OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian baseball team struggled to contain the No. 16 Oklahoma City bats in the team's Sooner Athletic Conference opener as the Evangels fell 10-3 at James Curtis Field on Thursday afternoon.
 
SCORE

• Oklahoma City 10, Mid-America Christian 3
  • Mid-America Christian (6-6)
  • Oklahoma City (8-6)

PITCHING DECISION

• Win: Tanner Sparks (4-0)
• Loss: Brad White (2-1)

STAT LEADERS

• Joe Balak – 1-3, HR, 2 RBI, R, BB
• Andres Gonzalez – 2-4, 2B, RBI
• Yan Ely Adames – 2-4, R
• Edgar Martinez – 1-2, 2 SB, R
• Max Charnin – 3 IP, 0 ER, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 5 SO

SCORING SUMMARY

• Top 1^st – OCU – Gunner Halter homered to right field; RBI – OCU 1, MACU 0
• Top 1^st – OCU – Frederic Walter reached on an error by 2b; Peyton Crispin advanced to second; Bryson Lierle advanced to third; Noah Barks scored, unearned – OCU 2, MACU 0
• Top 1^st – OCU – Cade Stephens walked, RBI; Frederic Walter advanced to second; Peyton Crispin advanced to third; Bryson Lierle scored, unearned – OCU 3, MACU 0
• Top 2^nd – OCU – Bryson Lierle doubled to right-center, RBI; Dalton Reed advanced to third; Noah Barks scored – OCU 4, MACU 0
• Top 3^rd – OCU – Frederic Walter homered to right field, RBI – OCU 5, MACU 0
• Top 3^rd – OCU – Noah Barks advanced to second on a wild pitch; John Anthon advanced to third; Cade Stephens scored – OCU 6, MACU 0
• Bottom 4^th – MACU – Joe Balak homered to right field, 2 RBI; Yan Ely Adames scored – OCU 6, MACU 2
• Top 6^th – OCU – Frederic Walter doubled down the lf line, 2 RBI; Peyton Crispin advanced to third; Bryson Lierle scored, Dalton Reed scored – OCU 8, MACU 2
• Top 6^th – OCU – Cade Stephens singled to right-center, RBI; Frederic Walter advanced to third; Peyton Crispin scored – OCU 9, MACU 2
• Top 6^th – OCU – John Anthon reached on a fielder's choice, RBI; Cade Stephens was forced out (6-4), Frederic Walter scored – OCU 10, MACU 2
• Bottom 6^th – MACU – Andres Gonzalez singled thru hole at SS, RBI; Joe Balak advanced to second; Edgar Martinez scored – OCU 10, MACU 3

GAME SUMMARY

• Junior starter Brad White struggled in his fourth start of the season, giving up six runs, four earned through the first three innings, two of which came off of leadoff home runs in the first and third innings.
• Mid-America Christian was able to get a pair back in the bottom of the fourth after Yan Ely Adames smacked a single up the middle before Joe Balak blasted a two-run shot over the right field fence to cut the deficit to 6-2.
• Oklahoma City all but put the game away in the sixth inning, putting together a four-run frame against MACU reliever Brayan Garcia to extend its lead to 10-2.
• After Edgar Martinez was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning and stole second, Andres Gonzalez came up with an RBI single through the hole at short to score the senior shortstop, trimming the deficit to 10-3.
• Max Charnin pitched a very strong eighth inning in relief, striking out the side to contain the Stars bats.
• Mid-America Christian couldn't to put together a major threat over the final three innings as the Stars came away with the victory.

GAME NOTES

• Oklahoma City scored its 10 runs on 10 hits and committed no errors while the Evangels pushed across their three runs on seven hits and made two defensive miscues.
• While MACU struggled to score, the Evangels did challenge OCU ace Tanner Sparks. The three earned runs the Evangels scored were the most that Sparks had given up in his four starts this season.
• After coming off one of his best starts of the year against Evangel last week, MACU starter Brad White struggled against the red-hot OCU bats as he was credited with his first loss of the season, falling to 2-1 in the 2021 campaign.
• Joe Balak's two-run homer in the fourth was the first homer hit by the Evangels at James Curtis Field this season.
• One bright spot for the Evangels was the work of junior reliever Max Charnin, who went three innings and didn't allow a hit or a walk while striking out five.

ON DECK

• Mid-America Christian will face Oklahoma City once again on Saturday as they will travel uptown to take on the Stars in a doubleheader. The first game of the twin bill is slated for a 1 p.m. start.