Plainview, Texas – The Pioneers swept the Friday doubleheader against Texas Wesleyan in large part to two complete game shutouts from
Addy Rich and
Amber Poorbaugh and outstanding overall defense from the rest of the squad to get their first Sooner Athletic Conference wins in program history. Wayland Baptist took game 1 by a score of 4-0, and they also won game two 4-0.
Wayland Baptist got the scoring started early in game one after
Mikayla Carrillo and
Arianna Zubia smashed back-to-back doubles to take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first.
Reagan Davis would score Zubia from third on a sacrifice fly in foul territory down the left field line to make it 2-0. After Rich tossed four scoreless innings, the Pioneers would come to the plate and add some insurance.
Jadyn Fernandez drew a leadoff walk, stole second base, and scored on an
Abcde Garcia RBI single to center to make it 3-0 Pioneers. The Rams loaded the bases in the top of the 5
th inning, but Rich escaped the jam by getting a groundout to second to keep the score at 3-0. Garcia led of the Pioneer 6
th inning with another single to center field, and she was pinch ran for by
Tiggy Rayos, who went on to steal second immediately.
Aaleah Rodriguez drove in Rayos from third on a sacrifice fly to left field to make it 4-0. The Rams got back-to-back singles with two outs in the top of the 7
th, but Rich once again escaped the jam scoreless after getting a lineout to Carrillo at shortstop to end the contest. The Pioneers secured the game one win, 4-0.
Addy Rich made the game one start for Wayland Baptist, and she was outstanding throwing a complete-game shutout of the Rams to secure the Pioneers first SAC win in history. Rich threw 7 innings, allowed no runs, 6 hits, one walk, and one strikeout.
Zubia finished game one going 1-3 with an RBI double and a run scored. Garcia finished 2-3 with an RBI single. Carrillo went 1-3 with an RBI double and a run scored. Davis finished 1-1 with an RBI sacrifice fly, a walk, and a stolen base.
Amber Poorbaugh started her afternoon with three scoreless innings that was capped off by Carrillo making an outstanding leaping catch to rob the Rams of extra bases.
Aaleah Rodriguez reached by an infield single in the bottom of the 3
rd, stole second base, and scored on a Carrillo single to left to make it 1-0 Pioneers. Poorbaugh continued with two more scoreless frames with help from great defensive efforts by the Pioneers to move to the bottom of the 5
th.
Abcde Garcia came up to bat with one out, and she smacked a triple to left field. Poorbaugh provided herself insurance after smacking a single to right to score Garcia from third and make it 2-0 Pioneers. Wayland Baptist scratched across two more runs in the bottom of the 6
th, and got another shutout inning from Poorbaugh to win game two, 4-0.
Poorbaugh threw a 4-hit, complete-game shutout in game two to seal the sweep of the Friday doubleheader against the Rams. She finished with 7 innings pitched, only 4 hits allowed, one walk, and three strikeouts.
When recapping his team's two conference victories today and their outstanding pitching and defense, head coach Enrique Villa stated, "It was a great team effort. Addy and Amber did an outstanding job making pitches and our defense was on point. The girls do a good job of working together on the field."
Coach Villa continued, "We also had some timely situational hitting. I'm proud of our effort today. We'll enjoy these two wins and get right back to work tomorrow."
The Pioneers will look to win their first Sooner Athletic Conference series when they play in another doubleheader tomorrow against Texas Wesleyan. First pitch for game one is scheduled for 12:00 PM.
