Box Score WAXAHACHIE – Hitting the road for its first Sooner Athletic Conference series of the year, the Wayland Baptist baseball team was looking for a sweep, but knew it would not come easy. The Pioneers showed their worth, however, taking game three, 11-4, from Southwestern Assemblies of God on Saturday to complete a three-game sweep over the Lions.
Wayland (14-6) sent freshman
Taylor Bridges (3-1) to the mound for the series finale. The Lubbock native went above and beyond, throwing seven innings and striking out a career-high 10 batters without allowing an earned run.
Head coach
Brad Bass was elated at what he saw from of his freshman pitcher.
"Taylor had a great outing," he said. "He threw seven innings of unearned baseball with 10 strikeouts. I can't think of a single pitch that missed the location. It was very well done.
Tyler Doolittle caught him today and they were always on the same page. It was a very, very well-pitched game."
The Pioneers' offense was in full force once again, putting 11 runs up on SAGU's (9-11) pitching staff.
Wayland was up just 2-0 in the fifth inning, but
Damion Lovato belted a one-out grand slam to break open the flood gates, giving WBU a 6-0 lead.
With the exception of Lovato's long ball, the Pioneers brought in runs the old-fashioned way, which pleased the Pioneers' skipper.
"We did a really good job of manufacturing runs today," Bass said. "We got guys on, stole some bases, moved runners over, and drove guys in. I was really pleased with that."
A big part of the Pioneers' success at the plate was due to the top of the lineup, manned by
Colton Palmer and
Aaron Vallance, who combined to reach base six out of 12 times, scoring four runs.
"Colton and Aaron were on base a lot," Bass said. "They were either drawing walks or getting base hits. It just seemed like one of them was always on, and if it wasn't one it was both."
As a team, the Pioneers put together a very solid performance on Saturday. The first five hitters in the lineup had two hits apiece, while every starting position player recorded at least one base knock. When called upon in the top of the ninth, pinch hitters
Lorenzo Soriano doubled,
Chris Buitron was hit by a pitch and
Josh Vera singled, adding to Wayland's run total and showing the depth in the roster.
"I'm very happy with how we played overall this weekend," Bass said. "Our pitching did amazingly well, giving us a chance to win, and our hitters produced and helped us do what we needed to do to get a sweep. That's what we were hoping for, and that is not easy to accomplish on the road.
"SAGU would not give in. They battled all the way, especially yesterday in the second game. It was a dog fight. Today, they could have just folded, but they never did. I was impressed with their character and how hard they played."
The Pioneers return to conference play this weekend with a three-game series against Southwestern Christian (3-13, 0-1), a SAC newcomer from Bethany, Okla. The series will start with a doubleheader at 3 p.m. at Wilder Field on Friday, followed by a single game at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
