The 5-seed Pioneers defeated 4-seed Briar Cliff in the first game of the Opening Round, but fell to 1-seed Oklahoma Baptist in the night cap.
Against Briar Cliff, MNU scored in the top of the first when
Clayton Brandt led off with a single and scored on a 2-out RBI single by
Carlos Vargas. In the top of the third, MNU broke it open. Six runs on six hits put the Pioneers up 7-0, and starting pitcher
Santiago Romero dominated. The senior righthander ran into trouble in the fourth inning, but cruised through the other 8 innings in a 5-hit 11-strikeout 0-walk complete game. He threw 126 pitches and 93 strikes while his offense put up 10 runs to win 10-2.
Clayton Brandt (1-3, 2 R, RBI, BB, 2 SB, SF),
Jordan Eckley (2-5, 2 R, SB),
Carlos Vargas (3-5, R, 4 RBI),
Nelson Santiago (2-4, R, 2B, RBI, HBP), and
Kelvin Perez (1-3, R, 2 RBI, BB, Sac) led the offense.
In the night game, MNU faced #2 ranked Oklahoma Baptist. The Pioneers were the home team on the scoreboard, and the Bison scored twice in the top of the first. MNU got on the board in the bottom of the fourth when
Clayton Brandt led off with a single, moved up on 2 passed balls, and scored on another
Carlos Vargas 2-out RBI single. OBU responded with 2 more runs in the top of the fifth to take a 4-1 lead, but MNU rallied in the seventh.
Jordan Eckley walked and Vargas singled to put runner on the corners with no outs. A bizarre bunt play confused the defense and ended with a run scored and 2 Pioneers in scoring position, and a sacrifice fly made the score 4-3.
Kelvin Perez reached on an infield single to score
Jordan McCloud, and the game was tied at 4. But the Bison responded quickly once again, getting 3 runs back in the top of the eighth to regain control. MNU couldn't climb out of the hole and fell 7-4. Brandt (1-3, R, BB, SB), Vargas (3-4, R, RBI), and Perez (1-2, RBI, BB) had MNU's 5 hits.
The Pioneers are 34-22. The next game is Thursday vs. #13 LSU-Shreveport (44-13) at 2:30. If MNU wins, they take on the loser of OBU/Sterling at 6:00.
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