GREENVILLE, S.C. – After making a stellar debut for the Mid-America Christian baseball team this past weekend at Houston-Victoria, junior outfielder and right-handed pitcher Jaily Paredes was selected as the NCCAA Offensive Student-Athlete of the Week on Monday.
Appearing in his first games as an Evangel, the Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic product batted an incredible .688 in from the plate, going 11-for-16 with eight RBIs and nine runs scored while hitting a pair of home runs and two doubles to go along with a couple of walks.
While recognized for his offensive accomplishments, the Cecil College transfer also twirled a pair of gems on the pitcher's mound, coming in relief in two of the games. Between the two appearances, Paredes tossed six innings and recorded a 3.00 ERA after giving up just two earned runs on nine hits, with no walks and eight strikeouts while getting his first save and his first win.
In his debut game on Feb. 7, Paredes slashed 4-for-4 with a homer, a double, a walk, five RBIs and three runs scored to lead MACU to a 15-9 victory. Paredes also pitched two innings and gave up just one run and three strikeouts while picking up the save.
On Saturday, Paredes played a vital role in MACU's best offensive output since the 2016 season by going 3-for-3 with a walk, a double and recorded an RBI to go along with four runs in a 19-10 win in the first game of the doubleheader.
In the second game on Saturday, Paredes notched his second four-hit game of the weekend by batting 4-for-5 with a home run, two RBIs and a pair of runs scored. Once again coming in relief, the hurler threw four innings and gave up just one run on six hits with no walks and five strikeouts while recording his first win for the Evangels in the 9-7 victory.
It is the second week in a row that the Evangels had a player get a weekly NCCAA honor after junior starter Frensly Leito was named the NCCAA Pitcher Student-Athlete of the Week on Monday, Feb. 3. Last week, Leito threw seven no-hit, shutout innings and struck out 12 batters while not getting a decision in MACU's season-opener.
Mid-America Christian will be back in-action on Tuesday, Feb. 11 for a midweek, non-conference game against Friends University. First pitch is slated for 2 p.m. at James Curtis Field.
