McPHERSON, Kan. --- The Wayland Baptist Pioneers dropped a pair of close games Friday afternoon in a Sooner Athletic Conference doubleheader against Central Christian, falling 2-1 in game one and 4-3 in game two.
With the losses, Wayland Baptist moved to 18-10 overall on the season.
Â
Game 1 – Central Christian 2, Wayland Baptist 1
The opener turned into a pitching duel as both teams struggled to generate offense early.
Wayland Baptist broke through in the fourth inning when
Sinclair Pimentel reached on a fielder's choice and later scored on an RBI single from
Arcadio Martinez, giving the Pioneers a 1-0 lead.
The Tigers answered in the bottom half of the inning, scoring two runs on consecutive doubles from Braedon Ulrich and Nico Lopez to take a 2-1 advantage that would hold up as the final score.
The Pioneers threatened in the seventh inning, loading the bases with two outs after walks from
Ben Kasparie,
Raphael Beltre, and
Cesar Ibarra, but the Tigers recorded a strikeout to end the rally.
At the plate, Ibarra led Wayland Baptist with a perfect 3-for-3 performance and two stolen bases. Pimentel, Martinez, and
Sebastian Bravo each added a hit as the Pioneers finished with six hits.
On the mound,
Antonio Mejia took the loss despite a strong outing, allowing two runs on four hits over five innings while striking out five.
Tyler Thompson tossed a scoreless inning in relief.
Â
Game 2 – Central Christian 4, Wayland Baptist 3
Wayland Baptist battled back in the second game but could not hold a late lead as Central Christian rallied in the sixth inning.
The Tigers scored two unearned runs in the first inning before the Pioneers responded in the second when
Ben Kasparie drove in a run with a groundout to cut the deficit to 2-1.
Wayland took the lead in the fifth inning.
Raphael Beltre tied the game with a solo home run to center field before
Adonis Bernal followed with a sacrifice fly later in the inning to score
Cesar Ibarra and give the Pioneers a 3-2 advantage.
Central Christian regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth when Derex Cancel delivered a two-run double to right-center, putting the Tigers back in front 4-3.
The Pioneers had a chance in the seventh inning after
Rafaeleduardo Garcia reached on a walk, but Wayland was unable to push the tying run across.
Sebastian Bravo led the offense with two hits, while Beltre,
Arcadio Martinez,
Adonis Bernal, and
Sinclair Pimentel each recorded a hit. Beltre finished with a home run and RBI in the game.
On the mound,
Branin Seibert struck out seven across five innings while allowing four runs, two of them earned.
Garrett Moseley worked one inning in relief.
Â
Up Next
Wayland Baptist will look to bounce back in the final game of this three-game series at Central Christian when they play a nine-inning game on Saturday, March 14
th, beginning at 12:00 PM.
Â
