Box Score GOODWELL, Okla. – Wayland Baptist came up with two big innings late as the Pioneers rolled to a 9-2 victory over Oklahoma Panhandle State here Tuesday afternoon. Wayland scored three runs in the seventh inning and five in the eighth to win for the seventh time in eight games and improve to 25-12.
The win over the Aggies (3-28) came in advance of Wayland's big Sooner Athletic Conference series against eighth-ranked Oklahoma Baptist later this week at Wilder Field. The Pioneers and Bison, who were ranked No. 1 before dropping two of three to now No. 5 Oklahoma City University last weekend, will meet for a doubleheader at 3 p.m. Thursday then a single game at 1 p.m. Friday. (Games were moved ahead a day due to Easter weekend.)
Against OPSU, a team Wayland defeated 15-1 in seven innings a week earlier in Plainview, the Pioneers got three hits each from
Will Bass,
Gaby De La Cruz and
Dillan Vigil plus solid pitching from
Jose Urena,
Craig Cook,
Kyle Parriera,
Logan Evans and
Michael Cowan.
The five hurlers combined to give up eight hits while striking out 10, half of those by Parriera (1-0), a freshman who picked up his first collegiate decision after working 1 2/3 innings.
OPSU took a 2-0 lead in the second inning which stood until the sixth when Wayland picked up its first run on an RBI-groundout by
Ethan Percell. The Pioneers got three more in the seventh, two on a single up the middle by
Aaron Vallance, who later scored on a single by De La Cruz.
Wayland's biggest blows came in the eighth, punctuated by a two-run home run by Bass that followed singles by
Austin Davis and Vigil and an RBI-groundout by
Brayden Blackwell. After Bass' homer, Vallance walked and De La Cruz singled, then both scored when
Ernesto Lizardi reached on a two-out error by the Aggie right-fielder.
Evans and Cowan came in to shut the door on the Aggies. After Evans struck out the side in the eighth, Cowan recorded a ground-out, strikeout and fly-out in the ninth.
After receiving their first votes (three) in the NAIA Baseball Coaches' Top 25 last week, Wayland earned 11 votes this week and is the equivalent of 36
th.
NAIA Baseball Coaches' Top 25 Poll – No. 4 (March 31)
| RANK | PRVS^ | SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) | 2015 RECORD | TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 | 2 | Faulkner (Ala.) (19) | 32-6 | 590 |
| 2 | 4 | Tabor (Kan.) (1) | 32-4 | 559 |
| 3 | 6 | Davenport (Mich.) (1) | 25-2 | 530 |
| 4 | 7 | Northwood (Fla.) | 31-7 | 513 |
| 5 | 11 | Oklahoma City | 27-7 | 501 |
| 6 | 5 | Georgia Gwinnett | 30-6 | 494 |
| 7 | 3 | Missouri Baptist | 24-4 | 490 |
| 8 | 1 | Oklahoma Baptist | 30-2 | 477 |
| 9 | 8 | The Master's (Calif.) | 31-7 | 476 |
| T10 | 11 | Oklahoma Wesleyan | 27-7 | 393 |
| T10 | 13 | Tennessee Wesleyan | 25-8 | 393 |
| 12 | 12 | Westmont (Calif.) | 28-8 | 387 |
| 13 | 14 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 23-7 | 359 |
| 14 | 15 | Bellevue (Neb.) | 26-7 | 327 |
| 15 | 16 | Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) | 26-10 | 310 |
| T16 | 17 | Concordia (Calif.) | 30-9 | 300 |
| T16 | 8 | LSU Shreveport (La.) | 23-8 | 300 |
| 18 | 19 | Campbellsville (Ky.) | 17-4 | 286 |
| 19 | 18 | Embry-Riddle (Fla.) | 24-13 | 263 |
| 20 | 20 | St. Thomas (Fla.) | 25-10 | 214 |
| 21 | 23 | Point Park (Pa.) | 20-5 | 200 |
| 22 | 22 | Mobile (Ala.) | 25-10 | 187 |
| 23 | 25 | Northwestern Ohio | 22-6 | 174 |
| 24 | 21 | Sterling (Kan.) | 25-10 | 133 |
| 25 | 24 | Union (Ky.) | 21-7 | 94 |
| | | | |
Others receiving votes: Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 86; William Woods (Mo.) 83; British Columbia 76; Bryan (Tenn.) 40; Peru State (Neb.) 32; Southeastern (Fla.) 25; Doane (Neb.) 23; Vanguard (Calif.) 23; Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) 23; Judson (Ill.) 15;
Wayland Baptist (Texas) 11; St. Catharine (Ky.) 6; York (Neb.) 3;Madonna (Mich.) 3.
