Pioneers put damper on McMurry's best season

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

The McMurry War Hawks arrived from Abilene enjoying the best season in program history. They left Wilder Field on Friday night having absorbed a couple of chinks in their armor, with the Wayland Pioneers looking to apply two more Saturday.
 
Wayland spoiled the perfect seasons of a couple of McMurry pitchers as Wayland posted 5-4 and 10-1 victories over the War Hawks. The Pioneers pounded out 22 hits – five by Will Bass and four by Gaby De La Cruz – while Wayland hurlers Logan Evans and Taylor Bridges came up with positive pitching performances.
 
In the first game, Wayland (29-18) was in command 4-0 after four innings, but McMurry (26-7) struck for three runs in the fifth inning on three of their five total hits and a Wayland error. The War Hawks tied it up the next inning thanks to a single, a pair of wild pitches by WBU starter Tyler Adams, and an RBI-single.
 
Evans came in to record the final out of the sixth, then Wayland's offense immediately went back to work. Bass hit a one-out single up the middle then went to second on Aaron Vallance's ground-out. Josh Alexander then delivered an RBI-single to right field, with Bass beating the throw home.
 
Evans (5-0) mowed down the War Hawks in order in their last at-bat, getting the first out on a looking strikeout, the second on a flyout to right-fielder Alexander, and the third on a groundout to third baseman Dillan Vigil.
 
McMurry's Lanny Zier (7-1) suffered his first loss of the season, giving up a dozen hits in his complete-game effort.
 
Game 2 wasn't nearly as dramatic as the Pioneers scored four runs in the second inning and never looked back.
 
Those four second-inning runs came courtesy of a two-run homer to left field by designed hitter Lorenzo Soriano, his fourth blast of the year, followed by a two-out, two-run triple by Bass that scored Ethan Percell and Chris Buitron after they both singled.
 
The Pioneers added single runs in the fourth and sixth frames, first on Colton Palmer's first homer of the season then on a pair of doubles by De La Cruz and Percell.
 
With the teams having agreed to play nine innings in game two, the Pioneers almost ended it early on the 10-run rule in the seventh. Wayland pushed across two runs on an RBI-single by Vallance that scored Bass after he singled and stole second and a bases-loaded walk by Soriano. A pitching change helped the War Hawks get the last two outs and wiggle out of that jam with the bases still loaded.
 
Bridges saw his shutout thwarted in the eighth when he hit the lead-off batter, issued a walk, then gave up an RBI-single to center field.
 
The Pioneers came close to ended it on the mercy rule again in the eighth, scoring two runs but leaving the bases loaded one run shy of turning out the lights early. McMurry walked the bases full before Alexander's sacrifice fly scored one, then De La Cruz's ground-rule double made it 10-1. Another walk to Soriano loaded the bases, but the War Hawks got the third out on a fielder's choice.
 
That allowed Kyle Parriera to get in some work on the mound as he took over for Bridges, who in eight innings gave up six hits and one run with two walks and no strikeouts. Parriera coaxed the first three McMurry batters into a pair of fly-outs and a groundout to end it.
 
The teams return to the field for another doubleheader at 1 p.m. Saturday when the Pioneers will host two special events.
 
A silent auction for players' jerseys will raise money for the WBU Relay for Life team and the American Cancer Society, along with proceeds from concession sales. Also, fans are invited to bring their leashed, well-mannered dogs to the ballpark for the "Doggie Doubleheader." Treats and fresh water will be provided, and an agility dog demonstration will be staged on the field in between games.