OKLAHOMA CITY - Weather forced the relocation of the Mid-America Christian University baseball team's double-header with Bacone College on Saturday. The storms that went through Oklahoma on Friday rendered the field at Bacone College unplayable, so the final two games of their weekend series were moved to James Curtis Field, where the teams had played on Thursday.
MACU (9-16, 5-9 SAC) generated chances all day, and in the series finale the Evangels exploded for nine runs as MACU took the series from Bacone (1-18, 1-14 SAC) for their first conference series win of the season.
Walks were plentiful for the Evangels at the plate in game one of the double dip, but as in the series opener, the Evangels were unable to find the timely hit they needed, and in the top of the fourth, Bacone struck first. A pair of one-out singles in bloop fly balls to right field put runners at the corners with one away, and Joe Depaolo served the second pitch he saw through the hole at shortstop for an RBI single to put the Warriors on top 1-0. Bacone added two more runs in the top of the sixth frame, and the Warriors carried a 3-0 lead to the bottom of the seventh.
MACU got a leadoff walk from Leo Bejaran, and after a throwing error on a pickoff attempt and a balk, Bejaran stood at third with nobody out. Edgar Martinez drew a walk, and another error on a pickoff attempt allowed Bejaran to score and Martinez to move up to second base. After a ground out, Martinez came across the plate on a wild pitch to pull MACU within one, and Felix Martinez and Junior Aracena each walked to put the winning run on base with one down in the frame. Unfortunately, MACU was not able to get the runs across, and Bacone took the win 3-2.
Christian Filpo, Jr. (1-0) won the game, tossing six innings and giving up two earned runs on only two hits. He walked nine in the game and struck out four. Ben Donnell (2-4) gave up three runs on seven hits, three walks, and he struck out 13 in the loss.
Pichardo and Raymond Rodriguez had MACU's two hits - both singles - in the game, Edgar Martinez walked three times, and Aracena and Yan Ely Adames each walked twice.
In the series finale, MACU got the offense in gear. After the Evangels loaded the bases with no one out in the bottom of the first and came away empty, MACU broke through with a big inning in the second.
Kevin Lentzner walked to start the second frame, Romi Rinehart singled up the middle to put runners at the corners, and Bejaran drove in Lentzner with an RBI single to get the Evangels on the board. Oliver Fernandez was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Pichardo and Felix Martinez each followed with RBI walks as MACU took a 3-0 lead and chased Bacone starting pitcher Kalil Lewis from the game. Aracena lofted a sacrifice fly to left center to score Austin Cooper, and Luis Sanchez followed with a two-RBI double, and suddenly, MACU had a 6-0 lead. Lentzner added an RBI single later in the inning to cap the 7-run frame as the Evangels took control early.
Raymond Rodriguez drove in Aracena with a double in the bottom of the fourth to push MACU;s lead to 8-0, and a sac fly from Felix Martinez in the fifth pushed the Evangels' advantage to 9-0. Bacone plated single runs in the sixth and seventh frames, but that was all they were able to muster, and MACU took the game 9-2, and the series 2-games-to-1.
Noel Diaz (2-3) tossed the complete game for the victory on the hill for MACU. Diaz gave up two runs, one earned, on six hits, two walks, and eight strikeouts. Lewis (0-5) took the loss, yielding six earned runs on three hitsfour walks and a strikeout.
Fernandez had a single and a double in the game, Sanchez and Felix Martinez each had two RBIs, and Sanchez and Rodriguez each also doubled in the game.
MACU will step out of conference play on Tuesday, April 2 for a trip north to Hillsboro, Kansas for a non-conference twin bill. The Evangels will take on the Tabor College Blue Jays (25-6) for a double header at 1 p.m.
