Seniors lead regular season-ending win

Box Score In a season that hasn't always been that way for the Wayland Baptist baseball team, Saturday afternoon's regular-season finale – despite being played in near-freezing temperatures -- was fun.

Ernesto Lizardi and Gregg Veneklasen had five hits apiece, and Lizardi produced two home runs and a near-record eight RBI to lead Wayland to a 21-11 victory over Bacone College (Okla.) on a blustery day at Wilder Field.

"We went out today and just had fun," Wayland coach Brad Bass said. "It was cool."

The win on Senior Day completed the Sooner Athletic Conference series sweep for the Pioneers, who downed the last-place Warriors on Friday, 12-1 and 4-3.

"A lot of guys got to play and a lot of guys got hits this weekend to get their batting averages up where they wanted, and our pitchers threw well enough," Bass said. "Our seniors came up big in the first and third games and scored runs to take some pressure off our pitching staff.

"We had a lot of younger guys step in and we let them go the whole way (in Friday's second game), and they pulled out a win," added the coach, who praised freshman Tristen Hefner for pitching 6 2/3 innings in his only start of the year. "He went a long way without very many runs and gave us a chance. I didn't go into the weekend expecting that game to go like that; I expected more of a staff-type day. But he took pressure off by throwing so well."

Bass said the entire weekend was a testament to the character and will of his team, which has battled injuries all season and could have long ago thrown in the towel.

"Almost every single guy has had something fairly significant (injury-wise) this year. Not much more could've gone wrong," he said. "But our guys are bound and determined to prove they're a good baseball team.
 
"It was cool to get to see those guys have a good weekend."
 
Saturday's game – which featured seven home runs, five by Wayland, as players took advantage of a 30-mph wind to right field – ended on the 10-run rule in the bottom of the seventh-inning when Austin Davis hit a bases-loaded, RBI-single. Davis' teammates rushed the field and doused him with water, then in the ensuing celebration did the same to the team's other six seniors, all of whom were honored before the start of the game.
 
Wayland (22-26, 10-14 SAC) wound up tied with Mid-America Christian (20-31, 10-14) and Southwestern Christian (34-20, 10-14) for fifth place in the conference standings. Because they lost both series with the Evangels and Eagles, the Pioneers will be seeded seventh at next week's SAC Tournament, to be played at Oklahoma City University and at University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.

Wayland tentatively is scheduled to play 13^th-ranked and second-seeded Texas Wesleyan (41-11, 19-5) at 11 a.m. Friday at USAO. The bracket for the double-elimination event has not yet been made official.

Saturday's 21 runs, which came on 21 hits, were the third-most of the season for Wayland. The Pioneers scored in every inning but one, as did Bacone, but while the Warriors had mostly one- and two-run innings, Wayland had four-, five- and six-run frames.

Lizardi came within one RBI of breaking the school record held since 2008 by Todd Jeffress, who got nine in a game against West Texas A&M. The senior catcher, who delivered a pair of two-run homers in the fourth and sixth innings, ended 5-for-6 and accounted for five runs, as did Veneklasen who homered and had three RBI.

Davis recorded three RBI as well and finished 4-for-5. Bass, another of the seven seniors, was 3-for-5 with a homer and two RBI and two runs, while Hector Romero scored three times. Senior Gaby DeLaCruz homered.

Freshman Kyle Eifert (5-3) earned the win as he threw 123 pitches over six innings, allowing 10 runs (eight earned) on 10 hits with four strikeouts and three walks. Fellow freshman Bryson Calaway came on to pitch the seventh inning.

Bacone freshman Mitchell McAtee (0-7) struggled, allowing eight earned runs on seven hits with five walks in 1 2/3 innings.