OKLAHOMA CITY - The Mid-America Christian University baseball team came home on Saturday to wrap up their weekend series with the NAIA #7 Oklahoma City Stars with a double-header at James Curtis Field. MACU was competitive for most of the day with the Stars, and the Evangels picked up a split of the double dip.
Ben Donnell was masterful in game one, yielding only two runs, and a Diego Pichardo home run helped MACU (6-12, 2-6) take game one from OCU (23-4, 7-2 SAC) 3-2 before the Stars rallied to take game two 7-4.
OCU struck first in game one, but a baserunning gaffe on the play helped MACU quell the Stars momentum. John Anthon singled to center for the Stars, and though a run scored on the play, a great relay sequence from Pichardo to Oliver Fernandez to Junior Aracena to cut down Tristan Williams at third, and Donnell got out of the frame without further damage.
In the bottom of the third, MACU took the lead on a monstrous blast from Pichardo. The senior from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic crushed a 1-1 pitch from Jake Patterson for a long home run to right field, scoring Leo Bejaran to give MACU the 2-1 lead.
In the top of the fourth, OCU tied the game with a single sandwiched between a pair of doubles from the first three batters of the inning, leaving runners at second and third with nobody out. That's when Raymond Rodriguez made a play that changed the momentum of the game. Rodriguez snared a line drive off the bat of Tristan Williams just above the dirt, and he raced to second base to turn the unassisted double play. Donnell followed by striking out Anthon to end the threat, and the game proceeded to the sixth with the score unchanged.
Aracena led off the MACU sixth with a single, and after a fielder's choice, Felix Martinez was hit by a pitch to put the go-ahead run into scoring position with one away. Colin Minor then stepped up and laced a single through the left side of the infield, scoring Edgar Martinez from second with what proved to be the winning run as MACU won the game 3-2.
Donnell (2-3) gave up two runs on seven hits in six innings of work to earn the win, and he struck out six while he issued only one walk. Patterson (4-1) took the loss, allowing three earned runs on five hits, two walks, and three strikeouts. Reid Bukowski (1) earned the save for MACU, retiring three of the four men he faced, one of them on strikes.
Pichardo's homer - his fourth of the season - was the only extra base hit for MACU in the game, and five other Evangels had singles at the plate - Fernandez, Yan Ely Adames, Aracena, Minor, and Felix Martinez.
The Evangels' offense started off game two well, but OCU bounced back and took control early.
Pichardo singled, and Felix Martinez doubled with one out in the bottom of the first inning of the second game, and Luis Sanchez followed with an RBI single to give MACU the 1-0 lead. Aracena lifted a deep sacrifice fly to left center to score Martinez and double the lead, and two pitches later, Edgar Martinez belted his first home run in a MACU uniform to stake Arcangel Soto to an early 4-0 lead.
OCU rallied immediately, though, and by the time the second inning concluded, the Stars had scored six times to wrestle the lead from MACU. The Stars added another run in the top of the third to take a 7-4 lead, but MACU's Pedro Reyes, and Bukowski pitched well enough to keep the Evangels in the game.
Reyes tossed three and one-third innings without allowing a hit, and he gave up only one earned run on two walks and five strikeouts. Bukowski followed Reyes with another two solid innings of relief, as he gave up one hit and one walk while he struck out one.
Unfortunately for MACU, the Stars pitchers held the Evangels at bay. MACU managed only three baserunners in the final five innings of the game, as OCU held on to take the game 7-4 and the series two games to one.
Brandon Goldston (4-2) earned the win, throwing five and two-thirds innings and yielding four earned runs on seven hits. Soto (1-3) was tagged for six earned runs in one and two-thirds innings of work, and he allowed five hits and three walks while he notched three strikeouts. Tanner Andrews (4) got the final four outs for OCU to earn the save.
Pichardo and Sanchez each had two hits in the game, and Sanchez and Felix Martinez each doubled. Edgar Martinez had two RBIs as well.
MACU will step out of conference play on Tuesday afternoon, when they will host former SAC rival Southern Nazarene University (4-17). The teams will play a single 9-inning game beginning at 2 p.m.
