walking one. He struck out the side in the seventh to end the game.

The Rams fall back below .500 on the season at 13-14-1. They also return to .500 in conference play at 6-6.

Wesleyan travels to Sherman on Tuesday to face Austin College in a doubleheader, then returns to LaGrave Field on Wednesday to face Hamline University in a 1:00 doubleheader. Conference play resumes next weekend as the Rams head out to Tyler to face the Texas College Steers.