Chickasha, Oklahoma – The Pioneers fell short in their opening game of the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament to the host, 3-seed University of Science and Arts (Okla.) 11-5.
Wayland Baptist fell behind early in this opening game as the Drovers were able to scratch a run across on a Pioneer error to make it 1-0. The Drovers followed that up with an RBI single to center to give USAO a 2-0 lead after the first inning. USAO loaded the bases in the bottom of the 2
nd, and they proceeded to knock a couple of two-run singles to make it 6-0 USAO.
After USAO scored another run in the bottom of the 3
rd to make it 7-0, Wayland Baptist would begin to get the bats going. With the bases loaded in the top of the 4
th,
Brayden Peyton knocked in the first run of the afternoon for the Pioneers with an RBI single to make it a 7-1 ballgame. USAO got that run back immediately in their half of the 4
th with an RBI double to push their lead to 7-1.
Gustavo Nava added on another run for the Pioneers in the 5
th inning with an RBI single to score
Jan Rollon Jr. to make it an 8-2 Drover advantage at the halfway point of the contest. USAO responded immediately with an RBI single to left and a sacrifice fly, making it a 10-2 ballgame heading to the 6
th inning.
Wayland Baptist showed great fight in the top of the 6
th, and it started with the
Delvis Claudio and
Samuel Fabian reaching base to begin the inning, then later scoring on a
Hayden Ingram two-run double to trim their deficit to 10-4. Rollon Jr. followed with an RBI single to center field, scoring Ingram from second and making it a 10-5 ballgame. After a couple scoreless innings, the Drovers added one more run in the bottom of the 8
th on a sacrifice fly to push their lead to 11-5. Wayland Baptist got two runners on in the final inning, but they were unable to manufacture any runs and suffered the 11-5 defeat to the 3-seed, USAO.
Ingram went 1 for 4 with two RBIs and a run scored. Nava went 1 for 3 with an RBI, a run scored, a walk, and a hit by pitch. Rollon Jr. finished 1 for 3 with an RBI, a walk, a run scored, and a hit by pitch. Peyton went 1 for 3 with an RBI and a walk.
The Pioneers used six pitchers in the opening contest including
Juan Gil-Franco as the starter. Gil-Franco went 1.2 innings, allowed six runs, two walks, and three strikeouts.
Grayson Soukup followed with 1.1 innings of relief, allowing a run, a walk, while striking out one Drover.
Wellington Vargas allowed two runs and a walk over his one inning of relief.
Collin Arnold allowed one run over his 0.1 inning of work.
Tate House was solid in his 2.2 innings of relief, allowing one run, three walks, and one strikeout.
Connor Leach pitched a scoreless inning with one walk.
Wayland Baptist began their second game of the Sooner Athletic Conference tournament last night against Oklahoma Panhandle State University, but the game was thrown into a weather delay in the 8
th inning due to lightning. The Pioneers entered the delay with an 8-6 lead over the Aggies, and play will resume at 11:00 AM this morning. The winner of the Wayland Baptist and Oklahoma Panhandle State match up with advance to challenge the loser of the Mid-America Christian and Science and Arts (Okla.) game at the scheduled time of 3:45 PM.
