Box Score LUBBOCK – A cold, midweek game Tuesday saw Wayland Baptist and Lubbock Christian meet for the 100th time at Hayes Field on LCU's campus. The Pioneers defeated their former conference rivals, 7-4, on 10 hits and three costly errors.
The Chaps (5-5) started the scoring off in the bottom of the first after Will Stramp advanced to third on an errant pickoff following a walk. Stramp scored one batter later on a sacrifice fly to deep, right-center field, giving LCU a 1-0 lead.
Ernesto Lizardi and
Lorenzo Soriano led off the second with a single and double down the left field line, and
Brayden Blackwell drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases. Dalton Silva got the next batter to go down on strikes, but
Colton Palmer drove in Lizardi with a chopper in the six-hole, tying the game, 1-1.
Wayland (6-6) took the lead in their next at bat, managing two runs on no hits. The Chaps looked as if they would have a quick inning, getting
Aaron Vallance to fly out to center and
Josh Alexander to hit a deep fly ball to left center. The center fielder dropped Alexander's drive, however, and after LCU should have been out of the inning with a ground out, but Lizardi drew a two-out walk.
A balk moved runners to second and third, but Lubbock Christian should have been out of the inning again after Silva got Soriano to go down swinging. The catcher dropped the third strike, however, and the first baseman misplayed the throw down, allowing both runners to score, giving Wayland a 3-1 lead.
The Pioneers scored two more runs in the fourth, albeit in a more conventional way.
Will Bass hit a one-out single and after a walk from Vallance, Alexander drove in the fourth run of the game with a single up the middle. De La Cruz followed with an RBI groundout to give WBU a 5-1 advantage.
De La Cruz had another RBI ground out in the sixth and Soriano single through the right side to score another run, putting Wayland up, 7-1, going into the eighth inning.
Tyler Adams (2-0) pitched his second consecutive quality start Tuesday, throwing seven and two-thirds innings, allowing just one run. The junior from Show Low, Ariz., stuck out three, scattering five hits in what proved to be a dominating performance.
With his pitch count nearing 100,
Logan Evans relieved Adams with two down in the eighth, striking out Gerardo Arzaga to end the inning.
Michael Cowan was next out of the Pioneer pen, and after LCU made things interesting with three runs off five hits, Cowan got the final batter chase a high fast ball, sending Wayland home with a 7-4 win.
Tuesday's win over Lubbock Christian snapped a three-game losing streak for the Pioneers. Alexander led the Pioneer offense, collecting three hits while scoring twice and driving in one. Bass and Soriano had two hits each, with Bass scoring twice and Soriano driving in one with a double.
Wayland hosts Peru State and Houston-Victoria on Friday and Saturday in a three-way, round-robin tournament. The Pioneers play Houston-Victoria at 1 p.m. and Peru State at 6 p.m. Friday, then Peru State at noon and Houston-Victoria at 5 p.m. Saturday.
