Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 Tyler Adams pitched a four-hit shutout and
Austin Davis hit a solo home run to lift Wayland Baptist to a 1-0 win over University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma in the first game of a Sooner Athletic Conference doubleheader Friday afternoon at Wilder Field. In the second game, the Drovers got their offense rolling, recording 14 hits – including four home runs – to post a 12-2 victory.
The rubber match between the teams tied for second place in the conference will be at 1 p.m. Saturday.
In Friday's opener, Adams (6-0) and USAO lefty Jordan Watson (3-2) both pitched masterfully, each giving up four hits. But Davis' seventh home run of the season – on the first pitch he saw to lead off the third inning – was the difference.
Adams, who struck out five and walked one in throwing 81 pitches, gave up two of USAO's four hits in the fourth, but the Pioneers bailed him out with an inning-ending double play when shortstop
Aaron Vallance snared a line drive and threw to first baseman
Caleb Davidson.
The exact reverse of that play helped Wayland after a lead-off double by the Drovers in the fifth. This time, Davidson gloved a line drove and threw to Vallance to double-up the runner at second.
The game took just 90 minutes to complete.
Wayland's lefty, Taylor Bridged, took the mound for the second game. After blanking the Drovers the first two frames, Bridges ran into big trouble in the third, giving up six hits as USAO scored seven runs. The biggest blow was a three-run homer by Cesar Figuereo.
The Pioneers missed a chance to do major damage in the first when
Will Bass,
Gregg Veneklasen and
Alex Mumm all singled to load the bases with one out. After a called third-strike on Davidson, the Pioneers pushed one run across when
Brayden Blackwell was hit by a pitch before Davis grounded out to first to end the threat.
USAO went on to score two in the fourth to take a 9-1 lead before Wayland scored its only other run in the bottom of the inning on an RBI-single by Bass.
The Drovers' Allan Sanchez (6-0) remained perfect on the season, allowing just six hits – two each by Bass and Veneklasen – while striking out 10 and walking two.
Bridges (6-3) took the loss as USAO reached four WBU pitchers for 14 hits, including a pair of homers by Yariel Gonzalez who went 4-for-4.
