Luis Vargas hit home runs in his first three Wayland Baptist at-bats to power the Pioneers to a 14-10 victory over York, Neb., in Friday afternoon's season-opener at Wilder Field. In the nightcap,
Tanner Solomon and
Ty Jackson combined on a 3-hitter, striking out 11 and issuing no walks to lead WBU to a 3-0 win over the Panthers.
"Our pitching did really well, our defense did really well and our offense in the first game did what we needed to score enough runs to win," Wayland coach
Brad Bass said of his 25
th season-opener with the Pioneers. "All around it was a good day."
Vargas – a first-year senior transfer from the Dominican Republic by way of Ranger Junior College – tied a school record with his three homers in a single game. He now shares the record with several Pioneers, the most recent being Kevin Hennessey in 2010.
Vargas got his three in his first three at-bats in the first three innings. The first two homers were three-run blasts while the third was a solo shot. All three were to left field: the first a decisive rocket and the third another no-doubter that easily landed on the roof of Hutcherson Center just beyond the left field fence.
"I really thought there would be days like that for him. To have one the very first day is pretty cool," Bass said. "He's such a likeable guy and such a good ambassador on our campus. He's athletic and plays hard and plays right, and he can really, really, really hit."
Vargas, who struck out swinging in his only other at-bat in the fourth, ended with seven RBIs, two off the school record set by
Todd Jeffress in 2008.
The impressive plate performance by the 6-foot-5, 235-pound centerfielder helped give Wayland a commanding 9-1 lead, but the Panthers battled back with eight runs in the fourth – five of them unearned following Wayland's only error of the day – to tie it.
The Pioneers immediately answered in the bottom of the fourth with five runs. Four of those came courtesy of a pair of two-run homers by first baseman
Dawin Santos – who delivered some 400 feet to near straight-away centerfield – and catcher
Jake Green, who also had an RBI on a fielder's choice in the second inning. Left-fielder
Austin Moya drove in the final run with a sacrifice fly to right.
"The guys came out swinging it," Bass said. "I thought our hitting would do really, really well, partially because they see such quality pitching in practice. That turned out to be at least pretty true in the first game."
Sophomore reliever
Irving Munoz came in to earn the win, pitching the final 3 1/3 innings and allowing just one run on two hits with one strikeout and a pair of walks. Newcomer
L.J. Diaz started the game, tossing the first 3 2/3 and allowing four runs on four hits with four walks and four Ks.
Andrew Manier relieved Diaz and was the victim of the costly Pioneer error that helped York back into the game before Munoz came on.
The game ended on a 5-4-3 double-play.
Game 2 against the Panthers, who last season were within a game of the NAIA World Series, was a defensive battle that lasted an hour and 50 minutes, about 80 minutes faster than the 3-hour, 11-minute game 1 marathon.
Solomon, Wayland's most valuable pitcher a year ago as a sophomore, retired the first 14 batters he faced, eight of them by strikeout. York broke up the perfect game with a single to right-center with two out in the fifth. The Panthers followed that with another single down the right-field line before Solomon struck out the next batter looking.
Solomon was lifted before the sixth, his nine Ks coming one short of his career-high established last March against Bacone. The fast-working, 5-10, 160-pound junior from Phoenix was relieved by
Ty Jackson of Shallowater, who took up where Solomon left off. Jackson allowed a single to the second batter he faced, but allowed no other base runners. He struck out two in earning his first collegiate save.
Bass couldn't say enough about Solomon and Jackson. "Both were really effective and both had excellent command," said the coach, who also praised catcher
Derek Farmer. "Derek did a great job catching them. He was equally impressive behind the plate."
Farmer also provided two RBIs, including the only offense Wayland needed in the second with a two-out RBI-single that scored designated hitter
Brendon Foust, who opened the inning with the game's only extra base hit, a double to right-center.
The Pioneers picked up a pair of insurance runs in the fourth when Santos and
Jacob Adams hit inning-opening singles. Farmer's groundout scored Santos, who managed to steal second after getting caught in a rundown, then Adams came home on
Ramon Cruz's single to right.
Games 3 and 4 in the series will take place beginning at noon Saturday. Juniors
Jose Suero, a first-year transfer from the Dominican Republic, and junior
Kyle Eifert, a lefty from Amarillo, are Wayland's scheduled starters.
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