DALLAS – The Mid-America Christian University baseball team headed south for the weekend to take part in the Dallas Christian College Round Robin – a two-day event that brought MACU along with Eastern New Mexico University and Hannibal-LaGrange University to Dallas to play four games each in two days along with the host Dallas Christian College Crusaders. MACU played a split double-header on Friday, and though it took longer than the Evangels would have liked, when the dust settled, MACU earned a pair of wins on day one of the event.
MACU (3-2) scored nine runs in the final three innings of their game against Eastern New Mexico (1-1) to claim a 9-2 win, and in the night-cap Felix Martinez laced a two-run walk-off single to give MACU an extra innings win over Dallas Christian College (0-2), 6-5.
The game against Eastern New Mexico started slowly, with both pitchers keeping the opposing offense off balance. The Greyhounds struck first in the bottom of the third inning, plating a run on a two-out triple and a wild pitch, but MACU answered immediately.
Antonio Dorado walked and stole second base, and Manuel Hazoury followed by drawing a free pass of his own, and Axel Poesmans put down a picture perfect sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second and third with one out. Raymond Rodriguez drove in Dorado with a fielder's choice chopper up the middle, and the Greyhounds committed two errors on the play to allow Hazoury to score and Rodriguez to reach third base.
Jesse Becton of ENMU tied the game with a two-out solo homer in the bottom of the fourth, but MACU controlled the game from that point forward. Dorado launched a two-run homer in the top of the fifth frame to put MACU on top 4-2, and the Evangels plated five runs on five hits in the sixth frame to break the game open as MACU went on to win, 9-2.
Keisy Portorreal (1-1) tossed a complete game to earn the victory, pitching six innings and yielding two earned runs on three hits and one walk to go with seven strikeouts. Andrew Montoya (0-1) gave up three runs – two earned – on two hits, one walk, and two strikeouts in an inning and two-thirds as he was saddled with the loss.
Eight of the nine MACU starting hitters had one hit in the game, though no one had a multi-hit game. Dorado, Hazoury, and Kevin Lentzner each had two RBIs in the game; and Dorado and Luis Sanchez each scored twice.
After moving from the DCC on campus field to McInnish Park in nearby Carrolton, the Evangels jumped ahead early with four runs in the second inning, capitalizing on a DCC (0-2) error to build a 4-0 lead. The Crusaders, however, benefitted from two MACU defensive miscues of their own in the top of the third, scoring three runs – only one of which was earned. The score remained at 4-3 MACU until the top of the seventh frame.
DCC put two runners aboard with only one out in the top of the seventh, forcing MACU to go to the bullpen for Ben Donnell. Donnell induced a pop out for the second out in the frame, but an error with two outs allowed the tying run to score. The game proceeded to extra innings when a two-out single drove home a run and gave DCC the 5-4 lead.
MACU, however, did not quit. In the bottom of the eighth, Aaron Davis ripped a base hit up the middle on a 1-2 pitch, and Rodriguez put down a beautiful bunt single to put runners at first and second with nobody out. Trey Jackson laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move the runners up to second and third with one out, and DCC was forced to walk Lentzner to load the bases. On an 0-2 pitch, Martinez poked a single through the left side to plate two runs and give MACU the 6-5 win in eight innings.
Donnell (1-0) allowed one earned run on one hit, one walk, and two strikeouts in an inning and two thirds of work to earn the win. Gabe Benza (0-1) recorded only one out in the blown save, and he yielded two earned runs on three hits and a walk. Sanchez led the way for MACU offensively, posting a 4-for-4 performance with four singles. Rodriguez had two hits and scored twice in the game, and Martinez had a team-leading two RBIs in the game, as MACU took the win 6-5.
The Evangels will return to action on Saturday at Noon when they take on the Hannibal-LaGrange Trojans (1-1) at Noon. The Evangels will also play at 2:30 p.m. when they will take on Eastern New Mexico in a rematch of the Evangels' first team of the first game of the weekend.
