OKLAHOMA CITY – Offense was at a premium on Tuesday afternoon at James Curtis Field as Mid-America Christian University and Oklahoma Wesleyan University locked in a pitchers' duel. That trend all changed in the seventh inning.
MACU (8-4) got an outstanding pitching performance from Ben Donnell, and the Evangels plated five runs on home runs in their final two innings, upsetting the NAIA #5 Eagles (8-1) 6-1.
Donnell worked out of a two on, two out jam in the top of the first inning, and in the bottom half, he was immediately rewarded. Antonio Dorado led off the bottom of the inning with a single, and he moved up on a throwing error into scoring position with nobody out. Logan Gipson followed with his seventh double of the season, and Dorado scored to give MACU the 1-0 lead.
Colton Kelly led off the top of the third inning with a bunt single for the Eagles, and after a wild pitch and a sacrifice bunt, Kelly scored on an RBI groundout from Rodolfo Oleta to tie the score, but the Evangels kept the Eagles from doing any further damage.
It looked like OKWU might take the lead in the fifth frame, as Donnell began to show signs of fatigue. John Lantigua drew a leadoff walk, but Axel Poesmans picked him off during the next at-bat, firing a strike to Luis Sanchez. Kelly followed with his second bunt single of the game, and he promptly stole second to put the go-ahead run in scoring position with one out. Donnell fanned Nick McGrew, but back-to-back walks loaded the bases with two outs for the Eagles' cleanup hitter Chris Acosta-Tapia. Donnell buckled down and got Acosta-Tapia to strike out, ending the threat, and the momentum began to shift.
The shift continued to go in the favor of the Evangels over the next two innings thanks to the Evangels making plays to erase Eagle base runners. In the sixth, Rylee Peterson drew a two out walk, but Donnell promptly picked off the courtesy runner Kent Korenek to retire the side. After the Evangels went to the bullpen in the seventh for Seth Keith, the Eagles again put the go-ahead run in scoring position with two outs, and Oleta bounced a single through the right side of the infield, and the Eagles sent Lantigua around third in an attempt to take the lead. Antonio Dorado, however, had other ideas, as he fired a bullet to Poesmans at the plate who applied the tag in time to end the inning, and this time, the Evangels were able to surge in front.
Dorado reached with one out on a wild throw, and that error proved to be costly. After Gipson struck out for what should have been the third out of the inning, Junior Aracena doubled to left to put runners at second and third for Sanchez. On the first pitch he saw in the at-bat, Sanchez launched his third homer of the season – a 3-run blast to right field that put MACU up 4-1.
Keith worked a 1-2-3 eighth inning, and in the bottom of the eighth, Abdiel Quinones added a two-out two-run homer for some extra insurance, and Keith finished the game off with a clean ninth inning as MACU defeated Oklahoma Wesleyan for the first time since April of 2012, 6-1.
Keith (1-1) earned the win in relief of Donnell, but both shined on the mound. Donnell allowed only one earned run on two hits in six innings, though he did walk six and strikeout six. Keith allowed three hits and nothing else in his appearance, striking out five. Jordan Hill (1-1) took the tough luck loss, yielding two unearned runs in one inning of work.
Dorado, Gipson, and Aracena each had two-hit afternoons, and Dorado scored twice. Aracena and Gipson each doubled in the game, and Sanchez and Quinones each homered. The victory also gave MACU head coach Adrian Savedra his 50th career victory, moving him to the top of the MACU wins list since the Evangels joined the NAIA in 2008.
MACU will be back on the field on Friday and Saturday, opening Sooner Athletic Conference play at Oklahoma Panhandle State University (4-7, 0-0). The teams will play a double-header on Friday beginning at Noon, with a single game slated for Saturday at the same time.
