Plainview, Texas — In the final two games of a four-game series against Wayland Baptist the Grizzlies drop both games. This gives the Pioneers a sweep on the season and drops the Grizzlies to 2-10. The final score of the first game was 8-2, and the final score of the finale was 19-12.

Wayland Baptist 8, Adams State 2

In the first game of the doubleheader, the Pioneers jumped out early, opening the scoring right away by scoring 2 runs in the bottom of the first inning. Singles to right field by both Frausto and Polanco made the score 2-0. Polanco added to a great start to the day by coming up in the fourth inning and hitting a 2-run homerun that gave the Pioneers a 4-0. The Pioneers added another run in the fourth inning pulling out to a quick 5-0 lead.

The Grizzly offense was able to respond after the 3-run fourth inning by the Pioneers by scoring 2 runs of their own in the top of the fifth inning. Adams scored through an RBI groundout by Josh Parks and a single up the middle by Ayden Tauscher. This made the score 5-2 and unfortunately was the end of the Adams State offense for the rest of the game as Vargas for the Pioneers was able to come in and shut the door.

Brian Walters started the game for the Grizzlies throwing 4 innings, allowing 5 hits, walking 3, and collecting 7 strikeouts. The free passes in this game hurt Walters as he also hit two batters, along with his 3 walks. The Pioneers were able to take advantage of these free passes, scoring all of their runs following a free pass.

Payton Brown came into the game in the fifth, finishing the final two innings for the Grizzlies. His final line was 2 innings, 2 hits, 3 runs(2earned), and 1 strikeout. Brown threw very well but surrendered one hit that accounted for all 3 runs he allowed. Fabian for the Pioneers was able to connect on a fastball that he hit out to left field.

The story for Adams State was again the lack of an ability to score the runners they were getting on base. The Adams State offense had more hits than the Pioneers but left 10 runners on base compared to the 4 the Pioneers left on base. Offensively, Ayden Tauscher and Christian Altamirano led the Grizzly offense collecting 5 of the 9 hits. Altamirano had 3 hits and Tauscher finished the day with 2. When the final out was recorded the ability to get the clutch hit in today's first game was truly the difference between the two teams. 

Wayland Baptist 19, Adams State 12

Game 2 of the doubleheader was the total opposite of the first three games of the series which were dominated by pitching on both sides. In the final game of the series, both offenses caught fire, both collecting double-digit runs and hits. Wayland Baptist finished with a total of 25 hits, and the Adams State offense finished with 16.

The Adams State offense was led by great performances by Alex Hernandez, Josiah Hall, Christian Altamirano, Phil Carter, and Nolan Marthaler. Hernandez led the way at the top of the order for the Grizzlies reaching base 5 times in the game and scoring 3 runs. Hernandez was also able to add a solo homerun to his outstanding day. Hall followed suit by going back to back with Herandez with his first collegiate homerun, along with collecting another 2 hits and 2 more RBIs. Today was by far a career day for the Freshman Hall. Altamirano, Carter, and Marthaler collected another 7 hits for the Grizzly offense, scoring 4 runs, and collecting 5 RBIs total between the three. Overall, game four of the series was by far the best the Grizzly offense has been all year but it was not enough as the Pioneers out slugged the Grizzlies.

Phil Carter started on the mound for the Grizzlies and never could find his groove as the Pioneers scored on him in all three innings that he pitched. Carter finished with the following line: 2 ⅔ innings, 13 hits allowed, 8 runs allowed, and 2 strikeouts. Next in line was Wilhelm Lorenz who shut down the third inning with a one-pitch out but then surrendered a homerun in the fourth inning that allowed the Pioneers to extend their lead. The Grizzlies were unable to hold the Pioneer offense to a zero until Joseph Marek came in for his first collegiate appearance and put up back-to-back zero-run innings in the fifth and sixth innings of the game. Marek pitched well during his first collegiate appearance, throwing a total of 4 innings giving the Grizzly offense a chance to fight back in the game. Unfortunately, the Pioneers were able to extend their lead with two late homeruns that allowed them to secure the sweep on the Grizzlies.

On the mound, the Grizzlies truly struggled to execute pitches as the Pioneers hit 6 homeruns and reached base 29 times. Fabian led the way for the Pioneers collecting 4 hits, two of which were homeruns. Fabian also accounted for 4 Pioneer runs and added 4 RBIs to his great game.

Next Up

The Grizzlies will look to end their losing streak next Friday, February 21st as they play two games at Mountain Lion Park against UCCS and Colorado School of Mines. The games will be a great opportunity for the Grizzlies to see two fellow RMAC opponents before conference play starts at the beginning of March. The Grizzlies will take on UCCS first at 11 AM MST in a 9-inning ball game, and finish the doubleheader with another 9-inning ball game against Colorado School of Mines at 2 PM MST.