OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian baseball team is preparing to open the 2020 season on Friday, Jan. 31 as the Evangels will host a four-game series against Bethany College (Kan.) at James Curtis Field.
Mid-America Christian will open the series with a doubleheader on Friday starting at noon before wrapping up the series with a doubleheader starting at noon on Saturday.
SCOUTING THE SWEDES
Bethany College enters the weekend slate with a 3-1 record after opening the season by taking 3-of-4 at Huston-Tillotson. The Swedes opened the series with 4-0 and 6-0 shutouts over the Rams on Saturday, Jan. 26 before closing out the series with a 7-2 win and an 11-5 loss on Sunday.
The Swedes were picked to finish 10th in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference preseason poll after finishing the 2019 campaign with a 25-28 record and a 14-19 mark in conference play.
Bethany will be led on the mound by sophomore starter Jason Nowlin, who is coming off a complete game shutout against the Rams, giving up just two hits and four walks while striking out 15 in seven innings of work. Freshman right-handed starter Manuel Rodriguez threw six shutout innings of two-hit ball, giving up just two walks while striking out 11 in his scoreless start.
The Evangels pitching will look to quiet the red-hot bats of senior catcher Evan Schwab, who batted .583 against HTU with five RBIs and a pair of runs as well as junior outfielder Chase Lorg after two of his four hits left the park while driving in four runs and crossing home plate four times.
HISTORY WITH THE SWEDES
Since 2005, Bethany holds a 10-5 edge in the series, with their last meeting coming in Lindsborg, Kan. on Apr. 17, 2018. In that doubleheader series, the Evangels fell 10-6 in the first game, but bounced back with a 10-8 win in the finale. In the second game of that matchup, Felix Martinez hit a bases-clearing double in the sixth inning to give MACU an 8-4 edge.
THE KEISY COMEBACK
Mid-America Christian will be looking forward to the return of senior right-handed starter Keisy Portorreal. After missing almost the entire 2019 season, the 2018 NCCAA 2nd Team All-American from Santiago, Dominican Republic will look to return to form after going 9-3 with a 2.82 ERA with a school-record 131 strikeouts and just 26 walks in 95.2 innings of work over the course of 15 starts. During the 2018 campaign, Portorreal threw four complete-game shutouts, including a 17-strikeout performance in an 8-0 victory over Central Christian on Mar. 9, 2018.
FELIX FINDING HIS STRIDE
Portorreal isn't the only one looking to return to 2018 form as senior infielder Felix Hernandez will be seeking to replicate his success from the plate from the 2018 campaign. Joining Portorreal on the All-NCCAA Second Team list, Hernandex batted a blistering .402 with an incredible .721 slugging percentage after bashing a team-best 11 home runs and 33 extra base hits along with 53 RBIs. Despite struggling from the plate last season, the hard-hitter from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic still managed to rip six homers and 16 extra base hits while driving in 23 and scoring 25 runs.
"MINOR" IMPACT
In his first season with the Evangels last year, infielder Colin Minor made more than just a "minor" impact in the MACU lineup. After missing the first month of the season, the San Antonio, Texas product stormed into the Evangels lineup, finishing the season with a team-leading .315 batting average with a .383 on-base percentage and a .481 slugging percentage. The five-hole hitter put together a monster game in a 12-6 victory at Southwestern Assemblies of God on Apr. 12, 2019, slashing a career-best 3-for-4 from the plate with three RBIs and a pair of runs scored. Minor will be looking to add to that production over the course of the 2020 season.
