Baseball Brought Down by WBU

Plainview, Texas—Panhandle State baseball traveled to Plainview, Texas this past weekend to face the Wayland Baptist Pioneers in a three-game series Friday, Feb. 23 and Saturday, Feb. 24. The Aggies put up a hard fight but ultimately fell to the Pioneers in the weekend contest, (0-6; 2-5; 11-7).

The Aggies were battling through a litany of injuries including four starters, and both teams were battling high winds as they took the field Friday in Plainview, which served as both a pro and a con on either side of the ball. Game one made for a short story between the two teams, as the Aggies were hard pressed to adjust and went three up-three down in the first three innings of the matchup while the Pioneers gained three runs in the same amount of innings. The Aggies saw a hit in the top of the fourth off a single from Gerson Padilla, but he would be stranded on base as a groundout and a flyout proceeded his base hit. A solo homerun from Wayland brought the score up 4-0 against the Aggies in the fourth and would tack on another two runs in the bottom of the sixth that would go unanswered, bringing the final score 6-0 in favor of the Pioneers. Cesar Gomez would leave the game with a loss for the Aggies.

The Aggies took to the field ready to bounce back in game two, starting off the first inning well. A single from Padilla would get him on base and a double down the right field line from Jared Mayeda would score Padilla to get the Aggies on the board quickly. A single from Kasey Leatherwood advanced Mayeda and a sac-fly from Derek Stallworth brought the runner home, putting the Aggies up 2-0 at the end of the first. The Pioneers answered back one run in the bottom of the first and hit a streak in the second, plating three runs off three hits. The third and fourth innings remained quiet for both teams, but the Pioneers continued the advantage through the fifth inning, adding a run off an RBI double down the left field line to bring the score, 5-2, edging out the Aggies, and they would hold that score until the bottom of the seventh. Corey Ley fought hard on the mound, allowing only six hits in his five innings pitched, and Garrison Armstrong would allow no hits in his single relief inning, but Ley would take the loss for OPSU.

Saturday’s game three would see the most action from either team in the weekend series. The Aggies sounded off to a great start in the first inning, seeing four walks off Wayland pitcher Price and plating four runs against Wayland’s Frost on the mound, including a 2-RBI double from Bradley Ruiz. The Aggies tacked on two more unanswered runs in the top of the second off a hit from Leatherwood that resulted in a three-base error to score Mayeda and Nate Kelly, bringing the score 6-0 in favor of the Aggies.

The Pioneers had an opportune bottom of the second, scoring a total of eight runs off six hits on the Aggies’ Lopez on the mound, including two home runs. The Aggies brought in Garrison Armstrong to relieve Lopez in the third. OPSU would go three up-three down in the third while the Pioneers added another solo homerun to bring the score 6-9, Wayland. The fourth saw no action on either side, but the Pioneers would add another run off an RBI single in the fifth. The seventh would bring a solo homerun from Mayeda to edge the Aggies to a reachable 7-10, but Wayland answered back with another solo homerun in the bottom of the eighth to bring the final tally 7-11, Wayland. Lopez would leave with the loss for the Aggies, responsible for eight of the Pioneers’ cumulative eleven runs.

After a long stint on the road, the Aggies are back on their home field this weekend as they take on Bacone for a SAC three-game series. They will face off against the Warriors with a double header starting Friday, March 2 at 12 p.m, with a single, nine inning game to follow on Saturday, March 3 at 12 p.m.