Paxton Covel went 3-for-4 and eight pitchers saw mound duty as Wayland Baptist prevailed in a non-conference game over McMurry on Tuesday afternoon at Wilder Field, 8-4.
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The Pioneers (11-3) won their seventh straight game on a day when the first NAIA Top 25 Poll of the season was released and Wayland showed up the equivalent of 32
nd.
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Wayland gave up two runs in each of the first and last innings, but scored twice that many in between. Half of the Pioneers runs came in the fourth when Covel and
Devlin Smith led off with back-to-back doubles,
Austin Moya and
Nick Valenzuela walked and
Jonathan Ottenwalder – who an inning earlier drove in Wayland's first run with a sacrifice fly – came through with a two-RBI single through the left side of the War Hawks' infield.
Gregory Ozuna ended the big inning with another RBI-single through the left side.
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Covel led off the fifth with a monster home run down the right-field line, then after Smith walked and Moya singled, the pair executed a double-steal to make it 7-2.
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In the sixth,
Dawin Santos – after drawing a walk and stealing second – scored Wayland's final run on Moya's RBI-single up the middle.
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Needing a triple, Covel had a chance to hit for the cycle in the sixth but fouled out to third. Covel was pinch-hit for in the bottom of the eighth.
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Wayland finished with 11 hits, two more than McMurry (6-8).
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Fifteen position players saw action for the Pioneers in addition to the eight pitchers. After starter
Chris Lacher threw the first two innings, the next seven pitched an inning apiece, combining for four strikeouts and four walks.
Kyle Eifert (2-0) was credited with the win.
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Wayland returns to Sooner Athletic Conference play at home this weekend against Bacone (0-6, 0-4), which was swept in its league-opening series at home against Oklahoma-Panhandle State last weekend, 12-6, 15-2 and 21-5.
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2019 NAIA Baseball Coaches' Top 25 Poll – Poll 1 (March 5)
| RANK |
WEEK |
SCHOOL [1st Place Votes] |
RECORD |
FINAL POINTS |
| 1 |
1 |
Southeastern (Fla.) [14] |
15-2 |
465 |
| 2 |
12 |
Tennessee Wesleyan [3] |
15-2 |
448 |
| 3 |
4 |
Faulkner (Ala.) |
15-4 |
428 |
| 4 |
3 |
Georgia Gwinnett |
14-4 |
415 |
| 5 |
25 |
Westmont (Calif.) |
15-2 |
396 |
| 6 |
2 |
Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) |
13-4 |
383 |
| 7 |
8 |
Oklahoma City |
17-2 |
380 |
| 8 |
17 |
Middle Georgia State |
14-3 |
376 |
| 9 |
11 |
Science & Arts (Okla.) |
18-1 |
339 |
| 10 |
6 |
St. Thomas (Fla.) |
14-5 |
334 |
| 11 |
19 |
Cumberlands (Ky.) |
15-2 |
326 |
| 12 |
25 |
LSU Shreveport (La.) |
19-4 |
299 |
| 13 |
9 |
Oklahoma Wesleyan |
12-3 |
283 |
| 14 |
15 |
Bryan (Tenn.) |
14-4 |
259 |
| 15 |
NR |
Vanguard (Calif.) |
15-2 |
232 |
| 16 |
21 |
Central Methodist (Mo.) |
12-3 |
214 |
| 17 |
24 |
Keiser (Fla.) |
14-6 |
200 |
| 18 |
NR |
Mobile (Ala.) |
11-4 |
193 |
| 19 |
22 |
Indiana Tech |
8-4 |
192 |
| 20 |
NR |
Lyon (Ark.) |
16-4 |
187 |
| 21 |
NR |
Texas Wesleyan |
19-3 |
169 |
| 22 |
NR |
Taylor (Ind.) |
16-4 |
154 |
| 23 |
NR |
Benedictine Mesa (Ariz.) |
13-5 |
128 |
| 24 |
13 |
William Jessup (Calif.) |
9-4 |
108 |
| 25 |
NR |
Georgetown (Ky.) |
14-6 |
105 |
Dropped from the Top 25: Antelope Valley (Calif.), University of Northwestern Ohio, Point Park (Pa.), Reinhardt (Ga.), Bellevue (Neb.), Webber International (Fla.), Lewis-Clark State (Idaho), Campbellsville, (Ky.).
Others Receiving Votes: Rio Grande (Ohio) 104, Tabor (Kan.) 86, Point (Ga.) 79, Warner (Fla.) 36, Webber International (Fla.) 31, LSU Alexandria (La.) 24,
Wayland Baptist (Texas) 21, Indiana Southeast (Ind.) 11, British Columbia 11, Missouri Baptist 10, Concordia (Mich.) 9, Talladega (Ala.) 3, Hope International (Calif.) 3.
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