Box Score SHAWNEE, Okla. –
Manuel Rios hit a grand slam,
Ernesto Lizardi went 5-for-5, and
Kyle Eifert pitched a 3-hitter to power Wayland Baptist to a dominating 17-2 Sooner Athletic Conference victory over St. Gregory's University here Saturday.
Wayland (15-17, 3-6 SAC) took the series from the Cavaliers (20-10, 9-3), having also won Friday's second game, 13-8, after scoring five runs in the seventh. The Cavaliers, who went into the weekend as the SAC's second-place team, won the series opener, 7-0.
Lizardi went 10-for-18 (.555) in the series, including 9-for-10 in the final two games. The senior catcher from Puerto Rico now carries a .516 batting average, third in the NAIA.
Both Lizardi and Rios, a freshman third baseman, produced five RBI on Saturday when Wayland recorded 17 hits, matching the number from game 2 Friday. The 17 run and 17 hits are the most for the Pioneers since their season-opening series against University of the Southwest, when WBU won 24-2 and 27-9.
The Pioneers got a two-run home run by
Paxton Covel and took a 3-0 first-inning lead before Rios' fifth-inning grand slam put Wayland in command, 8-2. An inning later they broke it wide open with a nine-run sixth.
Hector Romero tripled to start the inning. Singles by Lizardi, Covel, Rios and
Caleb Davidson followed before a series of walks and an error kept the inning alive. Lizardi then delivered his second double of the game, this one a bases-loaded, three-RBI blast down the left field line to end the scoring.
Eifert, a freshman from Randall High School, was brilliant, especially over the last five innings when he shut out the Cavaliers and allowed only one hit. The left-hander struck out seven, walked three and hit three batters.
The outing came two weeks after Eifert pitched a nine-inning three-hitter during WBU's 9-2 home win over Central Christian (Kan.).
The Pioneers return to Wilder Field for the first time since March 14 against No. 15 Texas Wesleyan (23-7, 7-2). The Rams have won 10 straight games going into Saturday's finale of a three-game series against Arlington Baptist. Wesleyan plays at McMurry on Tuesday. In SAC plays, the Rams have swept last-place Bacone and taken two-of-three from Mid-America Christian and No. 17 Science and Arts of Oklahoma. They also recently swept a doubleheader from No. 13 Louisiana State-Shreveport.
