Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 After a disappointing start to their four-game series, the Wayland Baptist Pioneers made amends by taking the next three games from Sooner Athletic Conference opponent St. Gregory's University.
Wayland dropped Friday's opener at Wilder Field, 4-3, but came back to win game two, 9-0, as well as games three and four on Saturday, 5-4 and 2-1.
Wayland (16-23 overall, 8-7 SAC) returns to Wilder Field on Tuesday to host West Texas A&M at noon. The Pioneers will be trying to avenge a 12-0 loss to the Buffaloes in Canyon on March 19.
Against St. Gregory's (14-24, 2-14), Saturday's first game was a thrill ride as the Pioneers jumped out to a 2-0 lead only to see the Cavaliers battle back and own a 4-2 advantage going into the bottom of the fifth. But Wayland scored once in the bottom of that inning before striking for two more runs in the sixth to secure the win.
Wayland pushed two across in the sixth thanks to three errors by the Cavs. It started when
Chris Buitron reached on an error by the SGU shortstop. After
Tyler Doolittle's sacrifice bunt got pinch runner
Luke Reinschmidt to second,
Steven Polito boarded and Reinschmidt scored on another error by the shortstop followed by an error by the Cavalier center fielder. Polito made it to third on a wild pitch and then scored on
Colton Palmer's RBI bunt single for the winning run.
The Pioneers also scored twice in the first inning thanks to a two-RBI single through the left side by
Brian Allen. That two-out hit plated Palmer, who had a lead-off single, and
Johnny Hendrixson, who walked.
The Pioneers' other run came in the fifth when center fielder Hendrixson delivered a lead-off home run to right field.
Wayland ended with seven hits – including two each by Palmer and Hendrixson – compared to 10 for the Cavaliers. But the three costly sixth-inning errors by SGU made the difference.
Logan Evans (3-2), a freshman from Plainview, took the win in relief of starter
Ryan Downs, who gave up eight hits and four runs (three earned) while striking out four in 4 1/3 innings. Evans proved efficient as he allowed just two hits while walking none and striking out none.
The final game of the series was another close contest, but this one was more suspenseful than action packed.
The Pioneers got off to a hot start as leadoff man Palmer scorched a ball up the middle for a single, Rosario hit a triple down the right field line to score Palmer, then Hendrixson hit his first of two doubles in the game to score Rosario. The Wayland hitters stranded Hendrison at second, but went away with a 2-0 lead.
The Cavaliers answered in the next frame as Doolittle, who started on the mound, hit and walked consecutive batters with one out. A single to shallow left loaded the bases before the nine-hole hit a shot to right to score the Cavs' only run of the game.
With the bases still loaded, Doolittle ended the threat by getting a pop-up to the shortstop and a harmless fly ball to center to end the inning, preserving a 2-1 lead.
The Pioneers got a double from Hendrixson in the third and from Veneklasen in the fourth, but WBU was unable to come up with a big hit in either inning to bring them around.
Doolittle, with the exception of the second inning faced the minimum batters plus two, cruised all the way to the seventh inning, where he ran into a little trouble.
Down to their last three outs, the Cavs' leadoff hitter hit a ball to deep right centerfield, but Hendrixson was able to track it down to record the first out of the inning. The next batter reached on a walk, and after Cavaliers skipper Chris Pingry sent a left-handed pinch-hitter to the plate, WBU head coach
Brad Bass went to lefty
Wade McClintock out of the bullpen.
After McClintock finished his warm-up pitches, Pingry sent out a righty to counter Wayland's lefty on the mound. The new hitter drew a walk to put the tying run in scoring position and the go-ahead run on base with one out.
McClintock was unfazed by the pressure, however, as the freshman got the speedy lead-off hitter to ground into a game-ending 6-4-3 double play, picking up his second save of the season.
Palmer and Hendrixson carried their impressive performances from Friday into Saturday, completing a noteworthy weekend. Palmer hit .600, scoring twice and driving in three, one a game-winning run, while Hendrixson hit .461 with four doubles, a triple and a home run. Hendrixson currently has 18 doubles on the season, which puts him first in the Sooner Athletic Conference.
