A quick trip over the Bighorns on Sunday led to two wins for the Powell Pioneers, as they defeated Buffalo 9-3 and 9-2 to move over .500 for the first time in the early season.

POWELL 9, BUFFALO 3

Heading to Buffalo for a nonconference game the Pioneers (5-3) matched up with the Bulls (0-7).

Powell got off to a quick start, as Ben Ostermiller and Talon Nuss singled to put two on with no outs.

Ostermiller was picked off at second and a strikeout made it two outs, before Caden Diaz doubled and brought home Nuss to make it 1-0.

Buffalo answered in the bottom of the first, as an error allowed a runner to advance all the way to third before a single brought him home to tie the game 1-1 after the first.

It took until the third for the Pioneers to regain the lead, when Ostermiller walked to lead off and advanced to second on a wild pitch.

Nuss singled to put runners on the corners before stealing second, and Diaz walked with one out to load the bases.

Jordan Loera singled and brought home all three runners, advancing to second on the throw.

“That was our biggest thing was getting Jordan back and getting him playing time,” manager Jason Borders said.

Loera advanced to third on a wild pitch before Abel Teten brought in Loera and advanced Trevion Solberg to third on a single to make it 5-1.

Teten was caught stealing second, but Solberg stole home on the throw to make it 6-1.

Buffalo got a run back in the bottom of the fifth after a walk followed by two singles scored a runner and made it 6-2.

In the sixth Powell added another, when Dominik Bieber and Decker Engesser walked, before stealing to advance. An error on Ostermiller’s contact scored Bieber to make it 7-2.

Two walks, a single and an error put one more on the board for Buffalo in the bottom of the sixth, before the Pioneers added insurance in the top of the seventh.

Loera’s one out solo home run made it 8-3, before Solberg singled and Teten walked to put two on.

Solberg stole third before Engesser singled him home and Powell led 9-3.

The Bulls got two baserunners in the bottom of the seventh but the Pioneers closed out the 9-3 win.

Powell outhit Buffalo 11-5 but committed more errors 3-2.

Loera went 2-4 with four RBIs to lead Powell at the plate, and Diaz got the win on the mound going 3-2/3 innings, giving up two hits and no earned runs with seven strikeouts and only two walks.

“I felt like we played well,” Borders said. “Caden threw really well in that first game.”

POWELL 9, BUFFALO 2

In the second contest the two teams were scoreless after the first inning, before Diaz got the Pioneers on the board in the second.

His triple turned into a scoring play, when he scored on an error by the catcher to make it 1-0.

“Caden’s hitting the ball really well for us right now,” Borders said. “He has as many doubles and triples as he has singles. He’s hitting the ball really well for us and that’s big because I just didn’t know who we were going to have to be that Cade [Queen] or Trey [Stenerson] type of guy that gave us those extra base hits.”

Solberg followed with a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch before Brenton Henke drove him home on a single to make it 2-0 after the second inning.

Powell added more in the third, starting with a Nuss walk.

He advanced all the way to third on a pitchers’ error, before Ryan Barrus brought him in on a single to make it 3-0.

Barrus stole second before eventually scoring on an error by the third baseman on a steal attempt to make it 4-0 after the third inning.

Buffalo got on the board in the bottom of the fourth, using a pair of singles coupled with strong baserunning to bring in one run to make it a 4-1 contest.

The Pioneers pulled away in the top of the fifth, starting with Nuss being hit by a pitch and Barrus walking.

Cole Fauskee hit into a double play which saw him and Barrus out.

Kolby Gates walked and stole second to get two runners in scoring position with two outs.

Diaz singled and scored both, advancing all the way to third on the throw.

Solberg walked and stole  second, which allowed Diaz to steal home and make it 7-1 after the fifth inning.

In the sixth, Christian Love was hit by a pitch to lead off, and stole second to get in scoring position.

Barrus doubled to score him, and got to third during the next at bat after tagging up on a fly out.

He then scored on a wild pitch to give Powell a 9-1 lead.

Buffalo got one back in the seventh due to Pioneer errors  but Powell finished with the 9-2 win.

LOVELL THURSDAY

The Pioneers were originally scheduled to have a small break from action but picked up a doubleheader on the road, heading to Lovell today (Thursday) for games at 5 and 7 p.m. against the Mustangs (2-4).

“I am looking forward to it to just kind of see where we stand with them,” Borders said. “I’m looking forward to it as a good test for us, especially this early.”

This will serve as a nonconference matchup between the two teams.