OKLAHOMA CITY - The weather on Friday afternoon at James Curtis Field was less than ideal for a baseball double header, but that did not stop the Mid-America Christian University Evangels and the Harris-Stowe State University Hornets from taking to the field. As the temperatures dipped, the pitchers took control, and at the end of the day, MACU came up just short in both games.
MACU (2-4) struggled to find a timely hit in the games, and they made a couple of critical mistakes at crucial times, as HSSU (3-6) swept the twin bill 2-0 and 5-4.
The teams both threatened to score early in game one, and in the bottom of the second the Evangels had a great chance to score when they loaded the bases with two away. Unfortunately for MACU, the Evangels were unable to push a run across, and in the top of the third, Harris-Stowe drew first blood.
The Hornets put the first two men aboard in the inning, but Ben Donnell picked off Deshawn Cole, who was caught stealing, and with two outs, the Hornets had a runner at third but the game remained scoreless. With two outs and Cole Danielson at the plate, MACU tried a pickoff throw to third, but the throw went down the left field line, and Chase Goldwater trotted home with the game's first run. Cole made up for his miscue an inning later with an RBI single that doubled the Hornets' advantage, and that proved to be enough for Dajuan Griffin.
Griffin (1-0) kept MACU's bats off balance all afternoon, scattering five hits in the complete game shutout, walking two and fanning five Evangels. Ben Donnell (0-1) pitched well for MACU for the second time this season, but he took the tough luck loss. Donnel allowed two earned runs on nine hits with five walks and five strikeouts.
Harris-Stowe scored twice on nine hits, and they committed a pair of errors, while MACU managed only five hits and the Evangels made three defensive miscues.
Oliver Fernandez was the only Evangel to notch a multi-hit game, as he posted a 2-for-3 game. All five of MACU's hits in the game were singles.
HSSU struck first again in game two on a bloop single that fell in front of MACU's Raymond Rodriguez, but the Evangels answered in the bottom of the frame. With two outs and the bases empty, Luis Sanchez drew a walk, Yan Ely Adames followed with a single, and Manuel Hazoury doubled both runs home to give MACU their first lead of the day.
The teams traded runs in the third frame on a solo home run from HSSU's Jake Benolken and another RBI base knock from Hazoury, and MACU carried a 3-2 lead into the third inning.
In the third frame, the game turned in favor of the Hornets on two key plays. In the top of the frame, Benolken belted a long two-run homer to center field to cap a 3-run rally for HSSU, but in the bottom half, MACU threatened to answer again. MACU loaded the bases again with one out and Felix Martinez at the dish. Martinez hit a ground ball to short, and after the flip to second, it appeared that the Hornets would have to settle for one out. However, there was a collision at second base that resulted in the double play being ruled for runner's interference which nullified a run and ended the inning with HSSU still leading 5-3.
Edgar Martinez singled home Kevin Lentzner in the bottom of the sixth frame to pull the Evangels to within a single run, and the Evangels got runners to second and third with only one out, but back-to-back groundouts squelched the rally and HSSU held onto the lead. Noel Diaz worked around a leadoff walk in the top of the seventh to give MACU one final shot in the bottom of the frame.
Adames reached on an error from Cole Danielson to start the inning, and he moved up to second on a secone error from Danielson on the play when his throw sailed out of play to put the tying run into scoring position. Hazoury was hit by a pitch, and after a strikeout, Fernandez worked a walk to load the bases with one out, but MACU was unable to push the tying run home as Drew Sigman induced a pair of short pop flies to end the game in a 5-4 HSSU win.
Tyler Cox started the game for HSSU, and though he left with the lead, he did not work the requisite four innings to qualify for the win before he left with an injury. Brian Myers (1-0) worked an inning and two-third of relief, allowing an earned run on two hits with two walks and one strikeout to earn the win. Arcangel Soto (0-1) took the loss, and he yielded five earned runs on seven hits with three walks and 11 strikeouts. Sigman (1) earned the save by recording the final four outs, allowing one walk and one hit batsman with one strikeout.
Harris-Stowe scored five times on seven hits and made four errors, while MACU plated four runs on eight hits, and the Evangels did not make an error.
Sanchez and Hazoury each had a single and a double in the game, Sanchez scored twice, and Hazoury drove in three runs.
The teams will conclude their four game weekend set on Saturday with a double-header slated for Noon.
