The Sooner Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament has been delayed by weather, and Wayland Baptist now will play its first-round game against Mid-America Christian at 6 p.m. Friday in Chickasha, Okla. ... maybe.
The Pioneers and Evangels originally were set to play at 2:30 Friday, but due to a wet field at Oklahoma City University, play at both OCU's Jim Wade Stadium and USAO's Bill Smith Ballpark was pushed back. Each ballpark is hosting four teams in the eight-team, double-elimination event.
Only two games, instead of three, are scheduled to be played Friday at each site. However, if OCU's field is deemed unplayable for a 2:30 p.m. start Friday, no games will be played Friday and all play will be delayed until Saturday. (A decision will be made by 11 a.m. Friday.)
Wayland (27-20) is seeded sixth in the tournament, while MACU (35-14) is the No. 4 seed.
The Pioneers took two of three from the Evangels when they met at Wilder Field April 7 and 8, dropping the opener, 13-7 in nine innings before winning the next two, 2-0 and 15-6.
The WBU-MACU winner advances to play either No. 2 seed USAO (31-17) or seventh-seeded Southwestern Christian (31-18), which square off at 2 p.m. Friday. The winner between the two winners advances to the bracket final.
If the Pioneers lose to MACU, they would play the USAO-SCU loser at in an elimination game.
The championship game is set for 1 p.m. Monday at USAO. The winner automatically qualifies as one of 46 teams for the NAIA National Championships to be contested at 10 opening round sites across the country May 15-18 before moving to the Avista-NAIA Baseball World Series in Lewiston, Idaho, beginning May 26.
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