Carson Parham came through with a walk-off home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift Wayland Baptist to a 3-2 victory over McPherson College (Kan.) in the opening game of a four-game series Friday afternoon at Wilder Field. The Bulldogs took game 2, 4-2.
In the first game, all five runs were driven in via homers, starting with one-run shots by McPherson's Gage Ninness in the third and Andres Artola in the fourth. Wayland struck back in the bottom of the fourth when
Jake Green delivered a two-run blast down the left-field line, also scoring Parham who drew a one-out walk.
Neither team scored again until the bottom of the eighth when designated hitter Parham, a freshman from Denton, homered for the second time this season, a one-out blast just left of centerfield.
The walk-off made a winner of WBU ace
Ty Jackson (3-0), who in eight innings of work scattered eight hits while striking out six with no walks. He threw 114 pitches.
Wayland won despite being out-hit 8-5, but the Pioneers weren't as fortunate in game 2 when the Bulldogs held a 9-5 edge at the plate.
WBU's two runs were plated when, with two away,
Hayden Ingram was hit by a pitch and
Justin Porter singled to center and took second on the throw.
Caleb Rozier then doubled to right-center, bringing home both Ingram and Porter.
The Pioneers' lead didn't last long as McPherson took the lead in the top of the third. After a lead-off walk and a hit-batsman, DH Antonio Fernandez homered to left. The Bulldogs picked up an insurance run in the fourth with three consecutive singles.
Wayland made some noise in its last at-bat when Ingram drew a one-out walk, but McPherson ended it with a strike-out/throw-out.
The Pioneers and Bulldogs meet for two more Saturday. That doubleheader has been pushed back to a 1 p.m. start to allow for warmer temperatures. (Unfortunately, no live streaming or live stats will be provided due to conflicts with other events.)
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