FORT WORTH, TX. -- Wayland Baptist jumped out early but couldn't hold off a late push, falling 6-4 to Texas Wesleyan on Friday afternoon at Sycamore Park in their final regular season game of the season.
The Pioneers (29-19) came out swinging in the opening frame, stringing together four hits to take a 2-0 lead.
Kanade Honda sparked the offense with a leadoff double, while
Adonis Bernal and
Rafaeleduardo Garcia each delivered RBI singles to give Wayland early momentum.
Texas Wesleyan answered quickly with a solo home run in the bottom of the first, then capitalized on defensive miscues in the third inning to take a 3-2 lead. The Rams added two more runs in the fifth, stretching the advantage to 5-2.
Despite the deficit, Wayland Baptist continued to battle at the plate. The Pioneers tallied 11 hits on the day, with Honda and
Christian Toledo each recording multi-hit performances. An RBI single from
Adrian Lara in the sixth cut the margin to 5-3, and a sacrifice fly from Bernal in the seventh brought Wayland within one at 5-4.
On the mound,
Tate House went five innings in the start, allowing five runs (four earned) while striking out four. The bullpen provided solid relief, highlighted by a scoreless inning from
Johnathon Brzezicki and
Antonio Mejia's two strikeouts in his appearance.
However, a key insurance run in the eighth inning proved costly. Texas Wesleyan capitalized on a walk, wild pitch, and defensive error to extend its lead to 6-4.
Wayland had one final opportunity in the ninth, putting a runner on base after
Ben Kasparie was hit by a pitch, but the rally fell short as the Rams closed out the game.
The Pioneers showed resilience throughout, outhitting Texas Wesleyan 11-9, but four defensive errors proved to be the difference in the contest.
The Pioneers will now wait until tomorrow to figure out what seed they will receive for the 2026 SAC Baseball Championships, which are set to begin on Friday, April 24
th.
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