Shawnee, Okla. -- The Mid-America Christian University Evangels came up on the short end of the stick in their Sooner Athletic Conference opener, falling 8-1 at the St. Gregory's University Cavaliers Friday afternoon (Feb. 24) in Shawnee, Okla. 

Jacob Douglas got the Cavaliers going in the bottom of the second with a triple and then scored on an RBI single by Christian Torres. 

The Cavaliers got on the board again in the bottom of the third as Jordan Funtila hit another triple and was chased home on a run-scoring single by Trevor Nelson that made it 2-0. 

SGU then broke the game open by taking advantage of two Evangel miscues in the bottom of the fourth to plate two runs and then went up 7-0 on a three-run triple by Torres in the bottom of the fifth. 

The Evangels' tally came in the top of the ninth when Luis Martinez led off with a double and scored on a single by Nick Whetzell. 

Chance Gilbert pitched a complete game on the mound for SGU, striking out 10 over his nine innings of work in the win. 

Shane Brinker went 2-of-5 at the plate for the Evangels. 

The two schools will complete the three-game series with a doubleheader tomorrow afternoon (Feb. 25) at 1 p.m. at James Curtis Field on the MACU campus.