Baseball sweeps series from Peru St.

So much for last weekend's bad beat in Victoria having a lingering effect on the Wayland Baptist baseball team.

After coming home from their first road trip with two losses in three games, including a hard-to-swallow 4-3, 10-inning setback in the final of a series against Houston-Victoria, the Pioneers lined up this weekend against Peru State College (Neb.) and promptly swept the Bobcats. Following 11-5 and 9-2 victories Friday at Wilder Field, Wayland posted a pair of triumphs on Saturday afternoon, 9-8 and 13-3.

Saturday's first win came in dramatic fashion. After Wayland exploded for seven first-inning runs – featuring RBI-singles by Gregory Ozuna and Yaniel Vargas and a two-RBI double by Devlin Smith, with runs on a pair of passed balls – Peru State battled back on the strength of two three-run home runs before scoring a go-ahead unearned run in the sixth that put the Bobcats up 8-7.

But Wayland came through in its last at-bat to grab the win.

Nick Rucker led off with a double to left, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on Bryan Nunez's single to right. Vargas' sacrifice bunt moved Nunez to second before catcher Jonathan Ottenwalder was intentionally walked. Ozuna drew another walk to load the bases before clean-up hitter Dawin Santos drew the third straight free pass to force Nunez with the winning run.

Eight players recorded Wayland's nine hits, with Vargas the lone Pioneer with multiple hits.

Kyle Eifert (1-0) picked up the win in relief of fellow sophomore Chris Lacher, who lasted 4 1/3 innings, giving up seven runs on seven hits. Eifert pitched hitless ball and allowed just an unearned run in 2 2/3, walking one and striking out one.

Game 2 wasn't nearly as tight as Wayland won 13-3. Interestingly, both teams finished with 13 hits apiece. Nine different players provided the Pioneers' hits, including two apiece by Ozuna, Santos, Paxton Covel and Daniel Goncalves.
 
Santos delivered a two-run homer in the first to get the juices flowing. Austin Moya and Justin Taylor came up with RBI-doubles during a three-run second, and after the Pioneers put five on the board in the fourth, including a bases-loaded triple by Derek Farmer, the rout was on.
 
The scoring ended in the sixth the same way it did in the first game, on a bases-loaded walk, this time to Jamie Balevic.
 
Sophomore Bryson Calaway (2-0) picked up his second win, scattering 11 hits over five innings and allowing two earned runs with two walks and four Ks. Freshmen Irving Munoz and Noah Warren threw an inning apiece to finish it, with Warren fanning two and allowing no hits.
 
The Pioneers next host Wiley College (7-4) in another four-game series next weekend, against starting at 2 Friday and noon Saturday. Wiley dropped three road games to Faulkner (Ala.) this weekend after taking three of four at home from Southwestern Assemblies of God University.
 
Next weekend's games will be the final tune-up prior to the start of Sooner Athletic Conference play on the road against Mid-America Christian on March 1.