Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 The Wayland Baptist baseball team scored 28 runs and rode the coat tails of pitchers
Tom Bailey and
Mason Taylor to earn a doubleheader sweep over Southwestern Christian (Bethany, Okla.) on Friday. The Pioneers defeated the Eagles, 14-0, in game one, before taking the nightcap by an identical score.
Wayland (16-6, 5-0) jumped out to a comfortable, eight-run lead after batting around in the first inning.
Colton Palmer and
Aaron Vallance led the inning off with a walk and base knock, respectively, before
Josh Alexander reached on a fielder's choice to put runners on the corners with one out. Alexander was thrown out at home after an RBI double from
Damion Lovato, but the Pioneers scored seven more runs before Southwestern Christian (3-15, 0-5) could record the third out of the inning.
The Pioneers would score again in the second, tacked on two in the fourth and three in the sixth, giving starting pitcher
Tom Bailey (4-1) more than enough runs to get the win.
Bailey went the distance for the Pioneers, throwing his third complete game and first shutout of the season. The senior from Perth, Australia struck out nine while allowing just three hits.
Mason Taylor (4-1) followed suit in game two, tossing both his second complete game and shutout of 2014. The sophomore out of Weatherford struck out eight while walking just two. Taylor gave up a hit to Romi Rinehart to lead off the game, but he would not surrender another the rest of the way.
Just as it did in game one, Wayland put up a crooked number in its first at bat of game two, scoring three two-out runs courtesy of base hits from Padilla and
Brayden Blackwell.
The Pioneers struggled to push runs across the plate over the next two innings, but with Taylor doing his best to keep his teammates on offense, WBU erupted for five runs in the fourth and sixth innings, spaced by one-run fifth.
With a little help from the Eagles lackluster defense, the Pioneers scored all five runs in the fourth with two outs. Palmer drove in
Gaby De La Cruz in the fifth, and the Pioneer bench propelled the offense in the sixth, bringing home five more runs.
Pinch hitters
Lorenzo Soriano,
Chance Rollins and Dilan Vigil all reach base safely to lead off the sixth. First baseman De La Cruz and designated hitter
Tyler Doolittle kept the streak going with back-to-back hits, before pinch hitter
Josh Vera singled to bring home the final run of the game. Taylor mowed down the final three hitters in the top of the seventh, sealing a 14-0 win.
De La Cruz led the Pioneers with a huge offensive night, going 6-for-8 on the day, driving in eight runs and scoring four. The sophomore from Carolina, Puerto Rico also had a double, triple and home run on Friday.
Doolittle also had a solid performance for Wayland, going 4-for-7 at the plate, scoring four runs and driving in two with the help of two doubles.
The Pioneers and Eagles will finish up their three-game series at 1 p.m. Saturday at Wilder Field.
