OKLAHOMA CITY - The Mid-America Christian University baseball team ran into a buzzsaw on Friday, and his name was Bryce Milligan
Milligan fanned a dozen MACU (5-11, 1-5 SAC) hitters at Jim Wade Stadium on Friday, and though the Evangels battled to keep their game close against NAIA #7 Oklahoma City University (22-3, 6-1 SAC), the Stars took the win 7-3 to open the weekend series between the two ballclubs.
OCU plated a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the first frame, and they added four more runs in the third to build a 6-0 lead.
That score held into the top of the fifth inning, when MACU broke through and cut the deficit in half. Raymond Rodriguez and Leo Bejeran opened the frame with back-to-back singles, and after a strikeout, Diego Pichardo tripled home the pair to pull MACU within four at 6-2. Yan Ely Adames singled home Pichardo to bring the tying run out of the dugout, but a strikeout and a pop out ended the rally with The Evangels down 6-3.
OCU added a single run in the bottom of the inning to push their lead to four, but MACU's Yorick Henson stifled the rally, and then held the Stars bats at bay for the next three innings to give MACU a chance to get back in the game. Unfortunately, MACU was not able to get anything going. OCU's Milligan and Justin Berry retired 11 of the final 14 batters MACU sent to the plate, and the Evangels were unable to get multiple runners on base in any of their last four at bats as a team, and the Stars held on to win 7-3.
Milligan (6-0) gave up three earned runs on seven hits. Milligan walked one and struck out a dozen in six innings of work. Noel Diaz (1-2) took the loss, giving up six runs, four earned, on six hits, three walks, and four strikeouts. Henson gave up one earned run on three hits in four innings, and Henson walked one and struck out three. Berry (1) earned the save for OCU, tossing three shutout innings on one hit with seven strikeouts.
Pichardo, Adames, and Edgar Martinez each had two hits in the game, and Pichardo had the only MACU extra base hit in the contest to go with two RBIs and a run scored.
The teams will complete their series at MACU on Saturday with a double-header at James Curtis Field starting at 1 p.m.
