FORT WORTH, Texas - Texas Wesleyan starter Andy Hughes pitched six innings without giving up an earned run, but mistakes in the field cost the Rams dearly on Wednesday night at LaGrave Field. As it turned out, no Wesleyan pitcher allowed an earned run on the night, but that didn’t stop Houston Baptist from scoring. The Huskies took advantage of five Ram miscues and scored ten unearned runs to defeat Wesleyan 10-4 in the opening round of the Red River Conference baseball tournament.

The first three innings went by quickly as the teams combined for zero runs and just two hits - Aaron Ellis’ one-out double in the first for Wesleyan, and Gerald Bueno’s single in the second for HBU. The Huskies, designated as the home team by virtue of a coin-flip, got the scoring started with a single run in the bottom of the fourth. Jeremy Green reached on an infield single to short, moved to second on a passed ball, then scored on Joey Gregory’s single.

Wesleyan countered in the top of the fifth, tying the score on Derek Armstrong’s blast over the new bleachers beyond the left field fence.

The Huskies, though, broke the game open with six runs in the bottom of the frame. They pounded out five hits - all singles - in the inning, but three Ram errors, including two for extra bases, helped HBU’s cause as they took a 7-1 lead and never looked back.

The Rams managed a rally in the top of the sixth, scoring three runs on three hits and a pair of walks. Ellis led of with his second hit of the night, a ground ball deep in the hole at short. Matt Putman walked and Jeremy Craft singled to load the bases. Eric Vaughn followed with an RBI base on balls, and Andy Hughes hit a sacrifice fly to right to drive in another run. Armstrong’s two-out line drive to left plated Craft for the final run of the inning.

Both teams failed to score in their next at-bat, but the Huskies added three more in the seventh. With Tim McWilliams on the mound for the Rams, the first two HBU batters reached on errors. Tommy Crosby flied out to left, advancing the lead runner to third, and Kyle Smith drove in a run with a sac fly to right, leaving a runner on first with two down. After another single by Bueno, Seth Manning relieved McWilliams on the mound, and was greeted with a single to load the bases. Ahrens then drove in the final two runs of the game with a single to left.

Hughes took the loss, giving up seven runs in six innings of work. He struck out seven and did not walk a batter. Matt LeLaurin grabbed the win, giving up four runs, all earned, in 6.2 innings. He struck out four and walked four. Armstrong finished the day with a pair of hits in four at-bats, driving in two runs. Gregory led HBU, going 3-5 with one run batted in.

Wesleyan will face #1 seed Northwood University at 3:30 PM tomorrow at LaGrave Field, the second of three games scheduled for the day. #2 College of the Southwest takes on #6 Huston-Tillotson at noon, and HBU will face #5 Bacone College at 7:00 PM.

In Wednesday’s other games, Northwood held on for a 10-9 win over Huston-Tillotson despite allowing six runs in the bottom of the ninth, and Bacone rallied from a 9-7 deficit to defeat College of the Southwest 12-9. For additional information about the Red River Conference tournament, visit www.redriverconference.com.