OKLAHOMA CITY - The Mid-America Christian University softball team has 15 games left in their 2019 regular season, and after a comeback win in the second game of Thursday's double-header with Langston University, the Evangels are closing in on clinching a postseason berth.
MACU (19-11, 14-9 SAC) extended their winning streak to six games with a sweep of Langston (12-25, 6-18 SAC), and in doing so, the Evangels pushed themselves to a season-high eight games above the .500 mark with wins of 10-0 (5 inn.) and 5-3.
MACU took commend early in game one. Regan Martin set the Lions down in order in the top of the first, and in the bottom half, the MACU offense provided her with a four run cushion. Jessica Holt led off by drawing a walk, and Amber O'Bryant followed with a bunt single. Alanna Leisy followed by drawing a walk to load the bases with nobody out, and Hanna Harris singled to get MACU on the board. O'Bryant and Leisy scored on a passed ball and a wild pitch, respectively, and Hannah Salmon capped the inning with a single that scored Harris to give MACU a 4-0 lead.
The score remained the same into the bottom of the third frame, when the Evangels put the game away. Leisy singled up the middle with one out, and Harris followed with a double to put runners at second and third. Brittany Ward doubled the two of them home one out later, and Regan Martin followed with an RBI double to score Ward and extend the advantage to 7-0. After a walk to Caitlin Butler, Ribbin Dorado doubled home a pair, and she later scored on a single from Holt to put an exclamation point on the six run frame.
That proved to be more than enough for Martin (9-4) in the circle. The sophomore from Sheridan, Arkansas threw four shutout innings and gave up only one hit and struck out two in the game. Adrienne Phillips pitched the final inning and allowed two hits. Kaori Corn (0-4) took the loss for Langston, allowing four earned runs on three hits without recording an out, and she walked a pair.
Harris was 2-for-2 with a double and two runs scored, Leisy scored twice, Ward drove in a pair, and Ward, Martin, and Dorado each had a two-base hit.
Langston struck first in game two, and they tallied single runs in each of the first three innings to build a 3-0 lead. The MACU offense, on the other hand, started slowly. The Evangels managed to put four runners on base in the first three innings, but none of those runners advanced past second base, and entering the bottom of the fourth frame, Langston held a 3-0 lead.
The first two Evangels went quietly in the fourth, but with two outs, MACU put together three straight hits from Taylor Bankston, Brook Hendrickson, and Dorado. With the help of an error, Bankston scored on Dorado's single, and Hendrickson and Dorado moved up to second and third, and Holt followed with a single that tied the ballgame at 3-3.
MACU threatened to take the lead in the bottom of the fifth, as the Evangels loaded the bases with no one out, but they were unable to score, and the game headed to the sixth in a 3-3 deadlock.
Dorado led off the bottom of the sixth with an infield single, and after Dorado stole second, Holt put down a bunt single and stole second base to put runners at second and third for O'Bryant. O'Bryant put down a beautiful bunt along the first base line for a single that scored Dorado on the squeeze, and Leisy grounded out to short to knock in Holt to give MACU the 5-3 lead.
Caitlin Butler - who had entered the game to pitch in the top of the third - got the first two outs of the top of the seventh, but a pair of singles led to head coach Robert Wakefield turning the ball over to Martin to try and nail down the save. Martin did so on three pitches, and the Evangels took the win 5-3, and the season series from the Lions 3-1.
Butler (1-3) threw four and one-third innings in relief of McKenzie Smith, and Butler allowed five hits and struck out three without walking a batter to earn the win. The loss went to Jasmyn Davis (6-8), who tossed a complete game and yielded five earned runs on 13 hits with four strikeouts. Martin (2) earned the save.
O'Bryant was 3-for-4 in the game with an RBI, and four other Evangels also had multi-hit games. Holt, Bankston, Hendrickson, and Dorado all singled twice as MACU rapped out 13 hits - all singles - in the game.Holt had two RBIs, and Dorado scored twice.
MACU will continue their homestand on Friday when they welcome in the Ecclesia Royals (11-11) to Jack Allen Field for a double-dip starting at 1 p.m.
