WBU caps wild, season-opening weekend with another walk-off win

After an absolutely miserable outing in game 3 of their season-opening series with 25th-ranked MidAmerica Nazarene, Casey Dudek and the Wayland Baptist Pioneers pulled out another wild walk-off win in another one-run game on a wacky, windy Saturday afternoon at Wilder Field.

Dudek – in his first at-bat of the season – hit a two-out, two-strike, two-run triple to cap a five-run bottom of the seventh that gave Wayland, ranked the equivalent of 35th in the NAIA, a mind-boggling 24-23 victory over the visiting Pioneers from Olathe, Kan. That followed a 28-10 victory for MNU in the day's first game as the teams split the season-opening series, 2-2. On Friday, Wayland won the opener, 7-6, before MNU took game 2, 5-4.

Saturday's outcomes might be hard to fathom but could have been predicted since high winds – sustained to 30 mph with gusts to 55 mph – blew first to left field before switching more to center and right. The blustery day ended with the teams combining for an eye-popping 85 runs and 98 hits, including an amazing 19 home runs.

A dozen of the dingers came in the second game – four by Wayland in one inning – when each team produced 26 hits. Three players hit two homers apiece in the contest, including Marco Rivera and Tristan Galbreath for Wayland, which tied a 12-year-old program record with eight home runs. The Pioneers' 26 hits also tied a team mark established in a 15-inning contest against Eastern New Mexico in 2009. The combined 52 hits eclipsed the old mark of 51 which had stood since 2007 in a game against McMurry.

Rivera was one of three WBU Pioneers with four hits in the game, joined by Carlos Collazo and Luis Vargas. Rivera ended with seven RBIs.

Galbreath's performance – which also included a single, four RBIs and three runs scored – was maybe the most surprising since the senior third baseman has been used mostly as a courtesy runner in his two years at Wayland and was hitting this game in the No. 9 spot.

While the day had its share of crazy innings, none were crazier than the second game's second inning. After MNU – which scored in all seven frames of the first game and the first four of the second – put up seven runs, Wayland doubled that number with a whopping 14.

The fast-paced scoring started with a grand slam by Gregory Ozuna. Two batters later, Rivera sent out a three-run shot which was immediately followed by a solo rip by Dawin Santos. Galbreath then hit his second career homer, a three-run blast that broke an 8-8 tie.

Wayland went on to score three more runs that inning, and things were just starting to get crazy.

A six-run fourth inning helped MNU tie the score at 15 before Wayland got a run in the fourth and three more in the fifth for a 19-15 advantage. The home Pioneers managed to end MNU's 11-consecutive innings of scoring in the fifth and sixth before the visiting Pioneers came back with a vengeance in the seventh, plating eight runs on seven hits and a costly error.

Down 23-19, Wayland never blinked, even after a strikeout to begin the inning. Collazo singled up the middle before Vargas doubled down the right-field line. Clean-up hitter Rivera then smacked what likely was the longest home run of the day, a three-run shot to center that bounced off the top of the Hutcherson Center roof.

Now within a run, Santos lined up to left field to take Wayland down to its final out. Jake Green hit a first-pitch double to right-center before Jacob Adams was intentionally walked, bringing Dudek to the dish.

The senior from Eagle, Idaho, a transfer from College of the Siskiyous (Calif.), fouled off the first pitch then swung and missed at the second. His next swing resulted in a high, fading ball to deep right-center, almost identical to Green's previous hit. The MNU center fielder couldn't chase it down near the warning track, allowing Adams and courtesy runner Austin Moya to easily score the tying and winning runs as Dudek slid triumphantly into third.

The ensuing celebration by Wayland featured the entire team attempting to chase down Dudek, who weaved his way across the infield before finally being caught by the mob in center field, not far from where his winning hit landed.

The 24 runs by Wayland came just four short of the school record set in 2009 while the 47 combined runs tied the record set in 1997 when the Pioneers lost to New Mexico State, 25-22.

In the first game, MNU jumped out to a 4-0 first-inning lead and never looked back. The visitors scored six in the third and seven more in the fourth to go up 18-2. MNU closed it out with six more runs in the seventh.

Wayland battled to the end, logging four runs in the bottom of the seventh, but MNU's 28 runs on 32 hits were simply too much.

The Pioneers are back in action for another four-game series next weekend against Jarvis Christian, again with doubleheaders at 2 p.m. Friday and noon Saturday.