WBU's Pedro Gomez hit a two-run bloop single to right field with one out in the bottom of the seventh-inning to give the Pioneers a 13-12 Sooner Athletic Conference victory over Northwestern Oklahoma State. The win salvaged a split in the Friday doubleheader at Wilder Field with the Rangers taking game one 6-3.
The Pioneers were held in check in the first six innings of the opener by NWOSU starting pitcher Danny Santiago. The junior southpaw faced just one over the minimum through six. Each time (4) Wayland got a hit, it was followed either by a double play or a base running blunder.
Todd Weldon gave up only one earned run in the contest, but allowed nine hits and walked two in the complete game loss, his first of the season. The senior ace trailed 2-0 going into the seventh, but a two out error allowed one run to score, and then NWOSU third baseman Tom O'Gorman hit a three-run homer to left field to extend the lead to 6-0.
As they did in their previous three losses, the Pioneers made a game of it in their final at bat. Michael Prell reached on a lead-off walk and advanced to second on Brian Embery's single through the right side. After a fly ball out, and a fielder's choice that cancelled Embery, Josh Lucas belted a double to the gap in left center to give WBU its first run of the contest. Johnathan Torres followed with a two run single to left, but a ground ball to the pitcher ended all hopes of a comeback.
The Pioneers began game two the way they ended game one, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first. Embery and Pedro Gomez got the RBIs in the inning. Embery drove in Prell with a base hit to left and Gomez hit a two-out, two-run homer over the wall in left center.
NWOSU got one back in the second, and scored six in the third, five of which were unearned, on six hits and a hit batter. Wayland got two back in the fourth on a RBI single by Prell and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Kevin Hennessey.
The Rangers made it 10-5 with three more in the fifth, but WBU came roaring back with four home runs and a triple in the bottom of the inning. Lucas was hit by the pitch to lead off and scored on Torres' big bomb to left. One out later, Scott Keane hit the top of the short bullpen fence to make it 10-8. Eddie Allen greeted a new pitcher with a triple to the far corner of the right field fence. Embery hit his sixth homer of the season with two outs to tie it, and Hennessey put his team on top with a solo shot.
Neither team could cross the plate in the sixth, but NWOSU scored two in the top of the seventh to recapture the lead. With the top of the order due up for the Pioneers, anything looked possible. Allen reached on a lead off walk. Prell laid down a sacrifice bunt, but the throw pulled the Ranger first baseman off the bag. A ground ball by Embery advanced the runners to second and third with Hennessey next, but the visitors chose to intentionally walk the Pioneer designated hitter to load the bases. That brought up Gomez, who lifted the 2-2 pitch into the gap between the right side of the infield and the right fielder.
Brett Swett (1-0) got the win in relief for Wayland, pitching the final inning and a third. Marcos Limon, Aaron Pate and Trevor Stringer also threw for the Pioneers.
Embery and Gomez each had four RBI for Wayland, which improved to 11-5 overall and 1-1 in the conference. NWOSU is now 10-3 and 1-1. The two teams finish up the series with a single game on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. Live Stats will be available for that game.
