FORT WORTH, Texas - Texas Wesleyan, down 2-0 late in the second game, rallied for three runs in the bottom of the sixth to win 3-2 and complete a doubleheader sweep of the UT-Dallas Comets at LaGrave Field on Wednesday afternoon. The Rams won the first game 5-1 and improve their record to 19-17-1 on the season.

Game 1: Aaron Ellis powered the offense and Matt Mull pitched well in his third start of the season to help the Rams win the opener. In the first, Ellis crushed a double to the gap in left center, scoring Andy Hughes from first base and giving Wesleyan a quick 1-0 lead. Matt Putman followed with a run-scoring single and the Rams led 2-0 after one inning.

In the second, Wesleyan put another on the board when Billy Eaton singled home Derek Armstron, who led off the inning with a double. The lead increased to 4-0 in the third when Ellis smacked a fastball high and deep down the left field line. It cleared the fence just inside the foul pole for his fifth homer of the season.

The Comets finally broke through in the fifth inning, scoring an unearned run on a two-out single by first baseman Richard Bragg.

Wesleyan added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when Cole Henry singled home Putman with two down. Bryant Wilson, who relieved Mull in the fifth, shut down the Comets in the seventh to preserve the win.

Mull allowed one unearned run on five hits in 4.1 innings, walking one and striking out one for the win. Wilson picked up the save, giving up just two hits in 2.2 innings of work. Ellis finished the day 2-3 with a double, homer and two RBI. Putman was also 2-3, with one RBI and one run scored.

Game 2: Daniel Faulkner took the mound for Wesleyan in the second game and retired the first eight batters he faced, allowing just one walk through three innings. After a fly-out to centerfield leading off the fourth, however, the Comets connected for four consecutive singles to score the first run of the game. The inning might have been worse, though, had not Ram centerfielder Nathan Murrell launched a perfect throw home to nail a runner attempting to score on the third of those four hits. His one-hopper from medium-deep centerfield was perfectly on-line, and just in time to beat the runner to the plate. The next batter followed with an RBI single for UT-Dallas, but Faulkner managed to limit the damage to just the one run by inducing a fly-out on the next pitch.

The Comets took a 2-0 lead in the fifth. Eric Casias, who began the inning in relief of Faulkner, walked the leadoff hitter, then after a pop out, gave up another free pass before being replaced by Tim McWilliams. McWilliams struck out the first batter he faced, but allowed a run-scoring single two pitches later. Seth Manning then relieved him, and struck out the Comets’ clean-up hitter to end the inning.

The Rams got the first two runners aboard in the fifth, but were unable to score. They did, however, get on board in the sixth. Aaron Ellis led off with a single, then went to second as Matt Putman walked. Trey Combs followed with a sacrifice bunt, setting the table for pinch-hitter Andy Hughes, who lined an 0-2 curveball between first and second to drive home Ellis. After Travis Clifford walked, Derek Armstrong smashed a single past a diving shortstop to score the tying and go-ahead runs.

Cal Cline pitched a perfect ninth for his first save of the year.

Faulkner received a no-decision for his four-inning, four-hit performance. He allowed one run, striking out one and walking one. Manning gets the win, giving up one hit in 1.1 innings of work. All four outs he recorded were on strikeouts.

Armstrong finished 2-3 with two singles and two RBI in the game. Ellis was 2-3 as well, scoring the Rams’ first run in the sixth.

Wesleyan improves to 19-17-1 on the season, and remain 6-6 in Red River Conference play. The team travels to Austin this weekend to take on RRAC rival Huston-Tillotson in a three-game series, then return home on April 6 to face Austin College at 1:00 PM