OKLAHOMA CITY – The Wayland Baptist baseball team secured a pair of one-run wins over Mid-America Christian University and then headed home in front of a severe cold front, leaving game 3 in the Sooner Athletic Conference-opening series to be played another day.
Friday's games between the Pioneers (10-3, 2-0 SAC) and Evangels (4-8, 0-2) were moved to Putnam City High School due to weather-related issues at MACU's field. Game 3 of the series won't be played until April 28 and will take place at Wayland's Wilder Field on the tail-end of MACU's series at Oklahoma-Panhandle State. The game will be the final contest of the regular-season.
That the Pioneers – seeing their first action in two weeks – picked up their narrow victories in road games – including a combined three-hitter by
Andrew Manier and
Irving Munoz in game 2 – couldn't have gotten conference play off to a better start.
The opener was a back-and-forth affair throughout, with Wayland breaking a 4-4 tie with a five-run sixth-inning and then holding off the Evangels in their final two at-bats. MACU got two runs across in the bottom of the sixth and seventh, and easily could have gotten in more, but the Pioneers were able to close the door.
Wayland's big sixth saw the Pioneers get five hits, including a two-RBI double by
Daniel Goncalves and RBI-singles by
Gregory Ozuna and
Brendon Foust. WBU's other run scored on a sacrifice fly by
Paxton Covel.
That gave the Pioneers a 9-4 lead, but MACU didn't throw in the towel. The Evangels benefited from a pair of lead-off walks and an error in the sixth to score two runs before sophomore reliever
Kyle Eifert recorded a strikeout to retire the side with two runners on.
Then in the seventh, MACU again got a rally started with a lead-off walk and error. The Evangels scored runs with a single and a double before freshman
Cesar Paz took over on the mound with a runner on second and induced the final two outs on a grounder to short and fly to right-center.
Paz picked up the save while starter
Tanner Solomon earned the win after allowing five runs (one earned) on four hits with six strikeouts and two walks in five innings.
Foust went 3-for-3 with three RBI while
Gregory Ozuna was 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored.
Dawin Santos also was 2-for-4 with a pair of runs. Lead-off
Jonathan Ottenwalder scored twice.
Game 2 didn't see as much offense but was no less dramatic for the Pioneers
Wayland scored both of its runs and produced all four of its hits in the third.
Jacob Adams got it rolling with a one-out double down the right-field line. With two down,
Austin Moya's single scored Adams from third, then Moya scored from second on a single to right-center by Goncalves.
MACU cut Wayland's lead in half with a run in the fifth, when the Evangels left the bases loaded thanks to a pair of strikeouts by freshman
Irving Munoz, who fanned the first two batters he saw in relief of starter
Andrew Manier. Munoz also was brilliant in the sixth and seventh, retiring the Evangels three-up, three-down with another strikeout in the sixth and two in the seventh.
Manier and Munoz struck out five each, with Manier picking up the win having allowed three hits and two walks in 4 1/3.
The Pioneers are scheduled to play a non-conference game at 4 p.m. Tuesday at home against McMurry before returning to SAC play with a three-game home series Friday and Saturday against Bacone (0-2, 0-0).
