Box Score Fans at Wilder Field on Wednesday evening got to witness two outstanding pitchers at work in the second game of the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament. Wayland's Marcus Limon entered the contest leading the conference and the nation in strikeouts, while Oklahoma Baptist's Chad Hardison had the lowest opponent's batting average in the SAC.
At the end of the evening's entertainment, Limon walked off the field with yet another WBU strikeout record, but it was Hardison and the Bison which walked away with the 6-1 win.
The hard-throwing Limon struck out a school-record 17 in 8-2/3 innings of work, and allowed just six hits, throwing a season-high 171 pitches. In the other dugout, opponents hit a meager .213 against Hardison during the regular season, and the Pioneers did nothing to raise that mark, getting just five hits off the lanky right-hander.
The junior from Ft. Pierce, Fla., who is second in the SAC with a 2.73 earned run average, gave up just one run in his second complete game of the season. He retired the side in order in six of the nine innings, and walked just two batters, both in the first, and struck out nine to improve to 6-2 on the season.
Limon struggled early, giving up two runs on one hit, two walks and two hit batters in a 33-pitch first inning, but after that initial hiccup, the former Lubbock Estacado star found his rhythm. He allowed just one base runner over the next five innings, striking out the side in the second, third and sixth.
The Pioneers finally gave their ace a run in the seventh to make it 2-1. Aldo Mendez got his second base hit of the game with one out, advanced to third on Brian Embery's double down the right field line, and scored on Nic Shadle's ground ball to short.
OBU got the run back in the top of the eighth, though. With Limon's pitch count closing in on 140, lead-off hitter Terrence Buchanan drew a walk on a 3-2 count. After a sacrifice bunt, moved him to second, Anthony Lopez hit a long fly ball that seemed destined for the other side of the fence until Shadle made a great play, snagging the ball just as it went over the short wall in left. By the time the WBU leftfielder recovered from his run-in with the fence, Buchanan had tagged up at second and scored.
Limon's pitch count was up to 151 going into the ninth and he gave up back-to-back hits to start the inning, but then the senior got two outs when he registered strikeouts number 16 and 17. Another base hit, this one just over the outstretched glove of leaping Embery at second, signified the end of the night for the senior, who now holds WBU records for most strikeouts in a game (17), in a season (150), and in a career (353).
The Pioneers, 26-29, must win their remaining two games to have any kind of chance at making it to the championship game on Saturday. They take on seventh-seeded Mid-America Christian at 6 p.m. tomorrow, and then close out pool play on Friday evening at 6:00 against third-seeded Lubbock Christian, who was ranked #9 in this week's NAIA Top 25.
OBU, which improves to 40-11, travels to Lubbock for its final two games in pool play. The Bison will match-up with LCU in the nightcap on Thursday, and will finish out against MACU at 2 p.m. on Friday.
The early game on Thursday at Wilder Field features top-seeded Oklahoma City, currently ranked #2 in the NAIA, against fourth-seeded Rogers State. The Hillcats of RSU hit two grand slams on their way to an 18-2 victory over USAO in the opener on Wednesday.
