Kevin Hennessey set a new school record with two home runs and senior back-up catcher Russell Daniel was a perfect 3-for-3 with two doubles, but the Wayland Pioneers fell to Lubbock Christian 18-8 on Senior Night at Wilder Field.
Hennessey, who is the NAIA leader in homers, tied the record with his 23rd long ball of the season to lead off the sixth, and then broke the mark with a two-run bomb in the eighth.
The Chaps had a four run advantage early when senior designated hitter Bobby Curtis launched his first homer of the season over the fence in right center to start the home half of the third. LCU plated three more runs in the fourth and another in the fifth, however, to take an 8-1 lead.
Pioneer senior reliever Brett Swett shut down the Chaparrals in the sixth and seventh, and WBU closed the gap to 8-4 on Hennessey's home run and a two-run double by senior second baseman Michael Prell, his second of the contest, in the bottom of the seventh. Wayland had a chance to do even more damage in the inning after Prell's double. Pedro Gomez and Jose Santiago walked to load the bases, but a pop-up in foul territory ended the threat.
LCU answered with four runs in the eighth to make it 12-4, but once again the Pioneers came back, putting up four of their own in the bottom half of the inning. Daniel got a double down the left field line with one out, and courtesy runner Calvin Bass scored on Eddie Allen's base hit. After Allen advanced on a wild pitch, Gomez brought him home with a single up the middle, and then the senior right fielder scored on Hennessey's record-breaking homer.
The Chaparrals broke it open in the top of the ninth, though, touching home plate six more times on four hits and a Pioneer error.
LCU got 18 hits off five Pioneer pitchers in the contest. Ross Blondin, Reid Chenworth and J.J. Muse each homered for the #5 Chaps (39-11, 23-5), who clinched the Sooner Athletic Conference regular season title with the win, combined with Oklahoma City's 14-13 loss to Southern Nazarene.
Junior Paul Gonzalez, a transfer from Texas Tech, got the win for LCU, his seventh of the season. Todd Weldon (8-5) took the loss for Wayland, which fell to 29-19 overall and 17-12 in conference play.
In other conference action, Rogers State University claimed the sixth seed in next week's SAC Tournament with a 24-8 win over Oklahoma Christian. Northwestern Oklahoma State knocked the USAO out of post-season contention with a 14-7 win, and Oklahoma Baptist run-ruled St. Gregory's, 13-3.
Tournament host Oklahoma City is the second seed, and Southern Nazarene, NWOSU and Wayland are still battling it out for the middle three seeds. WBU holds a one-game advantage over SNU and NWOSU, so a Pioneer win on Friday in Lubbock gives WBU the third seed.
