OKLAHOMA CITY – One day after breaking Wayland Baptist's single-season home run record,
Luis Vargas added three to his total, tying his own record and powering the Pioneers to an 18-4 Sooner Athletic Conference win over Mid-America Christian here Monday afternoon.
The win, which followed a doubleheader split on Sunday, marked the end of an extended, weather-interrupted weekend as well as the end of the regular-season for Wayland (24-23, 8-13 SAC). The Pioneers, in sixth place in the league standings, closed the gap on the fifth-place Evangels (22-22, 9-12).
WBU blew the game open in the fifth and sixth innings, expanding a 3-2 lead by five runs to 8-2. It was 11-4 going into the ninth when the Pioneers put it away with seven runs.
Vargas, who logged his program record-breaking 25
th home run Sunday, hit a two-run homer in his first at-bat. After being intentionally walked in the fifth and hit by a pitch in the seventh, Vargas led off the eighth with home run No. 2 before adding another two-run blast in the ninth.
It was Vargas' second three-HR game in his last four contests. The reigning NAIA Player of the Week also pulled off a hat trick – which tied a school record accomplished by several others – in a 12-9 loss to Oklahoma City University on April 18.
Vargas wasn't the only Pioneer producing at the plate Monday.
Gregory Ozuna and
Marco Rivera both went 4-for-6 and scored twice, with Rivera getting his 17
th homer and adding three RBIs.
Dawin Santos ended 3-for-5, while
Jake Green and
Brock Webber had two RBIs apiece.
All nine Pioneer position players scored at least one run. The 18 runs, matched by 18 hits, were the most for Wayland in its last 10 outings.
Deric Trevino (5-2) picked up the win, taking over the team lead in victories and breaking a tie with
Ty Jackson (4-2). In seven innings, Trevino allowed four runs on 10 hits while striking out six.
Chase Jones relieved and pitched two scoreless innings, giving up a pair of hits and recording one strikeout. Neither Trevino nor Joes walked a batter.
Six pitchers took the mound for MACU, striking out nine and walking eight.
WBU has next weekend off with its next scheduled outing coming during the SAC Tournament May 7-10 in Oklahoma City and Chickasha, Okla.
