Plainview, Texas – The Pioneers were unable to get the timely hitting in today's doubleheader that they had been getting the previous 16 games as they drop the first two games against Central Christian College. They were held scoreless, 1-0, in game one, and their valiant comeback fell short in game two, 8-5.
After Wayland Baptist starter
Addy Rich threw a scoreless first inning, the Pioneers were able to get a runner on base after
Arianna Zubia smacked a single to center. Wayland Baptist was unable to bring her in, and the threat was avoided by the Tigers. The score remained scoreless until the top of the 4
th when Central Christian was able to scratch a run across by an RBI single to make it 1-0.
Jenna Sepeda led off the bottom of the 5
th for Wayland Baptist with a double to center field, but the Pioneers were unable to bring her around to score and remained down 1-0.
The Pioneers came up to bat in the 6
th and got another single from Zubia and a double from
Berkley Bradley to put the go-ahead run at second base with two outs. The Pioneers were unable to capitalize and remained trailing 1-0 heading into the final frame. In the bottom of the 7
th, Wayland Baptist had the tying run on second and the winning on first, but they were unable to drive them in and suffered a tough 1-0 loss in game one.
Wayland Baptist got a great pitching performance from
Addy Rich in game one as she pitched 7 innings, giving up one run, 3 hits, one walk, and two strikeouts. Rich was able to generate a lot of soft contact at the plate, and the Pioneer defense did a solid job backing her up.
Zubia and
Abcde Garcia each finished 2-3 with two singles a piece, Bradley went 1-3 with a double, and
Jenna Sepeda went 2-3 with a single and a double.
Wayland Baptist didn't quite get off to the same start defensively that they finished game one with as the Tigers scored 3 runs to make it 3-0 early. After the Pioneers went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 1
st, the Tigers scratched another run across on an RBI single to make it 4-0.
The Pioneers got their first run of the afternoon in the bottom of the 2
nd after
Madison Martinez ripped a single to right to score Garcia from second and make it a 4-1 ballgame. The Pioneers continued to gain momentum in the bottom of the 3
rd after Bradley singled to center to score
Reagan Davis and make it 4-2.
After a few scoreless frames, the Tigers added a run in the top of the 5
th with an RBI double to make 5-2. Central Christian then tacked on 3 runs in the top of the 6
th to send an 8-2 game into the bottom of the 6
th. After two Pioneer groundouts,
Jadyn Fernandez singled to center and later scored on another Martinez RBI single to make it 8-3.
The Pioneers wouldn't go down without a fight in the 7
th as they rattled off three straight singles to load the bases with only one out. Garcia came to the plate and hit a single to left to score one run to make it 8-4. The Pioneers got another run after a Tiger error to make it 8-5 with runners at second and third and two outs. Wayland Baptist left the runners stranded on base, and the comeback effort fell just short in game two, 8-5.
Clarissa Rejino made the start in game two for the Pioneers, and she pitched 6 innings, allowing 7 earned runs, 5 walks, and 4 strikeouts.
Kaci Rivera threw a scoreless inning in relief only allowing a single.
Bradley went 2-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Martinez finished game two going 2-4 with two singles and an RBI. Fernandez went 2-4 with two singles, two RBIs, and a run scored. Sepeda went 2-4 with a pair of singles.
The Pioneers will look to bounce back on Friday with another doubleheader against Sooner Athletic Conference foe, Central Christian College. First pitch for game one on Friday is set for 12:00 PM.
