Plainview, Texas — Adams State drops two close games in a Friday doubleheader against Wayland Baptist. The first game finished with a final score of 2-1, and the second game ended 2-0. The two losses drop the Grizzlies to 2-8 on the season.
Wayland Baptist 2, Adams State 1
In the first game of the doubleheader, the Grizzlies opened up the scoring on a throwing error by the Pioneer first baseman. Macs Carillo lined out on the play with runners on second and third followed by the throwing error by the first baseman that allowed
Chris Gracia to score from third. Unfortunately, the Grizzly lead was short-lived as the Pioneers responded immediately in the bottom of the inning with a game-tying homerun by their third baseman Delvis Claudio. The Pioneers followed up this homerun with another one in the following inning giving them a 2-1 lead that they were able to hold for the rest of the game.
The Grizzlies struggled offensively but were led by
Cesar Loma on the mound who threw his first complete game of the year. Loma pitched outstandingly, only allowing 4 baserunners the entire game, giving up 3 hits and walking 1. Along with this, he was able to collect 6 strikeouts which puts his season total at 16 over his 15 innings pitched. Loma has been a leading force for the Grizzly pitching staff after he collected 2nd Team All-RMAC last year in 2024.
Although the Grizzly offense struggled to put runs up on the board they were able to get a lot of baserunners on throughout the game, collecting 7 hits and a total of 10 baserunners. The Adams offense was led by
Ayden Tauscher,
Chris Gracia, and
Ethan Abegg. Tauscher led the way collecting 3 of the Grizzly 7 hits and was followed suit by Gracia and Abegg who both collected a hit and walked once each.
Unfortunately, the Grizzly offense struggled to get the clutch hit when runners were in scoring position leaving 7 runners on base. This has been a constant struggle for the Grizzlies who have struggled to score runs early this season.
Following the loss, this puts
Cesar Loma's season record at 0-2, and puts the Pioneer starter House at 2-0.
Wayland Baptist 2, Adams State 0
In the second game of the doubleheader, the Grizzlies fell just short again as the Adams State offense continued to struggle. The Grizzlies were only able to collect 2 hits and struck out 14 times throughout the nine-inning ball game.
Luke Mariscal and
Phil Carter were the only two Grizzlies who were able to collect hits throughout the ball game.
Although the Grizzlies struggled to collect hits they were able to put pressure on the Pioneer pitching staff as they collected 10 free passes through 9 walks and 1 hit by pitch. The story was the same as Game 1 though as the Adams offense just couldn't get the timely hit that allowed them to push runs across the board. At the end of the game, the Grizzly offense left a total of 13 base runners on base.
Even with the offensive struggles the Grizzlies were again led by an outstanding performance on the mound by
Connor Murray and
Wilhelm Lorenz. Murray started the game going 7 strong innings only allowing 5 hits, 2 walks, and 2 runs while striking out 10 batters. Murray's strong start was one of the best of his career with his 10 strikeouts being a new career high for him. Lorenz was able to follow Murray's strong start coming into the game in the 8th inning and shutting the door on the Pioneer offense. Lorenz gave up 1 hit but followed the hit by picking off the Pioneer runner immediately at first base. Lorenz then finished the last two batters of the inning collecting 1 strikeout along the way.
The Grizzly pitching staff will look to continue to quiet the Pioneer bats while the Grizzly offense will look to get sparked to allow Adams State to bounce back tomorrow and get a split in the series. Tomorrow's games will again be held at Wilder Field in Plainview, Texas, the home of the Pioneers. The first game will go off at 10 AM MST, followed by the second game of the day starting around 12:30 PM MST.
