The Pioneers got a solid start from pitcher Todd Jeffress, two big home runs off the bats of Josh Lucas and Franky Busani, and timely hitting by Scott Keane, Eddie Allen and Brett Sheppard late in the game to take an 8-6 win over Northwood University in the first day of competition at the NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round in Lubbock.

Brett Cook started things off for Wayland with a sharply hit ball to the right side of the infield. The senior second baseman advanced to second when Brett Sheppard walked, then scored on Franky Busani's base hit to left.

The score remained 1-0 until the top of the fourth when Northwood took a brief 2-1 lead on a one out solo home run by left fielder Jeff Sakowski, followed by a walk, an infield hit and a throwing error.

Lucas' lead-off homer in the bottom half of the inning over the left field fence tied it up and Busani's two-run shot in the fifth made it 4-2.

Jeffress, who allowed ten hits but gave up only two earned runs and struck out eight in six innings, worked out of jams in both the fifth and the sixth, highlighted by a strike-em-out/throw-em-out double play in the fifth.

Pioneer coach Brad Bass said that although his senior pitcher gave up some hits, he kept the Knights' scoring to a minimum.

"To have success in any tournament, you need to win game one, and Todd gave us the chance to win it. He threw a great game. He gave up a lot of hits, but that's not so unusual for him. The key is that he is a good defensive pitcher. He keeps the runners close and makes them go station-to-station."

After Jeffress gave up a lead-off single in the seventh, Jason Kimzey came in to retire Northwood's leading hitter, R.J. Harris. Designated hitter Justin Coats followed with a single to left and Carey Crain knotted the score at 4 with a double to the center field fence.

Junior Brett Swett came in to retire the next two batters to end the inning.

The Pioneers took the lead for good in their half of the seventh when Sheppard singled up the middle and courtesy runner Ben Seymore scored when Keith Martin's shallow fly ball down the right field line went off the glove of the Northwood second baseman.

Swett retired two batters in the eighth, but was replaced by Marcus Limon after a single and a walk put runners on base. Limon got Harris to fly out to center to end the threat.

WBU leftfielder Pedro Gomez walked to start the bottom of the eighth. Keane followed with a one out single to right. With runners on first and third, Northwood relief pitcher Alex Braly attempted to pick off Keane on first, but nobody was covering. Gomez scored on the error and Keane advanced to third.

Eddie Allen came through one out later with his first hit of the game, a base hit to left center. A passed ball moved Allen into scoring position, and Sheppard's RBI single to left center made it 8-4.

A two-run homer in the top of the ninth narrowed the Pioneer lead to 8-6, but Limon buckled down and struck out the side to end the game and pick up his third save of the season. Swett improved to 3-0 with the win.

"We didn't swing the bat as well as we can, but I think the long lay-off had a lot to do with that," said Bass, whose team has been idle since May 1st because of the conference tournament was rained out. "Todd kept us in it and when his pitch count got up, the bullpen came in and did it's job. Those two hits by Keane and Eddie in the eighth were huge, and when Sheppard knocked in that last run, I felt like we had some breathing room."

Wayland will return to action on Wednesday afternoon at 2 pm against Lubbock Christian, 28-2 winners over William Jewell in Tuesday's final game. Wednesday's first game at 10 am will feature Northwood against fifth-seeded University of Houston-Victoria, which fell 9-5 to William Jewell in the tournament's opening contest.