Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 After splitting a doubleheader Friday, the Wayland Baptist baseball team dropped two games to MidAmerica Nazarene on Saturday. The Pioneers dropped the first game, 8-1, and stranded nine runners in a 12-7 loss in game two.
MidAmerica Nazarene (3-1), which is ranked the equivalent of 28th in the NAIA Coaches' Poll, got going in the first inning with a two-run, opposite field home run courtesy of Seth Lieser. MNU scored two more in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, holding Wayland (5-6) to just one run of five hits.
The Pioneers scored their only run of the game in the bottom of the sixth when
Aaron Vallance singled to bring home
Colton Palmer who led the inning off with a double to the left-center gap. Wayland got two aboard in the bottom of the seventh, but MNU kept the Pioneers from scoring and took game one by a score of 8-1.
Fans at Wilder Field saw a little more fight from the Pioneers in game two, starting with
Gaby De La Cruz who hit his third home run of the year following a pass ball that scored
Will Bass to give Wayland a 2-0 lead in the first inning.
In the top of the second, MidAmerica Nazarene answered with two home runs that scored three runs, retaking the lead for good. MNU tacked on four more in its next at bat, but that's when Wayland went to work.
Chris Buitron led off the fourth with a ground-rule double and
Lorenzo Soriano put runners on the corners with one out after hitting a single to left center. A wild pitch scored Buitron, and a walk from Bass followed by a single from Vallance loaded the bases. Wayland then scored another run on a wild pitch to get within three of MidAmerica.
The Pioneers' big, right fielder,
Josh Alexander, put a scare into MNU, driving a 3-2 pitch 380 feet to the wall. The sacrifice fly scored Bass, but a couple more feet and Alexander would have tied the game. De La Cruz came up to bat next, but went down on strikes to end the inning, 7-5.
Wayland got a runner on third with one out in its next at bat, but Buitron and Palmer struck out to end the inning and the Pioneers got their clean-up hitter to the plate with two men on in the sixth, but once again MidAmerica Nazarene escaped the jam with a strike out.
The Pioneers were held scoreless in their final at bat, too, and MidAmerica took the series with a 9-5 win in game two.
No Wayland hitter had more than one hit in one game, but Alexander, Buitron and Palmer all had doubles on Saturday afternoon. De La Cruz, Alexander and Vallance were the only Pioneers to drive in a run.
Seven Pioneers took the mound Saturday, but
Joey DiCarlo and Alexander were the only pitchers to exit without giving up at least one run. DiCarlo had four strikeouts in 2.1 innings, while Alexander struck out one in just his second appearance on the mound.
The Pioneers return to action Tuesday where they will take on Lubbock Christian (5-3) at 5 p.m. at Hayes Field in Lubbock. The Chaps took two of three from
Wayland last season with both their wins coming at home.
Â
Â
