OBU rallies with seven late runs to steal game 3

Box Score

After doing their damage early against Wayland Baptist to take Thursday's doubleheader, eighth-ranked Oklahoma Baptist came up with seven late runs on Friday afternoon to steal game three from the Pioneers, 8-4, and complete the Sooner Athletic Conference series sweep.
 
Starting Pioneer pitcher Josh Alexander limited the Bison to just a single run and three hits through seven innings before things started to go bad in the eighth.
 
OBU (33-4, 12-2 SAC) blasted four doubles and took advantage of one of five Wayland errors on the day to score four runs and take a 5-4 lead. Then in the ninth the Bison recorded two more doubles along with a single and a walk off Michael Cowan (3-2) to pick up three insurance runs.
 
The Pioneers, meanwhile, were held scoreless over the final six innings after putting up three runs in the second and another in the third. Wayland ended the day with six hits – two each by Gaby De La Cruz and Ernesto Lizardi, who delivered a two-run home run in the second to get Wayland's offense going early. Brayden Blackwell immediately followed with a solo shot as he took advantage of a northeast wind to send one out down the right-field line for a 3-1 Wayland advantage.
 
The Pioneers stretched it to 4-1 in the third when Alexander slapped a two-out double to right-center before De La Cruz delivered an RBI-single.
 
But Wayland managed just two more baserunners the rest of the day against OBU's Jinny Parra (6-1) and closer Kyle Fimbrez.  The first of those runners – Josh Vera, who was courtesy running for catcher Lizardi after his double to lead-off the seventh – was erased when the Pioneers couldn't execute what appeared to be a squeeze with Ethan Percell at the plate.
 
After the Pioneers failed to add to their lead, the Bison ran with the momentum and found their offense in the top of the eighth.
 
Having entered the series with OBU atop the conference standings, Wayland comes out on the other end in fourth place behind the Bison, fifth-ranked Oklahoma City (27-8, 10-2), and Texas Wesleyan (17-12, 9-2). In Fort Worth on Friday and Saturday, Texas Wesleyan hosts the Stars in a three-game series.
 
Wayland has lost three straight games only one other time this season, to Mid-America Nazarene (Kan.) in mid-February. The Pioneers will try to keep it from becoming four in a row when they host University of the Southwest (10-25) in a doubleheader starting at noon Tuesday in non-conference action. WBU defeated Southwest earlier this season in Hobbs, N.M., 15-9.
 
The Pioneers then make their final bus trip of the regular season to Chickasha, Okla., for a SAC series next weekend with fifth-place USAO (23-13, 6-7). After that, it's four out-of-conference games against McMurry and a single against West Texas A&M before a three-game series against Texas Wesleyan on April 24 and 25 to end the regular season.