OKLAHOMA CITY -- Mid-America Christian University starting pitcher Robert Santana pitched a scintillating game in a 2-0 series opening victory over the Southwestern Assemblies of God University Lions Thursday afternoon (Mar. 13) at James Curtis Field. 

Santana struck out a whopping 16 batters in his nine innings of work with no walks and only three hits allowed. 

He retired the first seven batters he faced before running into a little trouble in the fourth with runners on second and third with one out.  

Santana then proceeded to strike out the next two hitters to escape the jam unscathed.

After that, Santana retired 16 consecutive batters before a two-out single in the ninth put the tying run at the plate.  But Santana induced a pop out to first to finish off the win.

SAGU starter Pedro Ortiz was also effective on the hill, blanking the Evangels over the first four innings before an RBI single by Daniel Thompson put the Evangels on the board in the bottom of the fifth.

The Evangels then tacked on another run in the sixth on an RBI groundout by Christian Hill that plated Dustin Carlsward.

It appeared the Evangels (5-11, 2-4 SAC) were poised to break the game open in the eighth with the bases loaded and no outs, but Tucker Burt came on in relief of Ortiz to retire the next three hitters and keep it a two-run game.

Ortiz lasted seven innings with two runs allowed on nine hits for the Lions.

Carlsward and Ryan Moesley each went 2-of-4 at the plate for the Evangels.  

The two schools will wrap up the three-game set with a doubleheader tomorrow afternoon (Mar. 14) starting at 2 p.m.