Pioneers rebound with 2-0 win vs. Southwest

After surrendering a season-high in hits and runs, six pitchers combined on a six-hit shutout as Wayland Baptist earned a much-needed 2-0 victory over University of the Southwest (N.M.) in the second game of a doubleheader Tuesday at Wilder Field.
 
The Mustangs won the opener, 15-8.
 
The victory in game 2 halted a four-game slide for the Pioneers (16-8), who had dropped five of their previous six before Wayland recorded its second shutout of the season.
 
After Cesar Paz pitched the first two innings, the next five Pioneer pitchers – sophomore Tanner Solomon, junior Andrew Manier, sophomore Bryson Calaway, freshman Ty Jackson and freshman Chase Jones – took turns throwing an inning apiece. They combined to strike out seven Mustangs (17-14), with Jones fanning the side in the top of the seventh to record his first save. Solomon recorded a three-up, three-down second, and Jackson did the same in the sixth as he earned his first win.
 
Wayland ended with just five hits, but three of them were especially meaningful as they led to both Pioneer runs.
 
In the first, Gregory Ozuna delivered a two-out single up the middle and moved to third after an error on the USW first baseman. The next batter, clean-up hitting first baseman Brendon Foust, came through with a RBI-single through the left side that gave Wayland an early lead.
 
The Pioneers added to it in the second when designated hitter Jamie Balevic, a senior transfer, smacked his first home run as a Pioneer. The shot to left field provided the final run of the day as the teams completed the contest in an hour and 41 minutes.
 
Game 1 took about an hour longer, and it probably felt even longer than that for the Pioneers as they committed four errors and gave up a season-worst 17 hits.
 
The Mustangs pushed across two runs in each of their first two at-bats, although Wayland battled back with a four-run third that saw Ozuna drive in two with a single and Dawin Santos slap an RBI-double to the center field wall before he scored when Daniel Goncalves reached on an error.
 
The Pioneers then took a 6-4 lead when senior third baseman Devlin Smith belted his first homer of the season, a two-run blast to left that also brought in Paxton Covel, who drew a lead-off walk.
 
The lead didn't last long, though, as USW plated five unearned runs in the fifth on just two hits and three errors. The Mustangs got four more runs on four hits their next time up to go up 13-6.
 
A two-run homer by Austin Moya, his third of 2019, eased the pain a bit, but the Mustangs got those back in the seventh and wound up scoring a season-high 15 runs against Wayland.
 
Like they would in the nightcap, Wayland also threw six pitchers in the opener, while USW's Orlan Warren (1-0) and Dionisio Diaz combined to allow seven hits with seven strikeouts and six walks.
 
The Pioneers return to Sooner Athletic Conference play when they host Southwestern Assemblies of God University (15-12, 4-4 SAC) in a doubleheader at noon Friday, followed by a single game at noon Saturday.
 
Wayland slipped from first to fifth place in the conference standings after being swept by now No. 17 Texas Wesleyan last weekend in Fort Worth. The Lions have taken two of three games from Central Christian and Oklahoma-Panhandle State, while dropping two to then ninth-ranked USAO.
 
NAIA Baseball Coaches' Top 25

RANK	WEEK	SCHOOL [1st Place Votes]	RECORD	FINAL POINTS
1	1	Southeastern (Fla.) [18]	26-3	498
2	3	Faulkner (Ala.)	22-6	474
3	5	Westmont (Calif.)	22-3	458
4	6	Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.)	21-6	430
5	7	Oklahoma City	23-4	420
6	2	Tennessee Wesleyan	21-6	415
7	4	Georgia Gwinnett	18-7	414
8	8	Middle Georgia State	22-3	396
9	12	LSU Shreveport (La.)	27-4	366
10	10	St. Thomas (Fla.)	25-7	346
11	11	Cumberlands (Ky.)	20-3	344
12	9	Science & Arts (Okla.)	22-4	340
13	13	Oklahoma Wesleyan	19-4	309
14	14	Bryan (Tenn.)	18-8	292
15	16	Central Methodist (Mo.)	16-4	258
16	19	Indiana Tech	13-8	239
17	21	Texas Wesleyan	25-4	238
18	20	Lyon (Ark.)	22-6	236
19	23	Benedictine Mesa (Ariz.)	20-7	190
20	22	Taylor (Ind.)	21-6	185
21	NR	Warner (Fla.)	26-9	156
22	25	Georgetown (Ky.)	20-7	145
23	15	Vanguard (Calif.)	18-9	126
24	NR	Webber International (Fla.)	21-11	113
25	18	Mobile (Ala.)	16-9	99

Dropped from the Top 25: Keiser (Fla.) and William Jessup (Calif.)
Receiving Votes: Rio Grande (Ohio) 97, Tabor (Kan.) 87, The Master's (Calif.) 51, Indiana Southeast 37, Jarvis Christian (Texas) 26, Truett-McConnell (Ga.) 25, Keiser (Fla.) 16, British Columbia 15, William Jessup 14, Southwestern Christian (Okla.) 14. Benedictine (Kan.) 11, Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 11, Cumberland (Tenn.) 8