OKLAHOMA CITY - Rare is the game where a baseball team can earn a victory while managing only three hits. That is exactly what the Mid-America Christian University baseball team did at home on Thursday.
MACU (8-15, 4-8 SAC) managed only three hits on the day against BAcone College (0-17, 0-13 SAC), but the Evangels worked 15 walks in the ballgame to earn the 5-3 victory.
Yorick Henson took the mound to start for the Evangels, and right away he found himself in a minor jam. Two MACU errors in the top of the first inning put runners at second and third with two men out, but Henson induced a fly out to left field to end the inning, and he put it on cruise control from there.
Henson allowed a leadoff single in the second inning, but he went to work, retiring the next 10 batters he faced, and in the mean time, MACU built a lead.
The Evangels drew three straight walks to start the second inning, loading the bases with nobody out. After a strikeout, and a fielder's choice, Edgar Martinez stepped to the plate and singled to center to drive in Kevin Lentzner, but Manuel Hazoury was thrown out at the plate trying to score to end the inning.
Two more walks and a pair of wild pitches led to another run in the third frame. Diego Pichardo and Felix Martinez worked back-to-back free passes and both moved up on the second wild pitch of the inning to put runners at second and third with no one out. Junior Aracena stepped up and drilled a fly ball to left that died in the 25-mile-per-hour for a sacrifice fly that scored Pichardo to put MACU ahead 2-0.
MACU loaded the bases again on walks in the fifth frame, and pinch hitter Colin Minor picked up an RBI on a base on balls to force in Aracena and MACU carried a 3-0 lead into the top of the seventh frame.
Henson allowed back-to-back walks to open the seventh frame, and after an unsuccessful sacrifice attempt, an RBI single to center loaded the bases with one away. Bacone's Andrew Adams lined a double into the right-center field gap to plate a pair and chase Henson from the game, and a later RBI single with two outs tied the score at 3-3.
Felix Martinez led off the bottom of the seventh inning with his second single of the game, and Aracena followed with a walk to put two on for Luis Sanchez. A balk moved the runners to second and third, and Sanchez reached on a free pass, loading the bases for the third time in the game for MACU. Lentzner followed with an RBI on a fielder's choice to third that scored Martinez, and after a wild pitch and a second walk to Minor, pinch-hitter Yan Ely Adames belted a line drive sacrifice fly to center to score Sanchez and give MACU a 5-3 lead.
Bacone looked like they might answer back immediately in the eighth when Kyle Winstead lined a would-be double into the gap in right center, but Winstead pulled up rounding first and had to leave the game for a pinch runner. MACU immediately took advantage of the opportunity, as two pitches later, Dalton Martin bounced into a 6-3 double play, and the Evangels got out of the inning with no damage, and the Evangels hung on to win 5-3.
Pedro Reyes (1-2) fired two innings of scoreless relief, allowing two hits and two walks. He gave way to Reid Bukowski (2) who earned the save in two-thirds of an inning with one strikeout. The loss went to the Warriors' Breydon Holton (0-3) who gave up two earned runs on one hit in an inning and two-thirds. Holton walked four and struck out three. Bacone starting pitcher Seth Dunlap issued 10 walks in the game.
Felix Martinez was 2-for-3 with a pair of singles and two walks, Luis Sanchez drew three free passes, and Lentzner, Hazoury, and Minor each walked twice. Eight of MACU's nine starters, and nine different Evangels overall, drew at least one walk in the game.
The teams will resume the weekend series in Muskogee, Oklahoma on Saturday for a double-header at Noon.
