BEDFORD, Texas – After having what would have been the team's home opener against Bethany moved to the Meadow Lakes Athletic Complex in Bedford, Texas on Friday afternoon, the Mid-America Christian baseball program struggled to get the bats going in the cold weather as the Swedes swept the Evangels by scores of 9-2 and 6-4.
 

GAME ONE

SCORE

• Bethany 9, Mid-America Christian 2
  • Mid-America Christian (4-1)
  • Bethany (3-2)

 

PITCHING DECISION

• Win: Keyvan Grenard (1-0)
• Loss: Arcangel Soto (0-1)

 

 
STAT LEADERS

• Julian Fernandez – 2-for-3, 1 R
• Chance Bufford – 1-for-2, 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB
• Grant Roberts – 1-for-2, 2B, BB
• David Lechuga – 3 IP, 4 R, 0 ER, 1BB, 6 SO

 
SCORING SUMMARY

• Top 3^rd – BC – Hunter Roe doubled through the left side, 3 RBI; Chase Lorg scored, Braden Scrivner scored, Jaxson Cabrera scored – BC 3, MACU 0
• Bottom 3^rd – MACU – Chance Bufford reached on a fielder's choice, advanced to second on the throw, RBI; Brandon Reese out at second ss to 2b to 3b to ss; Julian Fernandez scored – BC 3, MACU 1
• Top 4^th – BC – Braden Scrivner doubled to center field, RBI; Christian Healer scored, unearned – BC 4, MACU 1
• Top 4^th – BC – Chase Lorg doubled to left field, RBI; Braden Scrivner scored – BC 5, MACU 1
• Bottom 5^th – MACU – Edgar Martinez struck out swinging, reached first on a passed ball; Brandon Reese advanced to third; Joshua Fernandez scored – BC 5, MACU 2
• Top 7^th – BC – Brooks DuBois doubled to center field, 2 RBI; Drew Massey advanced to third; Luis Ramos scored, unearned; Chase Lorg scored, unearned – BC 7, MACU 2
• Top 7^th – BC – Braden Scrivner singled to center field, 2 RBI; Jaxon Cabrera advanced to second; Brooks DuBois scored, unearned; Drew Massey scored, unearned – BC 9, MACU 2

 
GAME SUMMARY

• Mid-America Christian was able to hold Bethany scoreless through the first two innings, but were unable to stop the Swedes in the third. With the bases loaded and two outs, BC's Hunter Roe smashed a bases clearing double down the left field line to give the Swedes the early 3-0 edge.
• The Evangels got one back in the bottom half of the frame. Following a Julian Fernandez single and a Grant Roberts double, Chance Bufford hit an RBI fielder's choice groundout to bring in Fernandez from third to cut the deficit to 3-1.
• Bethany got two more in the top of the fourth on a pair of RBI doubles to swell the Swedes lead to four.
• MACU reliever David Lechuga came in on-fire in the top of fifth as he struck out the side in his second appearance of the season.
• With runners on second and third and two outs in the bottom of the fifth, it looked like the Swedes were going to get out of the inning before the ball got away from the catcher on an Edgar Martinez strikeout, allowing the MACU shortstop to reach first and Joshua Fernandez to reach home from third to bring it to a 5-2 score.
• The Swedes blew the game open in the top of the seventh when they notched a pair of 2-RBI doubles to seal the 9-2 victory.

 

GAME NOTES

• Bethany tallied its nine runs on 10 hits while Mid-America Christian notched its two runs on four hits and committed four errors.
• MACU starter Arcangel Soto suffered his first loss of the season after allowing five runs, four earned on five hits with three walks and struck out four over four innings of work.
• Despite giving up four unearned runs in the fourth, David Lechuga recorded six strikeouts to go with five hits and a walk in three innings of relief.
• It was MACU's first neutral site loss since falling 11-1 to Texas Wesleyan in the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament played at Jim Wade Stadium in Oklahoma City on May 6, 2019.

 

GAME TWO

SCORE

• Bethany 6, Mid-America Christian 4
  • Mid-America Christian (4-2)
  • Bethany (4-2)

 
PITCHING DECISION

• Win: Manuel Rodriguez (2-0)
• Loss: Bernardo Moreno (0-1)
• Save: Taylor Grider (1)

 

STAT LEADERS

• Yan Ely Adames – 2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI
• Andres Gonzalez – 2-for-4, 1 RBI
• Julian Fernandez – 1-for-2, 2 BB, 1 R
• Bernardo Moreno – 2 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 4 SO

 

SCORING SUMMARY

• Top 1^st – BC – Braden Scrivner homered, 2 RBI; Jaxson Cabrera scored – BC 2, MACU 0
• Bottom 1^st – MACU – Andres Gonzalez singled to center field, RBI; Grant Roberts advanced to third; Isaiah Haddad scored – BC 2, MACU 1
• Top 2^nd – BC – Braden Scrivner flied out to lf, SAC, RBI; Christian Healer scored – BC 3, MACU 1
• Bottom 3^rd – MACU – Yan Ely Adames singled to left center, 2 RBI; Julian Fernandez advanced to second; Joe Balak scored; Grant Roberts scored – MACU 3, BC 3
• Top 4^th – BC – Chase Lorg singled to left field, RBI; Braden Scrivner scored – BC 4, MACU 3
• Top 5^th – BC – Braden Scrivner walked, RBI; Jaxson Cabrera advanced to second; Brooks Dubois advanced to third; Drew Massey scored – BC 5, MACU 3
• Top 5^th – BC – Luis Rodriguez reached on an error by 2b, RBI; Braden Scrivner advanced to second; Jaxson Cabrera advanced to third; Brooks Dubois scored, unearned – BC 6, MACU 3
• Bottom 5^th – MACU – Isaiah Haddad singled up the middle, RBI; Yan Ely Adames advanced to third; Julian Fernandez scored – BC 6, MACU 4

 

GAME SUMMARY

• After getting off to a rocky start with Bethany leading off with a single and a two-run homer from Braden Scrivner, MACU starter Brad White retired three of the next five batters by way of the strikeout to limit the damage to just two runs in the top of first.
• Mid-America Christian started out strong as well with a leadoff walk by Isaiah Haddad and a Grant Roberts double put runners at second and third and nobody out. However, Swedes starter Manuel Rodriguez looked like he might get out of the jam by striking out the next two batter before Andres Gonzalez was able to plate one of the runners with his two-out RBI single to center, halving the deficit to 2-1.
• Bethany got a run back in the top of the third on a sacrifice fly by Scrivner to push the Swedes advantage back to two.
• Bernardo Moreno came in in relief at the top of the third and despite hitting a pair of batters, notched three strikeouts in the frame.
• With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the third, Yan Ely Adames came up with a clutch 2-RBI single to left center to plate Joe Balak and Grant Roberts to lock the game up at 3-all.
• The Swedes reclaimed the advantage with a run in the fourth and two more in the fifth to set the score to 6-3.
• MACU got one back in the bottom half of the fifth. Julian Fernandez reached on a leadoff walk and Adames smashed a double to the left side, setting up Isaiah Haddad for an RBI single up the middle to trim the Swedes' edge to 6-4.
• The Evangels best threat came in the bottom of the sixth when Gonzalez and Julian Fernandez hit back-to-back two-out singles to put runners at the corners, but the Evangels were unable to cash in during the inning as the Swedes held on for the eventual win.

 

GAME NOTES

• Bethany scored its six runs on six hits and committed two miscues while the Evangels pushed across their four runs on eight hits to go with two errors.
• The Evangels dropped their first doubleheader against Bethany since falling 10-4 and 10-9 at James Curtis Field on Feb. 7, 2017.
• Despite pitching well in relief, Bernardo Moreno suffered his first loss of the season after allowing just one earned run on two hits to go with four strikeouts.
• Grant Roberts continued to be one of the most potent bats in the MACU lineup, hitting his third double of the season and by also notching a pair of walks to boost his team-leading on-base percentage to .667 through six games.
• In his first appearance of the season, MACU junior reliever Max Charnin tossed a scoreless seventh inning to give the Evangels a chance in the bottom half of the frame.

 

NEXT UP

• With Mid-America Christian looking to postpone its Tuesday home-opener against Friends to Tuesday, Feb. 23 due to inclement weather, the Evangels will be back in Texas for a four-game series against Our Lady of the Lake next weekend. MACU will open the series with a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Friday, Feb. 19 in San Antonio.