Pioneers split with #5 LCU on Senior Day

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

On Senior Day at Wilder Field, the Wayland Baptist baseball team took on longtime rival No. 5 Lubbock Christian University, splitting the doubleheader by winning the first game 7-3 before falling in the second, 20-16.

Wayland (19-33, 10-16) sent Ryan Downs to the mound in game one. Downs has pitched extremely well throughout the tail end of the season, but has come up just short of picking up wins against some of the top-ranked teams in the country. The junior right-hander lost to No. 14 Oklahoma Baptist 3-2 on March 29 and fell to No. 15 Rogers State 3-2 on April 13. Both losses came off of a walk-off hit.

Today would be a different story, however, as Downs held the Chaparrals to just three runs on six hits. LCU (40-9, 20-4) was held scoreless in the first two frames before finally driving in the first run of the game off a solo homerun from Brett Kauten, giving LCU a 1-0 lead in the top of the third.

The Pioneers would quickly answer, loading the bases off singles from Tyler Doolittle and Chris Buitron before Colton Palmer drew a walk. Bernie Rosario, who was 3-8 with two doubles, a home run and four RBIs on the day, came up and hit a rope down the leftfield line to clear the bases and give WBU a 3-1 lead.

Lubbock would fight to tie up the game by scoring off an RBI groundout in the fourth and fifth innings.

With the game knotted up at three apiece, the Pioneers' offense came up to the plate determined to get their pitcher a big win. Palmer hit a one-out double to get things started, then Hendrixson came up to the plate after a strikeout by Rosario. The senior from Rowlett gave Wayland the lead for good, coming up big by crushing the first pitch he saw just to the left of the scoreboard in right-center field. The two-run blast gave the Pioneers a 5-3 lead going into the sixth.

The defense did its part and held the Chaps at bay in the sixth before the WBU hitters could add two insurance runs in the home half of the inning. Gregg Veneklasen hit a solo shot before Gaby De La Cruz and Buitron hit back-to-back doubles to bring home another run, giving WBU a 7-3 lead.

Downs would go back to the mound in the seventh inning despite throwing well over 100 pitches, but there were no signs of fatigue as he retired three LCU hitters to give Wayland the 7-3 victory.

After being held to just three runs in game one, Lubbock Christian brought their bats to the second game in a big way. The Chaps scored four runs off three home runs and a double before knocking starting pitcher Jose Urena out of the game after recording just one out.

Urena would not be the only pitching casualty for the Pioneers. Wade McClintock got Wayland out of the first inning, but not before giving up two more runs, giving the Chaps a 6-0 lead after one half inning of play.

The Lubbock offense continued their tear in the second, spacing out six hits, two of which went over the fence, and scoring seven runs before knocking McClintock out of the game. The freshman gave way to Corey Weldon who temporarily stopped the bleeding, but LCU finished the inning with a 13-0 lead.

In the bottom of the second, Wayland got its offense going, scoring three runs, one off a double from Veneklasen and two off a homer from De La Cruz. 

Four more Chaparral runs in the third gave LCU a 17-3 lead, but Wayland kept clawing back, putting up two more runs off two solo blasts from Rosario and Josh Chinni. The homeruns cut the LCU lead to 17-5 after three complete innings.

The Pioneer pitching staff finally started to find their groove starting in the fourth inning. A homerun in the fourth and two more long balls in the fifth would give the Chaps three more runs, but that was all the offense they could muster the rest of the way.

Down 20-5, the Pioneers refused to go away, thanks in part to the large and rowdy Wayland fans who stuck with the team throughout the entire game, regardless of what was on the scoreboard. In the fifth, WBU would score six runs off five hits, two of which were home runs, to cut the lead to 20-11.

A scoreless sixth and top-half of the seventh brought Wayland to their final at-bat. After two quick outs, the Pioneers looked to be out of steam, but pinch hitter Brian Allen got things going by working the count and eventually drawing a walk. Lorenzo Soriano followed up Allen with a walk of his own before Steven Polito picked up an RBI single.

Rosario hit an easy grounder to the LCU third baseman, but the throw didn't quite make it across the infield, so play continued. With the score at 20-14, Hendrixson came up and beat out an infield single to load the bases. Chinni hit a towering pop up that got caught up in the wind and the first baseman was unable to make the play, allowing Rosario and Polito to score, cutting the lead to 20-15.

Wayland brought itself within four runs after relief pitcher Logan Burch threw a wild pitch to allow Hendrixson to cross the plate, taking the score to 20-16. Mark Davis then flied out to right field, however, ending the chaotic game at 20-16, in a crazy contest where no lead was safe.

The two teams combined for 14 home runs in game two and 17 in the slugfest. Veneklasen knocked two out of the park while LCU's Joel Lutz and Kauten came up with four and three long balls, respectively, to their credit.

Seniors Josh Chinni and Johnny Hendrixson, who combined for two homeruns, two doubles, four RBIs and three runs in the doubleheader, were recognized for their contributions to the program in a short ceremony between games.

Wayland will look to even up the series at two games apiece at 2 p.m. on Saturday afternoon at Hayes Field in Lubbock. The fourth game of the series will be the final regular season contest, and both teams will travel to Oklahoma City to compete in the Sooner Athletic Conference tournament from May 1-4.