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Box Score 2 OKLAHOMA CITY – Coming off back-to-back shortened games earlier in the week, the Wayland Baptist baseball team had to go extra innings here Friday afternoon to open a Sooner Athletic Conference series against Mid-America Christian. But the Pioneers pulled it out, scoring three runs in the 12
th inning to win, 5-2, before Wayland took the second game, 3-0, behind a three-hit shutout by Pioneer ace
Taylor Bridges.
In the opener, Wayland (23-12, 10-1 SAC) and MACU (14-15-1, 3-6) were tied at 2 after 11 innings when the Pioneers – who got 10 splendid innings from starter
Tyler Adams – finally broke through in the 12
th with the biggest inning of the day.
It started when
Colton Palmer struck out but reached on a wild pitch. A sacrifice bunt by
Austin Davis moved Palmer to third. After an intentional walk to
Ernesto Lizardi and a change of pitchers, the Pioneers executed a squeeze play with No. 9-hole hitter
Brayden Blackwell bunting for an RBI-single, scoring Palmer.
A bobbled ball allowed
Will Bass on board to load the bases, then Soriano was forced out at home on
Aaron Vallance's grounder to the pitcher. But MACU catcher Drew Thompson's wild throw allowed both Blackwell and Bass to score.
Logan Evans, who relieved Adams in the 11
th, came on and, after an error to open the inning, seamlessly retired the next three MACU batters on two strikeouts and a pop-up to second to win it for Wayland.
Adams, who was looking to improve to 7-0, gave up a two-out, two-run home run in the first inning before the Pioneers recorded 11 straight scoreless innings. Adams allowed five hits in his 10 innings (115 pitches) on the mound, striking out nine and walking only one. Evans was credited with the win, moving his record to 4-0.
Wayland scored its first two runs on an RBI-triple to centerfield by
Josh Alexander that scored Bass in the third inning and the other in the fifth when
Dillan Vigil scored on Vallance's groundout.
Both teams had six hits, but the Evangels were hurt by five errors that made for three unearned runs.
In game two, Bridges (5-3) pitched the Pioneers' second shutout of the season as he gave up just three singles while striking out five and walking none. In throwing 81 pitches, Bridges recorded five three-up, three-down innings and allowed just one baserunner past second base, that after Wayland's only error of the game.
The Pioneers recorded the only run they needed in the second inning when
Gaby De La Cruz and Lizardi led off with singles.
Ethan Percell's sacrifice bunt advanced the runners then Davis drove in De La Cruz on a groundout to shortstop.
The next inning, Alexander made it 3-0 and ended the scoring for the day when he slapped a two-out, two-run home run to left-center that also scored Vallance, who had singled.
WBU ended with eight hits.
The teams return for game 3 beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday.
