OKLAHOMA CITY – Even though the season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mid-America Christian softball team still finished the campaign with a 10-8 record for its third straight winning season as well as its sixth winning campaign in the past seven years.
The Evangels got off to their best start since moving up to the NAIA level in 2008 by winning nine of the first 10 games, which included doubleheader sweeps over Crowley's Ridge (Ark.), Sterling (Kan.) and Southwestern (Kan.) before taking three of four in their Sooner Athletic Conference opener against Central Christian.
"We started the season off very successfully, but we ran into tough competition in the Langston Invitational Tournament and ended our season with tough losses against nationally second-ranked USAO," said MACU Head Coach Robert Wakefield. "We were just beginning to readjust our lineup when the season came to an abrupt end."
During MACU's NAIA era run, the Evangels posted a program-record .342 team batting average while the 6.4 runs per game was the highest rate in the last 12 years.
Despite the season being ended early, Mid-America Christian still managed to land six players on the All-Sooner Athletic Conference Team, which included Olivia Roberts being selected as the SAC Freshman of the Year.
In just her first season, the first baseman from Mustang, Okla. was the team's leading hitter with a .429 batting average as well as possessed a team-best .476 on-base percentage. Her 14 RBIs and .554 slugging percentage were also the second-highest on the squad.
"I'm so proud of Olivia," said Wakefield. "She is the first freshman to receive this award at MACU and I hope this is just the beginning of big things in her career here."
Joining Roberts on the All-SAC First Team was senior Hannah Salmon. Receiving her third straight all-conference honor, the local Oklahoma City native led the team with 17 RBIs as well as six extra-base hits and also scored the second-most runs with 15 while batting for a .353 average.
Salmon rounded out her MACU career by setting several top five program marks, which includes holding the records for RBIs (96), on-base percentage (.432), and triples (7), as well as second in batting average (.379), third in slugging percentage (.479) and fourth in hits (150), runs (87) and total bases (187).
"We will miss Hannah as she's been a three-year starter playing both catcher and right field for us," Wakefield stated. "She consistently did a great job and was impactful in her leadership."
Four Evangels earned Second Team accolades, including seniors Ribbin Dorado, Jessica Holt and McKenzie Smith as well as a newcomer in junior Faith Hollingsworth.
A four-year player with the program, Dorado was a two-time All-SAC honoree and turned in a career-best .380 batting average and scored 11 runs. The Cushing, Okla. product rounded out her tenure at MACU as the program's second all-time base stealer with 44 while scoring the third-most runs at 95.
"Ribbin has been a starter for us the past three years," said Wakefield. "As a sophomore, she was named an NCCAA All-American as a left fielder. We will certainly miss Ribbin's leadership on and off the field."
In the circle, the Evangels faced a tough challenge to start the season when two-time NCCAA All-American Regan Martin missed the first four games due to an injury, but Smith alongside sophomore Adrienne Phillips stepped up in a big way in her absence.
Smith earned All-SAC Second Team accolades after going 5-3 with a team-leading leading 21 strikeouts over 47.2 innings for a 3.70 ERA. The senior closed out her MACU career with the third-best ERA in the team's history at 2.75.
"McKenzie has been an important part of our pitching rotation for the past two years," Wakefield added. "She stepped up in the circle this year by pitching more innings than in her previous year."
Mid-America Christian graduates eight seniors from the 2020 class. Along with Dorado, Holt, Salmon and Smith, the Evangels also graduate Caitlin Butler, Brook Hendrickson, Amber O'Bryant and Aubrie Giguiere.
"What this class has accomplished in the last four years speaks volumes about their character and devotion both on the field and in the classroom," Wakefield remarked. "They've played an intricate part of our program's success and I cannot express how much of a blessing it has been to coach them."
