WBU knocks off No. 15 Wesleyan

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Hector Romero and Gregg Veneklasen combined for five hits and five RBIs, and Broedy Burris and Kevin Torres teamed to pitch a six-hitter as Wayland Baptist recorded a 7-5 victory over 15^th-ranked Texas Wesleyan on Friday afternoon at Wilder Field.
 
"That was the best we've played against a good team, by far," Wayland coach Brad Bass said.
 
The victory came after the Rams won the first game of the Sooner Athletic Conference doubleheader, 6-2.
 
The teams will reconvene at 1 p.m. Saturday for game 3. (The game originally was scheduled to begin at noon but was moved back an hour due to expected cool temperatures.)
 
Playing their first home games in 2½ weeks, the Pioneers (16-18, 4-7 SAC) suffered a disappointing loss in the opener before coming up with a solid effort in the nightcap.
 
Wayland scored twice in the first inning – on an RBI-double by Romero followed by a sacrifice fly by Veneklasen – to get things started. The Rams (25-9, 8-3) got one back in the fourth only to see the Pioneers match it through Veneklasen's RBI-single in the fifth, giving Wayland a 3-1 lead.
 
Held to two hits through five by Burris, Wesleyan managed to tie it with a pair of runs in the sixth, prompting Torres – who recorded the final two outs of game 1 – to come on in relief. He threw one pitch to get WBU out of the inning before the Pioneer offense came to life in the bottom of the sixth.
 
After designated hitter Paxton Covel walked and Gaby De La Cruz put down a sacrifice bunt, Manuel Rios singled down the right field line to score pinch runner Juan Ponce. Caleb Davidson followed that with a single to right, scoring Rios.
 
Derek Farmer drew a pinch-hit walk before Romero's single to left-center made it 6-3. Veneklasen again answered the bell with a double down the line in left to complete Wayland's scoring.
 
The last two runs proved important since Wesleyan's Luis Roman slapped a two-out, two-run home run to right field. The game ended when Pioneer shortstop Will Bass threw out Julio Ibarra on a close play at first.
 
Romero went 3-for-4 with two RBI while Veneklasen finished 2-for-3 with three RBI. De La Cruz and Davidson also had a pair of hits apiece as Wayland wounded up with a dozen off Wesleyan pitchers Stephen Yancey (5-3) and Chris Terry.
 
Torres (4-1), a junior, earned the win after going 1 1/3 innings, giving up two runs on one hit in relief of the freshman Burris, who in 5 2/3 allowed three runs on five hits with four strikeouts and one walk.
 
In the first game, the Rams scored two runs in each of the second, fourth and seventh innings. They reached WBU starter Matt Flores for five of those runs on 11 hits and three walks. Torres gave up the other run on two hits. No Rams struck out.
 
Wesleyan's Alex Lopez (6-1) went the distance, surrendering six hits and two walks while striking out two.
 
Veneklasen finished 3-for-3 with an RBI. The junior from Canyon who started at second base finished his day 5-for-6 with four RBI.