OKLAHOMA CITY – Junior starting pitcher Frensly Leito from the Mid-America Christian baseball team received a pair of awards on Monday. The Wilhemstead, Curacao native was selected as both the Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC) and the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Pitcher of the Week.
Making his debut in the Evangels season-opener on Friday, Leito twirled a gem by no-hitting Bethany College through seven shutout innings while walking just two and striking out 12.
Despite not getting a decision in the 1-0, 10-inning loss, Leito became just the second pitcher at MACU to throw at least seven no-hit innings since the program joined the NAIA in 2008. The last pitcher to do so was Junior Obeso, who tossed a seven-inning perfect game against Central Christian on Apr. 9, 2016.
Leito's 12 strikeouts is also tied for the 11th most in a single game in the NAIA era, matching current teammates Keisy Portorreal and Arcangel Soto.
Even though the Evangels didn't get the win in the opener, the performance set the tone for the pitching through the weekend as MACU only gave up a combined four runs in the four-game series to take three-of-four from the Swedes.
It was just the second time in the NAIA era the Evangels opened the season by going 3-1 in a four-game series. The only other occasion came during 2017 campaign when MACU picked up 2-0, 10-0 and 4-3 wins in-between an 8-6 loss against Texas College on Feb. 3-4.
Leito is just the fifth Mid-America Christian pitcher since 2014 to earn SAC Pitcher of the Week honors. Portorreal received the award twice during the 2018 season while Jerry McNew (2017), Obeso (2016) and Robert Santana (2014) were the only other recipients.
Mid-America Christian will be back in-action this weekend as the Evangels will head to Victoria, Texas to take on the University of Houston-Victoria for its first road trip of the 2020 season. The Evangels will open with a Friday doubleheader starting at 3 p.m. before wrapping up the series with a doubleheader starting at noon on Saturday, Feb. 8.
