OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. --- Southern Nazarene jumped out to a 7-1 lead and then withstood a late rally in a 10-6 win over Wayland Baptist in the first round of the Sooner Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament on Monday afternooon.
The game was originally scheduled to start at 4 p.m., but instead, the Pioneers and Crimson Storm didn't take the field until 8:00 after two long-running games early in the day and an hour delay caused by a massive storm that moved through the Oklahoma City area around 5:00.
All players and fans were moved to a nearby underground parking garage while tornado sirens sounded. Fortunately for those in attendance, none of the severe weather approached the area in which Oklahoma City University is located, although numerous tornadoes caused major damage and five fatalities in the central and southeastern Oklahoma region.
The Pioneers actually scored the first run of the game on Pedro Gomez's solo home run in the top of the first, but SNU's Bryan Bingham held Wayland hitless over the next five innings.
The fourth-seeded Storm scored two in the second on James Tunnell's two-out double, and then got another run in the third on a solo homer off the bat of Shain Stoner.
Tunnell got another RBI in the sixth on a base hit up the middle that scored designated hitter Ethan Fruehling, and Nick Spears got what was probably the biggest hit of the contest, a three-run shot with two outs in the inning.
The Pioneers finally got going in the seventh when Brian Embery hit an 0-2 offering from Bingham over the fence in centerfield to lead off the inning. After a ground out, Josh Lucas tripled to right field, and scored on Oscar Rivera's single. Courtesy runner Calvin Bass made it 7-4 after Eddie Allen chased Bingham from the contest with a RBI double to the wall in left center.
Wayland got within one in the eighth on a Gomez walk, an Embery double, and Jose Santiago's two-run single, but SNU's Chase Roten led off the home half of the inning with a long ball over the rightfield fence, and Spears got his second homer of the game, a two-run shot to left.
Marcus Limon (7-5) got the loss for WBU which falls to 29-21 on the season. Bingham improved to 8-2 on the year, and Shain Stoner pitched the final inning and two-thirds for the Storm to earn his first save.
With the win, SNU (32-18) advances to the second round to face #2-seed Oklahoma City University on Wednesday afternoon. That game will follow the Pioneers and top-seeded Lubbock Christian University. First pitch for that game is scheduled for 1 p.m. If the Pioneers defeat the Chaps, they will advance to play the winner of the Oklahoma City/Southern Nazarene game at noon on Wednesday.
