BETHANY, Okla. - The season is winding down on the Mid-America Christian University baseball team, and as MACU tries to rally back toward the .500 mark, the Evangels have little room for error. On Tuesday, the Evangels let one slip on the road.
MACU (14-21) came out swinging, building leads of 6-2 and 9-6, but Southern Nazarnee University (9-22) rallied late to take the 12-10 win.
MACU needed only two batters to come to the plate to break the ice in the game. Edgar Martinez singled to lead off the game, and Diego Pichardo followed by blasting his ninth home run of the season to put MACU on top 2-0.
SNU answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second frame - one of which was unearned - but the Evangels reclaimed the lead in the top of the third. Junior Aracena doubled with one out in the inning, and two batters later, Raymond Rodriguez singled him home to give MACU the 3-2 lead. Luis Sanchez cleared the bases with a two out double that knocked in three in the top of the fifth, and at the halfway point in the game, MACU led 6-2.
SNU answered with four runs off a tiring Yorick Henson in the bottom of the fifth, but MACU jumped right back on top with three tallied in the sixth to take the 9-6 lead. SNU, though, took advantage of an error to score four unearned runs in the bottom of the sixth, and the Crimson Storm took their first lead of the day, 10-9. SNU added a run in the bottom of the seventh to take an 11-9 lead, and in the eighth, Colin Minor of MACU and SNU's Jack Campbell traded solo home runs to provide the final margin of 12-10.
Elijah Brady (1-0) was given the win for SNU, as he thres two and one-third innings and gave up one earned run on two hits with a pair of strikeouts. Pedro Reyes (2-4) took the loss, giving up four unearned runs on one hit in one inning of work out of the MACU bullpen. Reyes walked three and struck out one. Cole Lee (1) earned the save for the Crimson Storm, allowing one hit and striking out one in the ninth inning.
Eight of the nine MACU starting position players had a hit, and five of those eight players had multi-hit games. Edgar Martinez and Raymond Rodriguez each had three hits in the game, including a double for Rodriguez and three RBIs. Pichardo and Minor each had a single and a homer in the game - the first as an Evangel for Minor - and each also scored twice. Pichardo added two RBIs, and Sanchez had a single, a double, and three knocked in. Rodriguez also scored twice.
MACU will return home for Senior Weekend on Friday and Saturday. The Evangels will host Central Christian College of Kansas (2-34, 1-18 SAC) for a single game on Friday at 2 p.m., with the double-header and Senior Day festivities slated for Saturday at Noon.
