OKLAHOMA CITY - The Mid-America Christian University and Southwestern Christian University moved across town on Friday for the final two games of their Sooner Athletic Conference weekend series, and the venue change paid immediate dividends for MACU.
Playing their first road game of the season, MACU (5-10, 1-4 SAC) rapped out 14 hits in game one of the twin bill, and the Evangels homered three times in the two games. The Evangels took game one 11-3, and SCU (18-7, 2-4 SAC) bounced back to claim victory in game two 9-4.
Luis Sanchez singled home Diego Pichardo to open the scoring in the top of the first inning of game one, and after SCU tied the game in the bottom of the frame, MACU broke things open in the second.
Yan Ely Adames singled up the middle with one out, and Junior Aracena followed by launching a two-run homer to left that put MACU up 3-1. Raymond Rodriguez and Oliver Fernandez followed Aracena with back-to-back singles, and Pichardo drew a free pass to load the bases. A passed ball and an RBI ground out from Felix Martinez brought Sanchez back to the plate, and he drove in Pichardo with a single to right center, then Sanchez scored ahead of a double from Colin Minor that capped the six run frame.
SCU scored twice in the bottom of the second, but Aracena answered in the top of the third with his second home run of the game to push MACU's lead to 8-3. Sanchez picked up a third RBI hit in the fourth, and he and Minor scored ahead of a two-RBI double from Adames in the fourth to cap the scoring as MACU cruised in with the 11-3 win.
Arcangel Soto (1-2) threw his second straight complete game, this time earning the victory. The junior right-hander allowed three earned runs on 10 hits in seven innings, he did not walk a batter, and he fanned six Eagles. Juan Carlos Gonzalez (2-4) was chased after just an inning and two-thirds, and he gave up seven earned runs on seven hits and two walks without a strikeout.
Sanchez was 3-for-4 in the game with a double, two runs scored, and three RBIs. Aracena homered twice (3) in four at bats with three RBIs, and Minor, Adames, Rodriguez, and Fernandez all also had two hits in the game. Pichardo drew two walks and scored twice, and Adames had a pair of RBIs also.
The rubber game of the series went scoreless into the bottom of the third inning, but that is when SCU took control. The Eagles scored five runs on four hits in the inning to take a 5-0 lead, but MACU answered with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth. After a pair of SCU errors with two outs, MACU loaded the bases, and Rodriguez and Fernandez each drove in runs with a bases loaded walk to trim the MACU deficit to 5-2.
SCU added two runs in the bottom of the fourth, and two more in the last of the fifth to build a 9-2 lead, and though MACU tried to rally, a 2-run homer from Pichardo in the top of the seventh was all they were able to push across, as MACU fell in the game 9-4 and dropped the series two games to one.
Victor Del Carmen (5-0) threw the complete game and allowed four runs - only two earned - on four hits, two walks, and five strikeouts. Pedro Reyes (0-2) lasted two and one-third innings, and he was touched up for two runs on three hits and four walks. Aracena doubled in the game, Pichardo homered (3), and Adames and Edgar Martinez each also had hits in the game. Sanchez drew a walk to extend his streak of reaching base to 15 straight games.
MACU will be off until next friday, March 15, when they head across town to open their next SAC weekend series. The split series will begin on the road at NAIA #7 Oklahoma City University (19-2, 4-0 SAC) at 6 p.m. for the single game before the series shifts across town on Saturday, March 16 to MACU for the double header.
