OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian baseball team challenged Southern Nazarene at James Curtis Field, but the Evangels comeback efforts fell just short at 7-6 on Tuesday.
Mid-America Christian (14-5) made some phenomenal defensive plays in the early going, turning a 5-4-3 double play in the first and a 6-3 double play in the third to keep Southern Nazarene (5-10) off the board early on.
However, the Crimson Storm countered with a big double play of their own in the bottom of the second when Colin Minor was caught trying to score from third on Leonel Bejaran-Specht's flyout to center, keeping the game scoreless.
The Evangels were the first to break through in the bottom of the third. Edgar Martinez led off with a double and Yan Ely Adames slapped a single to left to put runners on the corners before pinch runner Joe Martinez stole second to put two in scoring position. Felix Martinez drove one home by slipping a single through the hole at short to make it a 1-0 game.
In the very next at-bat, senior first baseman Colin Minor slugged the Evangels' first home run at James Curtis Field, smashing a three-run blast over the left field fence to extend the lead to 4-0.
In the top of the fourth, MACU starter Frank Souza induced his third double play of the game, getting SNU catcher Tyler Broyles to ground into a 1-6-3 double play to get out of the inning.
Despite the Evangels getting a strong four-inning start from Souza, Southern Nazarene was able to get to the MACU pen by scoring seven unanswered runs over the next three innings to take a 7-4 lead.
Mid-America Christian got a couple of runs back in the eighth when Edgar Martinez led off the frame with a solo smash over the left field fence. Two batters later, Yan Ely Adames smacked a double to left-center to put a runner in scoring position. In the next at-bat, Jaily Paredes dropped an RBI single into the right-center field gap to score pinch-runner Joe Martinez to close the gap to 7-6.
The Evangels had one last chance to score the tying run in the bottom of the ninth after Grant Roberts drew a leadoff walk, but a Brandon Reese strikeout and back-to-back foul outs by Bejaran-Specht and Edgar Martinez ended the rally.
Despite suffering the loss, Mid-America Christian outhit Southern Nazarene, scoring six runs on 15 hits with an error while the Crimson Storm scored their seven runs on 12 hits and made one defensive miscue.
Edgar Martinez led the MACU bats, batting 3-for-6 with an RBI and two runs scored with a homer while Minor drove in three after going 2-for-2 with a homer and a run.
Despite not getting a decision, Souza tossed a solid four innings in his start, giving up no runs on two hits with no walks and four strikeouts. Paredes also pitched a strong 2.2 innings of relief, allowing no runs on two hits and struck out one with no walks.
Bernardo Moreno took the loss in relief, falling to 0-2 after giving up five earned runs on five hits with two walks and two strikeouts in 1.1 innings of work.
Mid-America Christian will be back in-action on Thursday as the Evangels will open Sooner Athletic Conference play against No. 3 Science & Arts. MACU will open the three-game series against the Drovers on Thursday at 2 p.m. at James Curtis Field before heading to Chickasha, Okla. to wrap-up the series with a doubleheader on Friday.
