RAMS ROMP IN OPENER
February 11, 2006

FORT WORTH, TX:  The Texas Wesleyan University baseball team kicked its season off on a cold and breezy Saturday afternoon.  The Rams rolled to a 12-1 win over Tabor College at LaGrange Field.

The Rams got started right thanks to a leadoff triple off the wall in left center by Billie Hicks.  Hicks later scored on a sacrifice fly from Josh Vander Hey. 

The Texas Wesleyan bats really came to life in the second inning.  Travis Clifford ripped a leadoff home run to center field.  Zach Archer followed with a single up the middle, Corey Venable drew a walk, and Brandon Frazier provided the exclamation point with a long three-run homer to right.

The Rams made it 8-0 in the third inning with four more runs on a pair of triples from Jeff Piaskowski and Antoine Cole and RBI singles from Clifford and Venable.

Meanwhile, Rams’ starter Shea Harrison allowed just one hit and faced the minimum in his first three innings before surrendering an unearned run in the top of the fourth.

In the fifth, Clifford led off with his second homer of the day.  The Rams added three more unearned runs in the frame to bring the score to 12-1.

“Every game starts with pitching,” said head coach Mike Jeffcoat.  “Harrison set the tone by throwing strikes, and we played pretty good defense behind him.”

Harrison (1-0) earned the win, allowing one unearned run on three hits while striking out eleven in six innings of work.  Tabor’s Jeremy Sneed took the loss after surrendering eight runs on seven hits in 2.2 innings pitched.

Travis Clifford, who led the team with 12 home runs and 60 RBI a year ago, started his season by going 4-4 with 2 HR’s, a 2B, and 3 RBI.  Frazier went 2-4 with a homer and 4 RBI at the plate for the Rams.

Texas Wesleyan will return to the diamond on Wednesday, February 15, when they travel to Tyler, TX, to take on UT-Tyler.  That game is scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m.