Taylor shuts out No. 10 OCU to give Pioneers doubleheader split

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

After dropping game one of a doubleheader with No. 10 Oklahoma City, 7-3, Wayland Baptist sent Mason Taylor to the mound in night cap to try and earn a doubleheader split. Taylor pitched masterfully, allowing just three hits en route to his team-leading, third shutout of the season. Behind Taylor's gem, the Pioneers took game two, 2-0.

In game one, the Stars (29-14, 17-6) outslugged the Pioneers, notching 11 hits, four for extra-bases, in the 7-3 win, but game two was a different story. Taylor (7-3) gave up just three hits and two walks over seven innings of work.

The sophomore from Weatherford matched up against Brad Wieck (3-4), the Sooner Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week for the last two weeks, who was also a former Major League Baseball draft choice in 2012. Wieck, like his counterpart, went the distance Thursday, striking out nine, but gave up two critical runs in the bottom of the third.

Wayland (29-17, 16-7) had already collected four hits of the big left-hander in the first two innings, but failed to bring home any runs. The third time was the charm, however, as the Pioneers finally gave their pitcher some run support.

Aaron Vallance led off the inning with a great at bat, working the count full and seeing 11 pitches from Wieck before finally drawing a lead-off walk. With the hit-and-run play on, Mark Davis singled to center, moving Vallance from first to third in the process with no outs. The walk and single brought up Josh Alexander, who has been on fire as of late for the Pioneers.

Over the last two weeks, Alexander is hitting a whopping .520 with two doubles, two home runs and nine RBIs. In game one Thursday, Alexander had two of the Pioneers' six hits.

With runners on the corners, Alexander fell behind in the count, no balls and two strikes, but just as Vallance did to start the inning, Alexander made the pitcher work. On the tenth pitch of the at bat, the junior from Phoenix connected with Wieck's offering, going to the opposite field for an RBI double in the right-center gap.

Damion Lovato flew out to right, but Jovany Padilla scored Wayland's second run with an infield single in the six-hole to score Davis from third. Padilla's RBI gave WBU a 2-0 lead in the third inning.

Wieck buckled down after the third, striking out five without allowing a hit over Wayland's final three at bats, but the damage was done as the Pioneer defense continued to throw up zeros.

With the lead, Taylor gave up only two hits throughout the remainder of the game, giving Wayland a big 2-0 win over second-place Oklahoma City. The win snapped a six-game losing streak, the long such streak for the Pioneers this season.

Apart from the first two innings of the first game in which the Pioneers gave up five runs, Wayland played extremely well against the perennial power house.

Wayland cut down a 5-0 deficit in the bottom of the second in game one with a two-run bomb from Lovato, then inched even closer in the third when Davis scored
Josh Vera with a two-out double. Davis' double cut down the Stars' lead, 5-3, with four innings to play, but OCU tacked on two more runs in the fifth to virtually put the game out of reach.

With head coach Brad Bass mixing up the normal starting rotation around a little, Taylor Bridges (6-3) got the nod in game one, but was forced to go up against the ever dominate Chris Pike.

Pike (8-2) has a no-hitter and a perfect game to his credit this season, but looked slightly more human against the Pioneers despite his eight-strike out, complete game win. Wayland collected six hits off the Stars' ace, including two doubles and a home run, but OCU's big start doomed the Pioneers.

After giving up seven hits in the first two innings, Bridges settled in, allowing just three hits over three more innings, but the third hit prompted Bass to go to the bullpen. Craig Cook relieved Bridges with one out in the sixth, and just as he was on Tuesday, the junior from Kearny, Ariz. was dominant on the mound.

Cook silenced the OCU bats, giving up one hit over his inning and two thirds of work. Unfortunately for the Pioneers though, Pike had also settled in after giving up runs in the second and third innings.

Apart from a double in the sixth from Alexander, Pike did not allow a base runner over the final four innings, giving his squad a 7-3 win.

Alexander had a big day at the plate for Wayland Thursday, going 4-for-6  in two games with a pair of doubles and an RBI, while Forrest Smith led the way for Oklahoma City, collecting three hits with two doubles and a pair of RBIs in the doubleheader.

Mark Davis also put in a solid performance for the Pioneers, going 3-for-6 with a run and RBI to go along with his 13^th double of the year.

The Pioneers and Stars will square off at 1 p.m. Friday in the rubber match at Wilder Field. If Wayland can pull out another win, Wayland will be in a tie with Oklahoma City for second place in the Sooner Athletic Conference standings with one week left to play.

Tom Bailey (6-4) will take the mound for Wayland in what will be his final home-start of the season. Friday's game is senior day, and Wayland will recognize its six seniors prior the 1 o'clock start time.