Box Score Jonathan Ottenwalder homered twice in an eight-run second inning, and Wayland Baptist went on to an 11-7 win over Oklahoma Panhandle State on a blustery Saturday afternoon at Wilder Field. The win capped a three-game sweep of the Aggies after the Pioneers won Friday, 6-0 and 5-2.
The victories leave the Pioneers (12-1, 6-0) solidly in first place in the Sooner Athletic Conference standings as Wayland adds to its best start to a season in eight years. Another win will equal the 13-1 start in 2010, then the Pioneers will be chasing the 21-1-1 start in 2008.
Against OPSU (5-13, 1-5) on Saturday, Wayland got off to a rough start, allowing four first-inning runs on five consecutive walks then a double. The Aggies added two more unearned runs in the second to take a 6-0 lead.
But Wayland got them all back and more in the bottom of the second, which started with a lead-off home run by Ottenwalder, his first since the season-opener. After a two-RBI single by Yaniel Vargas, a two-run double by Gregg Veneklasen and an RBI-single by Nick Rucker, Ottenwalder – a junior catcher from the Dominican Republic by way of Clarendon College – homered again, this one a two-run shot.
Designated hitter Devlin Smith, who ended the day 3-for-4, got in on the home run action in the third when he parked one on the roof of Hutcherson Center, his second of the season. Nick Moore made it 10-6 with an RBI-single in the fifth, then after OPSU's Jared Mayeda homered in the seventh, Vargas answered with the day's fifth and final home run – and his first of 2018 – in the eighth.
After a couple of strong pitching performances from starters Kevin Torres and Jordie Henry for Friday's two seven-inning contests, Wayland went with more of a staff approach for Saturday's nine-inning game. After Brayden Price ran into early trouble, walking four and giving up four runs in the first inning, Jonathan Frost came on and provided some stability.
The senior right-hander lasted 4 2/3 innings, giving up two runs on four hits with two walks and five strikeouts to earn his second win. Senior Matt Flores pitched two innings, allowing a run on two hits with three Ks, before freshmen Tanner Solomon and Carlos Dominguez finished up with one perfect inning apiece. Solomon struck out the side in the eighth, and the final four pitchers combined for a dozen strikeouts.
The Pioneers take a break from SAC play when they host MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) in a pair of doubleheaders starting at 4 p.m. Friday and noon Saturday. The MANU Pioneers have played just three games thus far and are 1-2. They'll plan three more at home early next week before heading to Texas.
