BETHANY, Okla. – Wayland Baptist picked up a rousing 4-3 win in the opener but then lost all that momentum in game 2, falling 15-5, as the Pioneers split a Sooner Athletic Conference doubleheader with Southwestern Christian here Friday afternoon.
The teams reconvene at 1 p.m. Saturday to decide the series winner.
The Pioneers (23-16, 12-8 SAC) and Eagles (35-10, 16-7), ranked the equivalent of 28
th – in the NAIA, played to a draw Friday.
In the opener, Wayland snapped a four-game skid and handed the Eagles just their second loss in their last 15 outings.
The Pioneers scored the first three runs of the game in the third when the top of the order –
Jonathan Ottenwalder,
Yaniel Vargas,
Gregory Ozuna and
Dawin Santos – all drew walks. That prompted a pitching change, and
Brendon Foust responded to the Eagles' new arm with a two-run single to left-center. Unfortunately, the next three batters struck out swinging, and the Pioneers settled for a 3-0 lead.
Wayland starter
Tanner Solomon, who had given up just two hits through the first four innings, had his own control issues in the fifth and walked two before allowing back-to-back, two-out, RBI-singles. An error allowed another run in, and just like that it was tied at 3.
The Pioneers scored the winning run in their next at-bat when
Bryan Nunez slapped the first pitch of the inning over the left-field fence. It was the first homer of the season in the 33
rd plate appearance for the senior outfielder.
The Eagles threatened to strike back in the bottom of the sixth. Reliever
Cesar Paz issued a pair of walks before the inning ended on a two-out runner interference call.
Paz was relieved by another freshman pitcher,
Nic Vasquez, to start the seventh. Things got interesting when the Eagles got two runners on via a walk and a one-out single, but Wayland held on after a pop-out to third and a groundout that came on another runner interference.
The Pioneers won despite getting only three hits, although they drew 10 walks off two pitchers. Solomon,
Chase Jones, Paz and Vasquez combined to allow five hits, walk five and strike out one. Paz (2-1) earned his second collegiate win and Vasquez his third save, which ties Paz for the team lead.
Game 2 was a mess defensively for Wayland, which committed five errors that led to five unearned runs. The Eagles put up four runs in each of the first two frames to take an 8-0 lead.
Wayland got on the board in the third on a two-out double by
Devlin Smith that scored
Yaniel Vargas and
Gregory Ozuna, both of whom singled. Southwestern Christian wasn't fazed, though, and put up three runs in each of the next two frames to offset Wayland's two-run fourth when Vargas delivered a two-out, two-RBI single that plated Nunez, who opened the inning with a walk, and
Andy McEachern, a pinch runner for
Austin Moya who singled.
Wayland's fifth and final run in the fifth was produced by a two-out, RBI-double by pinch-hitter
Derek Farmer that scored Smith, who singled and stole second.
The Eagles reached six Pioneer pitchers for 13 hits while drawing a half-dozen walks. They struck out seven.
Four Eagles combined to allow 10 hits – three by Vargas and two each by Ozuna and Smith – and four walks while fanning five.
