Pioneers look to keep April turnaround going at Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament

SAC Tournament Bracket

Brad Bass had a little different March Madness experience than other sports fans.
 
For starters, his had nothing to do with basketball. And it's anything but fondly remembered by the Wayland Baptist baseball coach.
 
Following one of the best starts in the history of the program that saw the Pioneers win 14 of their first 15 games and rise to a No. 12 ranking in the NAIA, Bass' team experienced a month-long hiccup that he very disgustedly refers to as "March Madness."
 
Beginning March 3 and ending in early April, the Pioneers lost 15 of 23 games and promptly fell out of the NAIA Top 25. The slump coincided with matchups against some of the top teams in the Sooner Athletic Conference, including fifth-ranked Oklahoma City and eighth-ranked Science and Arts of Oklahoma.
 
The good news is the tide has turned back the way it started and the Pioneers are rolling again. Since April 8, Bass' team has won 12 of its last 13 outings, including the last eight in a row.
 
"We had some injury struggles we had to deal with, but we've gotten back into good shape in April," Bass said.
 
The Pioneers got things turned around in time to win 2-of-3 games against then No. 19 Texas Wesleyan and finish in fourth place in the 10-team SAC. That means Wayland is seeded fourth in the conference tournament that begins its three-day run in Oklahoma on Friday.
 
The Pioneers (34-17, 16-11 SAC) open play at 2:30 p.m. Friday at Oklahoma City University's Jim Wade Stadium against fifth-seeded Southwestern Christian (34-16, 14-12). It will be a chance for Wayland to avenge setbacks to the Eagles suffered during their March slump when the Pioneers – after winning the home series opener, 16-13 – dropped the next two, 5-3 and 12-9.
 
The Wayland-Southwestern Christian winner advances to a 1 p.m. Saturday game against the winner between top-seeded OCU (42-5, 24-3) and eighth-seeded Mid-America Christian (19-33, 8-19), which meet at 11 a.m. Friday. The losers of those contests meet in an elimination game at 6 p.m. Friday.
 
Bass said it won't be easy getting past any team in the tournament, especially red-hot OCU.
 
"We're not getting to the next round without getting through them," he said.
 
At the same time at USAO in Chickasha, four other teams – second-seeded USAO vs. seventh-seeded Bacone, and third-seeded Texas Wesleyan and sixth-seeded Oklahoma Panhandle State – will be battling it out.
 
The winners of the two brackets will meet for the championship at 1 p.m. Monday at USAO.
 
Both teams in the finals earn automatic berths to the NAIA National Championships, while any teams that don't must hope for an at-large invitation into the 45-team field.
 
Bass is going into the conference tournament assuming the Pioneers need to secure an automatic berth into the national tournament by finishing first or second at the SAC Tourney. In other words, he doesn't want to leave anything to chance with an at-large berth since it appears the Pioneers – who are the equivalent of 35^th in the NAIA Final Top 25 released earlier this week – could be very close to the cut line.
 
"We need to plan for (an automatic berth) and not worry about that other stuff," Bass said. At the same time, he added, "It's good to be in there (receiving Top 25 votes) so that at least gives us a chance for an at-large."
 
The Pioneers advanced to nationals two years ago for just the second time in school history after barely missing out the year before with a 34-23 record.
 
"I like the way we're playing right now," Bass said. "We just need to do what we do – have fun and play. We've done really well with that, especially lately. The guys have been loose and enjoying the game.
 
"Hopefully we'll carry that into the tournament."
 
Bass is keeping his fingers crossed that Matt Flores will be available this weekend. The senior pitcher-turned-second baseman injured his hamstring April 17 in a game against Jarvis Christian and hasn't seen the field since.
 
"(Tuesday) was the first day I thought he may be able to play," Bass said. "Hopefully we'll be able to use him this weekend."
 
The coach said he'll stay with the same pitching rotation – freshman Tanner Solomon (5-1), senior Kevin Torres (5-3) and freshman left-hander Chris Lacher (6-2) – as they have the last several series.