MEMPHIS - In a battle of nationally ranked teams, the No. 7/11 Rhodes College baseball team saw its rally fall just short to No. 5/6 Webster University on Sunday afternoon at Stauffer Field. 

Neither teams got much going early on as senior Adam Putnam looked sharp out of the gate, allowing one hit through four innings of play. Sophomore Zac Langer led the bottom half of the third off with a double to right center. After being moved to third on a sac bunt from freshman Jon Michael Lauck, Lange was able to trot home on a balk to give Rhodes a 1-0 lead.

However, Webster did the bulk of its damage in the fifth and sixth innings, totaling four runs to take control of the game thanks in part to a pair of RBIs, including a solo shot, from Jake Milosch.

In the bottom of the sixth, Rhodes led the inning off with a pair of singles from juniors Bill Munson and Bennett Notestine. Junior Ryan Olive stepped to the plate and blasted a double down the left field line to narrow the gap to 4-3. Freshman Chris Winter moved Olive to third with only one down; however, Rhodes could not get the tying run across.

Milosch put Webster ahead 5-3 in the top of the eighth after a RBI single off of Lange's glove. It would be key run for the Gorloks as Rhodes began to piece something together in the bottom of the ninth.

Lange hit his second double of the day while Munson tagged a double down the left field line to cut the deficit to one with only one out and the tying run in scoring position. However, the Gorloks were able to get the final two outs of the inning to escape Memphis with a tough victory.

Munson finished 3-for-5 with a RBI and a run scored while Lange was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and a pair of doubles. Notestine and junior Jackson Lourie each had a pair of hits while Olive drove in two runs. Senior Marcus Moreland drew two walks and also had a stolen base.

Putnam (0-1) was tagged with the loss, allowing three earning runs in 6.0 innings pitched while striking out six. Freshman Nick Bosma and sophomore Jack Mercer both had solid relief outings, each striking out two in the process. Johnny Lord (1-0) took the win for the Gorloks while Mitch Stefani (1) earned the save.

Rhodes moves to 5-5 on the season and will prepare for conference play next week as they will welcome in the Hendrix College Warriors for a three game series. The series begins on Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at 11 AM.