Box Score
Video OKLAHOMA CITY – On a day when Wayland Baptist needed its offense to bail out the defense, the bats just weren't there as the No. 24 Pioneers fell to No. 16 University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma in the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament championship game Monday afternoon at Jim Wade Field, 4-2.
USAO pitchers struck out 18 – one short of a Wayland school record – walked none and gave up five hits as the Drovers claimed their first-ever SAC Tournament title. Wayland, which also was looking for its first conference title in its first championship game appearance, was hurt by five errors as all of the Drovers' runs were unearned.
Wayland coach
Brad Bass said USAO starting pitcher Jordan Watson "dealt with us pretty good. He gave us a healthy dose of curve balls…really, really good curve balls. And about the time you'd think he's never, ever going to throw a fastball again, he would."
While USAO (45-11) automatically qualifies as one of 46 teams invited to the NAIA National Championship Opening Round, the Pioneers (44-15) must wait to see if they will receive an at-large bid. That announcement comes at 3 p.m. Friday via a live selection show on
www.naia.org.
(The Pioneers will host a watch party beginning at 3 p.m. in the Laney Center.)
While Wayland got away with committing five errors in a 10-8 win over No. 22 Texas Wesleyan on Sunday, USAO didn't let the Pioneers off the hook so easily. Four of Wayland's miscues came in the first three innings as errors allowed USAO's lead-off batter on base each time. All of them scored with the help of five USAO hits.
"We were very, very fortunate (Sunday against Texas Wesleyan) because we didn't really play well," Bass said. "We scored enough runs and pitched well enough to win, and we made a play when it was in the clutch to get out of an inning.
"Today, the pitching was just too good to play like that. Today, we ran into a pitcher with a dirty curve."
Watson, indeed, was nothing short of brilliant. The junior left-hander who played the last two seasons at Seminole State College got off to a shaky start as
Will Bass singled and
Gregg Veneklasen tripled in the first inning. A wild pitch allowed Veneklasen to score, and right away Wayland had a promising 2-0 lead.
"I thought maybe we'd be able to keep it going," Coach Bass said.
Instead, Watson dominated after that.
"We woke him up in the first inning," Bass said.
Watson (9-2) sat down 16 batters in a row – nine by strikeout – before
Jake Doyle opened the seventh with a double. The Drovers then retired the next three batters, and after
Aaron Vallance – who entered the game at shortstop in the sixth – doubled with one out in the eighth, Watson struck out the next two Pioneers to end that threat.
Watson – who when he faced Wayland March 25 struck out nine in a 1-0 WBU win (
Austin Davis hit a solo home run and
Tyler Adams pitched a four-hit shutout) – exited after eight complete with 15 strikeouts. He handed the ball to hard-throwing right-hander Cesar Figuereo, who was just as dominant, striking out all three batters he faced to end the game and earn his 10
th save of the year. Figuereo, a senior second baseman from the Dominican Republic who Bass said throws in the 90s, also went 3-for-4 at the plate with an RBI.
The 18 strikeouts recorded by Watson and Figuereo fell one short of the Wayland school record of 19 recorded by Lubbock Christian on April 11, 2011.
Wayland's tough-luck loser was
Mason Taylor (4-4), who in 6 2/3 innings allowed eight hits and four unearned runs while striking out six and walking two.
Paxton Bartley pitched the final 1 1/3, fanning a pair.
"Mason pitched a really good game," Bass said.
The coach couldn't say for sure why the Pioneer defense has struggled of late, but reasoned it might have something to do with playing 11 straight road games ("We haven't had a weekend off in I can't remember when") while players also have been preparing for and taking final exams.
"We've been shaky in the field since we got here; it wasn't just today, it was all week. Errors are coming in buckets," Bass said, adding that players' classroom commitments rightly took precedence over practicing baseball the past several days. "Being a student-athlete and trying to pass those classes is hard. We not only have good baseball players, but they're good student-athletes that care about what they do in the classroom. They're going to make good men because they care about what they do."
Still, a baseball team has to practice to stay sharp, and the Pioneers haven't been able to do that on a regular basis in a while.
"We have a good defensive team, we have a good offensive team, and we have good pitching. We have everything it takes to be successful," Bass said, "but we do have to practice."
Given all of that, Bass said he's even more proud of what his team did this weekend.
"For them to get accomplished what they did this week is remarkable. I'm really proud of their energy, effort and competiveness. We beat some really good teams to get to the championship game.
"I feel like this was the start of something new," he added. "A lot of things that have happened this year that we haven't been able to do in the past. We want to use that and go forward. Hopefully we're able to get to the (national) tournament and get our defense back together."
To that end, Bass is confident the Pioneers will earn an at-large bid and secure their second national tournament appearance.
"I slept like a baby last night because I believe we're in," he said. "I haven't gone through and looked at all of the scenarios, but they're taking 14 at-larges and I believe we're going to be ranked high enough to get one of those.
"I can't come up with any reasons why we would go down in the polls. We beat a team (Texas Wesleyan) twice that was ahead of us in the poll. The other team that we beat (OCU) is a perennial postseason top-10 team. That should give us a little bit of credibility."
Having said that, however, Bass said he will be a bit antsy until Friday when the Top 25 will be released at 1 p.m., followed by the announcement of national qualifiers at 3.
"Until I see it on the computer or hear it announced… I have to confess to thinking we were in there before and not getting in.
"It's going to be a long four days."
Sooner Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament
At Oklahoma City
Jim Wade Stadium
Friday's Results
Texas Wesleyan 4, Bacone 1
Wayland Baptist 8, Oklahoma City 6
Oklahoma City 19, Bacone 1, Bacone eliminated
Saturday's Results
Wayland Baptist 13, Texas Wesleyan 8
Texas Wesleyan 12, Oklahoma City 8, Oklahoma City eliminated
Sunday's Result
Wayland Baptist 10, Texas Wesleyan 8, Texas Wesleyan eliminated
At Chickasha, Okla.
Bill Smith Ballpark
Friday's Results
USAO 14, St. Gregory's 4
Mid-America Christian 14, Southwestern Christian 7
Southwestern Christian 16, St. Gregory's 6, St. Gregory's eliminated
Saturday's Results
USAO 10, Mid-America Christian 2
Southwestern Christian 9, Mid-America Christian 6, Mid-America Christian eliminated
Sunday's Result
USAO 16, Southwestern Christian 3, Southwestern Christian eliminated
Monday's Result
Championship
At Oklahoma City
Jim Wade Stadium
USAO 4, Wayland Baptist 2
