Oklahoma City – The Pioneers suffered a heartbreaking extra-inning defeat against Southwestern Christian to eliminate them from the Sooner Athletic Conference tournament and conclude the inaugural season for the Wayland Baptist Softball program. Southwestern Christian scored a run in the bottom of the 10
th to seal the 9-8 victory over the Pioneers.
Wayland Baptist opened the scoring in this marathon of a game with
Jenna Sepeda smashing a single down the left field line to score
Reagan Davis from third to make it 1-0. Southwestern Christian answered back in the bottom of the 3
rd with a run scoring on a Pioneer fielding error to make it 1-1. The Eagles then drove a two-run double to left center field to take a 3-1 lead over the Pioneers. SCU added one more run in the bottom of the 3
rd with an RBI single to right to make it a 4-1 ballgame headed to the 4
th inning.
Arianna Zubia got a run back for Wayland Baptist in the 4
th with an RBI single scoring
Mikayla Carrillo to make it 4-2, SCU.
Madison Martinez came through in the top of the 5
th with a sacrifice fly to right to score Davis and make it a 4-3 Southwestern Christian lead.
Amber Poorbaugh tied the game up for the Pioneers in the top of the 6
th with an RBI single down the right field line to make it 4-4. The Eagles erupted for four runs in the bottom of the 6
th that started with an RBI single and ended with a 3-run double to make it 8-4 and putting the Pioneers season in jeopardy.
The Pioneers were down to their final out in the last inning, but a huge two out rally began after an Eagle fielding error allowed
Berkley Bradley to score and make it an 8-5 game. With the bases loaded and two outs, Poorbaugh showed off her clutch gene by smashing a bases-clearing triple to right to tie the game at 8, sparking life into this Pioneer squad.
The Pioneers got the go-ahead run to third in the top of the 8
th, but they were unable to bring the runner in and the game remained tied. The Eagles got the lead runner on first after a leadoff single, but a sacrifice bunt attempt was unsuccessful after the Pioneers threw the batter out at first then fired the ball over to third to tag the runner trying to advance for the huge double play.
In the bottom of the 10
th, the Eagles dropped down a sacrifice bunt that was misplayed by the Pioneer defense and allowed the Eagle runner to sprint home for the walk-off, 9-8 victory over the Pioneers.
Poorbaugh finished 2 for 4 with four RBIs. Zubia went 1 for 4 with an RBI, a sacrifice, and a run scored. Davis went 3 for 5 with a walk, a stolen base, and two runs scored. Rich went 2 for 4 with a walk and a run scored. Carrillo went 2 for 4 with a walk and three runs scored.
Poorbaugh got the start on the mound for Wayland Baptist, and she went 5.2 innings, allowed five earned runs, two walks, and a strikeout.
Addy Rich threw 3.2 innings in relief, allowing one unearned run, no walks, and one strikeout.
Head Coach Enrique Villa was extremely proud of how his team battled this season. Coach Villa said, "I am beyond proud of our team. The drive, resiliency, and selflessness of our kids was amazing and fun to witness. We all had great moments of growth this season which is so promising for our future as a team and as a program."
Coach Villa continued, "Although we always wanted to win one more game, how we played in our final game was a perfect picture of our team this season. We always responded to the tough times. There was no quit in us. We'll do it again and we'll do it better next year."
Wayland Baptist, in their inaugural season, was picked to finish last in the preseason SAC standings, but they went 18-18 in Sooner Athletic Conference play and finished 5
th in the standings.
For an updated look at the Sooner Athletic Conference softball tournament bracket, scores and home page, please visit
here.
