OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian University Baseball Evangels won their first series of the season with a doubleheader sweep today (Feb. 4) of the Texas College Steers at James Curtis Field.
The Evangels cruised to a 10-0 victory in the first game before rallying for a 4-3 win in the nightcap.
Down 2-1 in the second game, the Evangels scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth to jump on top.
The decisive inning featured RBI singles from Jerry McNew and Trent Walker, with Jake White being hit by a pitch to plate McNew for the third run.
The Steers didn't go quietly and scored to make it a one-run game with two outs.
Brayden Rawlinson represented the tying run at third, but was thrown out trying to steal to end the game.
White drove in two runs and Colt Pickens had two hits in the second game win for the Evangels.
Nolberto Rondon pitched six innings, with seven strikeouts, no walks and two runs allowed to pick up the win for MACU.
Reid Wall followed Rondon and pitched the seventh inning to get the save.
In the opener, the Evangels jumped on the Steers with a two-out rally that produced five runs.
Pickens got it started with a single, went to second on a failed pickoff attempt and then scored the game's first run on a single by McNew.
From there, McNew scored on an RBI single from Alex Posemans before White crossed the plate thanks to another miscue by the Steers.
Trey Henley then finished the inning with a two-run triple that made it 5-0 after an inning.
After a single by Pedro Varela plated Kevin Lentzner in the second, the Evangels picked up another run in the third inning for a commanding seven-run lead.
The Evangels would end the game on the run rule with a three-run fifth frame as Pickens doubled home Abdiel Quinones and then scored on Jacob Graham's first career RBI single.
MACU pitcher Ben Donnell was superb on the mound, blanking the Steers on only two hits with six strikeouts.
Pickens had three hits in his four at-bats in the nightcap and Posemans went 2-of-3.
Hunter Babineaux, who was the Steers' starting pitcher, had two hits.
The Evangels will remain at home and host Bethany College (Kan.) for a twinbill Tuesday afternoon (Feb. 7) starting at 1 pm.
