Adams, Henry lead Pioneers to much-needed wins over SAGU

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Pitchers Tyler Adams and Jordie Henry led Wayland Baptist to a pair of much-needed Sooner Athletic Conference victories over Southwestern Assemblies of God University on Thursday afternoon at Wilder Field. Adams opened by pitching a one-hit shutout as the Pioneers rolled to a 9-0 victory, then Henry followed suit with a four-hitter as WBU prevailed, 9-1.
 
The wins came on the heels of Tuesday's 12-0 blowout win over Eastern New Mexico and further gets Wayland back on the winning track following last weekend's three conference losses to Texas Wesleyan. The Pioneers (35-12, 11-6 SAC), who after that sweep went from being ranked No. 22 to not receiving any votes, will try to sweep the Lions (13-34, 3-14) when the teams meet Friday in a game tentatively set to begin at 2 p.m. The contest originally was scheduled for Saturday, but due to rain in the forecast this weekend was moved ahead. Friday's game time was adjusted from noon to 2 to allow Wayland's student-athletes to remain in classes as long as possible and still get the game time in before the wet weather arrives.
 
Six WBU seniors – Jake Doyle, Brayden Blackwell, Ethan Percell, Paxton Bartley, Adams and Logan Evans – will be recognized before the game.
 
On Thursday, while Adams and Henry were doing their thing on the mound, the Pioneers' offense recorded 25 total hits, including three each by Aaron Vallance, Gregg Veneklasen, Alex Mumm, Caleb Davidson and Austin Davis. Mumm and Davidson recorded three-RBI days.
 
The Pioneers weren't charged with an error over the 14 innings. First baseman Davidson made a couple of nice catches in the second inning of the first game, including a diving stab of a line-drive foul ball.
 
In the opener, Adams (8-1) allowed only two base runners, the first when he issued his only walk with two out in the fourth inning. The Lions managed their only hit off Adams on a clean single to right-field by Jake Payonk to open the fifth.
 
Adams and the Pioneers retired SAGU in order the next two innings. Adams, who threw 107 pitches, ended with seven strikeouts.
 
Henry (7-2), who threw 123 pitches, was almost as impressive in game two, striking out nine to match his season-high and raising his season total to a team-best 66. He walked four, including two in the sixth inning when the Lions scored their only run of the day on a two-out double to right field by Maverick Keffer.
 
The Pioneers had the game well in hand by then, having scored eight runs in the first four innings. Half of those came in the fourth on a two-RBI double by Vallance followed by a two-RBI single by Mumm.