Errors cost WBU first loss before another win

After enduring their first loss of the season, Wayland Baptist bounced back with a victory in game 2 of a doubleheader against MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) Friday at Wilder Field. The MNU Pioneers won their season-opener, 9-7, before the WBU Pioneers took game 2, 11-5.
 
Wayland pitchers recorded 25 strikeouts over the two games, but the WBU defense committed nine costly errors that cost the home team 11 unearned runs.
 
In the opener of the four-game series, Luis Vargas recorded his second three home run-game of the young season, a trio of solo shots that tied a school record. It's believed Vargas, who first did it in his first three at-bats as a Pioneer two weeks earlier, is the first WBU player to twice hit three homers in a single game.
 
Vargas also had a two-RBI single in the opener as the senior center fielder, a first-year transfer from Ranger College from the Dominican Republic, went 4-for-4 with five RBIs and three runs-scored.
 
Marco Rivera and Dawin Santos ended with two hits apiece as the trio was responsible for eight of Wayland's 10 hits. MNU ended with two fewer hits, but Wayland was hurt by four errors that cost the Pioneers seven unearned runs.
 
The game was tied at 4 after four innings, but MNU put up five runs in the fifth. In the bottom of the inning, Wayland greeted MNU reliever Jhon Vargas with Luis Vargas' second homer then a single by Rivera, a hit-by-pitch for Brendon Foust and a single by Santos. Jacob Adams' bases-loaded fielder's choice drove in another run before Vargas struck out the next two batters to end the inning, stranding two.
 
Vargas sent out his third dinger in the sixth, then Adams' two-out triple was the lone threat in the seventh.
 
Starter LJ Diaz fanned nine while giving up four hits and six walks in 3 1/3 innings. Irving Munoz and Chase Jones struck out two each. Munoz (1-1) took the loss, victimized by five unearned runs in his 1 2/3 innings on the hill.
 
In game 2, Wayland scored seven runs in the fourth inning to expand its 3-2 lead. That inning opened with a home run by Adams before the Pioneers got rolling with two outs. Vargas slapped a two-run single, Foust and Santos got back-to-back RBI-singles, then Adams came through a two-RBI double, giving him three RBIs in the inning.
 
That gave Wayland a 10-2 lead, more than enough cushion for starter Tanner Solomon and Ty Jackson. In five innings, Solomon (3-0) allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits while striking out a career-tying best 10 with two walks. Jackson gave up three unearned runs on two hits while fanning two and walking one in his two innings.
 
Ozuna and Santos both went 3-for-4, with Ozuna getting two triples. Vargas' day featured eight RBIs and five runs scored. His eight homers, in 10 games, lead the NAIA. Adams, Moya and Foust also went deep.
 
Wayland's 8-0 start was its best since the 2004 team won its first 21 games.
 
The two teams of Pioneers will meet in another doubleheader beginning at noon Saturday.