Box Score BETHANY, Okla. – A pair of five-run innings along with another strong pitching and plate outing by
Josh Alexander helped Wayland Baptist to a 15-4 Sooner Athletic Conference victory over Southwestern Christian here Saturday afternoon. Alexander, the reigning conference player of the week, recorded six strikeouts in picking up his first win of the season while also contributing six RBIs, half of which came on a home run.
The win got the Pioneers (16-9, 5-1 SAC) back on the winning track after the Eagles (11-10, 2-6) ended Wayland's nine-game win streak with a 3-0 victory in game two of the series on Friday. The Pioneers prevailed in the first game, 4-3.
Wayland next takes on Midland University, Neb. (8-12) in a three-game, non-conference series at Wilder Field. The first game will be at 6 p.m. Monday followed by a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. Tuesday. Midland is hosting Mount Mercy, Iowa, in a three-game series Saturday and Sunday before coming to Plainview. Before returning home, the Warriors will face Oklahoma City in single games Wednesday and Thursday.
Against Southwestern Christian on Saturday, Wayland's scoreless streak reached 13 innings before the Pioneers exploded by scoring 15 runs in four frames.
The Eagles scored a run in the bottom of the first for an early lead, but Wayland's dormant bats finally came to life in the third. The Pioneers pounded out five hits, including a two-RBI single by Alexander followed by a two-run home run by
Gaby De La Cruz. The full-count shot was De La Cruz's eighth of the season and fourth in the last five games.
Wayland tallied five more hits in its five-run fourth, when Eagles starter Dalton Judkins was lifted after giving up his seventh hit and second walk. Colton Weeks, the second of five SCU pitchers, managed to record only one out versus three hits and a walk as the Pioneers kept their foot on the gas.
The first five WBU batters reached on a pair of passes and three hits, including a two-RBI single by
Will Bass. Alexander and De La Cruz picked up another RBI apiece as Wayland led 10-1 after four.
Alexander made it 13-1 with one swing in the fifth inning as he recorded his fourth homer of the season to left-center field.
Wayland then put together a nice two-out rally in the sixth on the strength of back-to-back doubles by
Austin Davis and
Brayden Blackwell. The Pioneers had six doubles in the contest.
Alexander, making his second collegiate start, gave up only his second run of the game in the sixth then, having thrown 94 pitches, exited the mound with his team leading 15-2.
The Eagles tacked on a couple of runs in the bottom of the seventh before
Kyle Parriera came on to close the door and get the Pioneers on the bus early via the 10-run mercy rule.
The 15 runs matched Wayland's second-largest offensive output of the season. Seven Pioneers – Bass,
Aaron Vallance, Alexander, De La Cruz, Davis, Blackwell and
Colton Palmer – had multi-hit games, with Bass going 3-for-5 with three RBIs and three runs scored.
