OKLAHOMA CITY - Entering the bottom of the seventh inning of game two of their double header on Friday, the Mid-America Christian University baseball team was facing the prospect of enduring an Opening Day sweep at the hands of McPherson College.
On the third pitch of his at bat, Diego Pichardo made sure that would not happen, sending the crowd at James Curtis Field into a frenzy.
Pichardo launched a long 3-run walk-off home run to give MACU (1-1) a 4-2 win in game two after McPherson (1-1) had taken an 8-3 win in game one.
MACU had opportunities to draw first blood in game one, but twice, the Evangels were unable to take advantage of a runner in scoring position with two outs, and in the top of the fourth, McPherson took advantage. The Bulldogs plated four unearned runs in the fourth inning to take a 4-0 lead.
The Evangels got back in the game in the bottom of the fourth when Felix Martinez led off with a single, which was followed by a Luis Sanchez home run that cut the deficit in half. MACU appeared to have additional pressure building two batters later when Kevin Lentzner bounced into a fielder's choice and appeared to advance to second on a wild throw to bring the tying run to the plate, but after McPherson's coaches came out to argue the call, the umpires conferred and overturned the call, instead ruling Lentzner out on runner's interference and killing the rally.
The teams traded runs in the fifth, with McPherson scoring on on a groundout with one out, and MACU plating their run on an RBI-single from Edgar Martinez, and after the teams each put up zeros in the sixth, the game headed to the seventh with MC leading 5-3. The Bulldogs scored three runs in the top of the seventh, though, and that put the game away.
Garrett Ham (1-0) earned the win for McPherson, throwing four and two-thirds innings and yielding three earned runs on six hits. Keisy Portorreal (0-1) took the tough luck loss despite not allowing an earned run and only giving up two hits and two walks to go with seven strikeouts. Jarrod Mannick (1) earned the six-out save for McPherson, striking out two and allowing only one single and fanning a pair.
Oliver Fernandez led the MACU offense with a 2-for-3 day that included a single and a double, Sanchez (2) and Martinez (1) had RBIs, and Sanchez, Felix Martinez, and Austin Cooper each scored a run.
McPherson scored eight runs on only five hits, and they made three errors, while MACU tallied only three times on seven hits with a pair of defensive miscues.
In game two, Edgar Martinez singled to lead off the bottom of the first, and he stole second before eventually scoring a run on an RBI ground out from Felix Martinez that put MACU on top 1-0. Kristopher Perez reached on an error for McPherson in the top of the third, and he came around to score an unearned tally off Ben Donnell to tie the game, and from there the pitchers took over.
Donnell had made an incredible play to stop a rally before it could get started in the top of the second, and he battled his way into the sixth inning without allowing the Bulldogs to claim the lead. The Bulldogs got equally strong starting pitching from Dylan Marble, who gave up only one earned run in the game while giving up seven hits and fanning five.
With two outs in the sixth, McPherson threatened to score, putting runners at first and second with two away. Donnell narrowly missed striking out Jakob Shields to end the threat, but he didn't get the call on a borderline pitch, and on the next pitch, Shields looped an RBI single into left field to give McPherson the 2-1 lead. Reid Bukowski entered and got out of the jam, and he pitched a scoreless seventh inning, which gave the MACU offense one last chance to come back.
Junior Aracena led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a ground ball to second, but he reached on a two-base throwing error to immediately bring the winning run to the plate. After a second error in the inning, runners were at first and second for Pichardo. On the 1-1 pitch, Pichardo belted a long 3-run walk off home run to end the game and give MACU a 4-2 win to earn the split in the twin bill.
Bukowski (1-0) earned the win by retiring all four men he faced, two of them on strikes, after Donnell allowed two unearned runs on five hits, one walk, and four strikeouts. Marble (0-1) took the tough luck loss, despite pitching well.
MACU tallied their four runs on seven hits, and McPherson scored twice on five hits. Each team committed two errors in the game.
Pichardo was 2-for-3 in the game with the home run (1) and three RBIs, Edgar Martinez singled and scored twice in three trips, ans Sanches doubled in three at bats.
The teams will conclude their four-game series on Saturday with a double-header starting at Noon.
