Vargas, Santos combine for five HRs as Pioneers take two from Central Christian

NAIA home run leader Luis Vargas hit three dingers and Dawin Santos two to power Wayland Baptist to a pair of Sooner Athletic Conference wins over Central Christian (Kan.) Friday at Wilder Field. The Pioneers won the series opener, 14-2, before taking game two, 7-2.
 
The Pioneers (20-7, 4-1 SAC) and Tigers (7-15, 0-5) play the final game of the series beginning at noon Saturday.
 
Vargas homered twice in the blow-out opener and once more in the second game to boost his season total to 18, five more than anyone else in the NAIA and just six off the school single-season record of 24 set by Kevin Hennessey in 2010. Vargas, who also had two doubles, ended the day 5-for-7 with five RBIs and five runs scored. He has homered in four straight games.
 
The Pioneers' day started with a bang when they scored eight runs in the first inning of game 1. A three-run homer by Gregory Ozuna fueled that seven-hit inning.
 
Wayland added three more runs in the second, two on a homer by Santos, to assume a commanding 11-1 lead.
 
Austin Moya matched Vargas by going 3-for-4, and the Pioneers ended with a dozen hits.
 
Wayland got a great pitching performance from L.J. Diaz (3-1), who in tossing a 2-hitter gave up just one earned run while striking out 10 and walking three.
 
The Pioneers also got strong pitching in the nightcap as Tanner Solomon and Ty Jackson combined on a six-hitter with nine Ks. Solomon, who improved to 6-1 and is tied for the NAIA lead, fanned seven while giving up five hits and an earned run in his five innings, while Jackson, who picked up his third save, added two strikeouts to the total and surrendered just one hit in two frames.
 
Wayland clung to a 3-2 lead until getting four insurance runs in the sixth. Vargas had an RBI-double then Santos a two-RBI double-bagger. Jacob Adams tacked on an RBI-single.