Oklahoma Panhandle State University

Box Score Plainview, Texas—The Aggies notched another road-win Wednesday as they took on Wayland Baptist University and won the nine-inning match-up by a score of 7-6.

It was a battle to the bitter end as both teams ran through a combined ten pitching changes; six for OPSU and four for WBU. Wayland entered the game with a 31-17 record in NAIA and proved to be stiff competition for the Aggies.

OPSU head baseball coach Steve Appel said this on the win: "It was nice to travel on a midweek day and find a way to win. It wasn't the easiest of days to pitch with the wind blowing straight out to left, but they (OPSU) found ways to contain their (WBU) big bats. They (WBU) were coming off a couple of big wins and this was necessary to provide us with some spark for the last two weeks of the season."

Adam Burke got the start on the mound for OPSU and went two full innings giving up two hits and one earned run while throwing two strikeouts. After two innings the score was tied 1-1 as Jacob Milburn was the first Aggie to cross home plate off Dylan Dudley's single to left-center in the first inning.

Walker Rainwater took over in the fourth throwing one inning for the Aggies; Rainwater was retired after allowing three earned runs.

The Aggies earned two runs in the fourth inning as Nicolas Zieniuk drove a double to left-center bringing in Lucas Ogaz for the RBI. Trey Wooten then reached base on an error by short stop which brought Robert Montoya home and tied things up at three apiece; Ogaz and Montoya each reached base with singles.

At the bottom of the fourth, Spencer Long came in to relieve Rainwater and pitched a winning inning allowing zero hits to earn his second win of the season.

With two on base at the bottom of the fifth, Lucas Ogaz blasted a triple to left-center scoring two Aggies for the lead, Dylan Dudley and Chris McClendon; Ogaz was also brought home off a single by Robert Montoya.

Trading pitchers again in the fifth, Josh Casillas came in for Long and did his job in two innings allowing only one hit and zero runs for the Pioneers; Casillas also tossed three strikeouts while on the mound.

Both teams contained the hitters as zero runs were scored in innings six or seven. Tom Parker came out of the bullpen in the bottom of the seventh and kept the WBU bats silent for two more innings; Parker allowed just two hits and threw two strikeouts to hold the Aggies' two-run lead (6-4) going into the ninth inning.

The Aggies managed one more run in the final inning as Lucas Ogaz came through once again with a strong triple to right-center bringing in Chris McClendon for his third RBI of the day. Ogaz now leads the team in triples with four.

Freshman right-hander B.J. Henry came in to close for the Aggies and came out with his first save of the season holding the Pioneers to one hit and two runs for the 7-6 win.

Appel stated, "We had some opportunities to put them away and some opportunities to give them the game, but we had just enough pitching, defense, and timely hitting to secure the win. It's always hard to be consistent off the bump when you have a staff day but everyone chipped in and did something today."

Nicolas Zieniuk had a perfect day at the plate going 4-4 with one double and one RBI. Ogaz and Montoya were also hot at the plate as each went 3-4; Ogaz drove two doubles and led the team with three RBIs.

Zieniuk and Dylan Dudley led in fielding with eight putouts each; Zieniuk at catcher and Dudley from first base.

Coach Appel concluded his statement saying, "I feel good about us as a team and the direction this program is headed. We have lost a ton of tight ballgames this year and they continue to battle. If we can learn how to take pride in the small ball aspect, I believe we can finish off the season strong for our three seniors."

The Aggies record now moves to 12-31 with two conference wins. They will continue Heartland Conference play this weekend with a  three-game series against fifth-ranked Newman University. Friday's double-header will begin at 1 p.m. with game three taking place Saturday, also at 1 p.m.