Box Score ANTHEM, Ariz. --- Wayland Baptist baseball coach was well aware that his early season trip to Arizona would be a challenging one for his young team. All four of the teams the Pioneers faced in the Arizona Desert Classic received votes in the NAIA Preseason Coaches' Poll, and two of those, #11 Lewis & Clark State and #17 Fresno Pacific, were ranked among the top 20 teams.
On Saturday afternoon, Bass' squad, 16 of which are underclassmen, dropped its fourth game in the desert, 15-8 to Point Loma Nazarene University.
The Pioneers got eight runs with two outs in the top of the first off the Sea Lions. Junior leftfielder Johnny Hendrixson got things started with a single to right, stole second and, after freshman Bernie Rosario worked a 3-2 walk, scored on designated hitter Brandon Barcalow's single.
Back-to-back four pitch walks to Calvin Bass and Kevin Burbank scored Rosario and an error by the PLNU rightfielder brought in Barcalow and Bass.
Another single, off the bat of catcher Oscar Rivera, drove in two more runs. Two more bases on balls later, Hendrixson got another chance to bat and once again sent the ball to right to score Dilon Chancellor and courtesy runner Colton Palmer.
PLNU followed WBU's big half-inning with 15 straight runs – one in the first, two in the third, five in the fourth, four in the sixth and the final three in the eighth.
After their four hits and five walks in the first, the Pioneers drew just one more walk in the remaining eight innings. They scattered out eight more hits, including doubles by Barcalow and Ryan Downs. Barcalow, a sophomore, had three hits for WBU. Hendrixson, Bass, Downs and Rivera each had two.
Bass's squad (4-4) returns home now for nine straight in the friendly confines of Wilder Field. The homestand begins with a doubleheader on Tuesday against Sul Ross State University. The first pitch is scheduled to be thrown at 2 p.m.
