A crowd of over 900 elementary school children from Plainview was on hand to watch the Pioneers belt out 17 hits in a 12-3 victory over West Texas A&M Tuesday afternoon at Wilder Field.
Eddie Allen got the young fans going almost immediately with with a two-run homer over the fence in left field. Courtney Williams made it 3-0 with a RBI single to right center, one of three hits in the game for the senior outfielder.
Williams brought the standing-room-only crowd to its feet in the top of the second when he made a great catch deep in foul territory, despite sliding hard into the fence. One inning later, the senior outfielder made another tremendous play, robbing the Buffs of a hit with a diving catch in shallow left center.
The Pioneers put up another run in the second, and then crossed the plate with two more runs in the third on a RBI triple by Williams, followed by a ground-out by Bobby Curtis.
Keith Martin's two-run double down the right field line in the fourth made it 8-0, and Curtis picked up his second RBI of the game with a sacrifice fly two batters later to give WBU a nine run lead.
The Buffaloes scored an unearned run in the fifth, and then got two more in the sixth on a two-run homer from Will McLaughlin.
Neither team did any damage in the seventh, but the Pioneers put up another three-spot in the eighth on a two-run homer by Franky Busani, his third hit of the contest, and a RBI single by Ben Seymore.
Brett Cook went 4-for-5 at the plate for Wayland, which improves to 33-10 on the season.
Pioneer starting pitcher Todd Jeffress (4-4) got the win, throwing three scoreless innings. Chris McNeil and Corey Weldon pitched two innings each, while Jason Kimzey and Brett Swett wrapped it up with an inning of work a piece.
Wayland makes its first-ever trip to Claremore, Okla. this weekend with a three-game conference series against Rogers State University beginning Friday at 5 pm. The Hillcats are 25-15 on the season and currently in sixth place in the SAC with a 10-11 record.
