SHAWNEE, Okla. --- Junior centerfielder Scott Keane went 3-for-4 with a double and two home runs, but the rest of his Wayland Baptist teammates could manage just four hits in a 9-8 loss at St. Gregory's University on Thursday afternoon. The loss dropped the Pioneers to 21-14 on the season and 11-7 in conference play. SGU improved to 6-16 and 2-12.
The Cavaliers jumped out to an early 3-0 lead before WBU came back with a six-run fourth. Michael Prell led off the inning with an infield single, the first hit of the game for the Pioneers, and Kevin Hennessey followed with a two-run blast over the fence in left field.
Josh Lucas got a two-out RBI when his base hit to left field allowed Brian Embery to score. Pinch runner Calvin Bass also crossed the plate on the play after the SGU leftfielder mishandled the ground ball, and then Keane made it 6-3 with his first homer of the game.
St. Gregory's regained the lead in the fifth with four runs on six consecutive hits. The hosts plated another run in the seventh on a solo home run by Anthony Cavazos, his second of the contest, to make it 8-6.
Keane tied it up in the top of the eighth with a two-out, two-run bomb to left center, but the Cavaliers just wouldn't go away. With two outs in the home half of the inning, SGU got a runner into scoring position on a base hit and a wild pitch. The next batter, shortstop Kenny Gooch, got the game-winning RBI on a single to left.
The Pioneers had the 2-3-4 hitters up in the top of the ninth, but two ground balls and a fly to right-center made for a long bus ride home.
Justin Eatherly, who relieved starter Trevor Stringer in the fifth, was saddled with the loss. The senior righthander went 3-2/3 innings, giving up two runs on five hits. He struck out three. Plainview's Jobi Sanchez came on to get the final out of the eighth.
WBU is off until April 9 when they take on Sooner Athletic Conference opponent Mid-America Christian University in a three-game series at Wilder Field.
