MARSHALL, Texas – The Mid-America Christian baseball team got its season off to a strong start in a doubleheader played at Airport Park in Marshall, Texas as the Evangels came away with an 8-4, 13-4 sweep over Wiley on Sunday.

MACU rode a stellar start by MACU ace Frensly Leito over six shutout innings and a career-best 14 strikeouts while scoring seven runs over the final two innings to pull away with game one. In the second game of the contest, the Evangels were opportunistic with 29 players reaching base while setting the squad's first double-digit run game of the campaign.
 
GAME ONE
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 8, Wiley 4
  • Mid-America Christian (1-0)
  • Wiley (0-7)

PITCHING DECISION

• Win: Frensly Leito (1-0)
• Loss: Jalen Porter (0-2)

SCORING SUMMARY

• TOP 1^st – MACU – Yan Ely Adames singled to left, RBI; Blake Diggle scored – MACU 1, WC 0
• TOP 6^th – MACU – Yan Ely Adames homered to left, RBI – MACU 2, WC 0
• TOP 6^th – MACU – Caden Harris doubled to left, RBI; Ryan Reed scored – MACU 3, WC 0
• TOP 6^th – MACU – German Sepulveda tripled to center, RBI; Caden Harris scored – MACU 4, WC 0
• TOP 7^th – MACU – Andres Gonzalez homered to left-center, RBI – MACU 5, WC 0
• TOP 7^th – MACU – Christian Guezara walked; Blake Diggle scored on a wild pitch, unearned – MACU 6, WC 0
• TOP 7^th – MACU – Devon Villanueva hit a SAC fly to right, RBI; Brandon Reese scored – MACU 7, WC 0
• TOP 7^th – MACU – Caden Harris on a double to left, RBI; Christian Guevara scored – MACU 8, WC 0
• BTM 7^th – WC – James Martinez hit a SAC fly to center, RBI; Julian Rosales scored – MACU 8, WC 1
• BTM 7^th – WC – Jaylon Burrell homered to center, 3 RBI; Traylon Ansley scored; Jacob Perez scored – MACU 8, WC 4

TOP PERFORMERS

• Frensly Leito – W, 6 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 14 SO
• Yan Ely Adames – 4-4, HR, 2 RBI, R,
• Caden Harris – 2-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI, R
• Andres Gonzalez – 1-1, HR, RBI

GAME SUMMARY

• After Blake Diggle reached on a two-out two-base fielding error by the left fielder, senior catcher Yan Ely Adames gave the Evangels an early 1-0 lead on a hard-hit RBI single to left in the top of the first.
• Wiley threatened in the bottom of the first by loading the bases on a runner reaching on a dropped third strike, an infield single and a walk, but Frensly Leito recorded his fourth strikeout in the inning on Jaylon Burrell to get out of the jam.
• Leito found himself in another jam in the bottom of the third. After giving up a leadoff double and a walk with both runners advancing to second and third on a passed ball, Leito was able to get James Martinez and Burrell to strike out in back-to-back at-bats to get out of the inning.
• Mid-America Christian threatened in the top of the fifth. With two outs, Isaiah Leon lined a double to right-center field and advanced to third on a wild pitch, but WC third baseman Traylon Ansley snagged Diggle's liner down the line to keep it to a one-run game.
• In the bottom of the fifth, Leito notched his career-tying and career-high setting 13^th strikeout before inducing a 1-3 groundout with runners at first and second to hold the MACU edge at 1-0.
• To start off the sixth, Adames smashed his first home run of the season over the left field fence. Two batters later, Ryan Reed drew a walk and then came around to score on a Caden Harris RBI double to left. The Evangels capped the big inning with German Sepulveda smashing a triple to deep center field to bring the score to 4-0.
• The Evangels added to it with a four-run frame in the top of the seventh. In a pinch-hit appearance, Andres Gonzalez led off the inning with a solo shot to left-center. After Diggle was hit by a pitch and Adames notched his third hit with a single and both runners advancing to second and third, Diggle came around to score on a wild pitch on the walk to Christian Guevara to make it a 6-0 game.
• In the following at-bat, Devon Villanueva tallied his first career RBI with the Evangels with a sacrifice fly to right to score Brandon Reese before Harris slapped a double to the right fielder that lost the ball in the sun, scoring Christian Guevara to make it an 8-0 Evangels lead.
• Wiley was able to gain some ground in the bottom of the seventh with a James Martinez SAC fly to center and a three-run homer by Burrell, but MACU reliever David Lechuga was able to end it on a Caidin Franklin groundout to short to wrap-up the 8-4 win.

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian pushed across its eight runs on 11 hits and didn't commit an error while Wiley tallied its four runs on seven hits and made two miscues.
• Frensly Leito was stellar in his season-opener, throwing six shutout innings while giving up just five hits and three walks to go with a career-best 14 strikeouts. Those 14 K's are tied for the seventh-most recorded by an Evangels pitcher in a single game during the NAIA Era.
• Yan Ely Adames picked up right where he left off coming off an All-SAC First Team season. The senior catcher went 4-for-4 with a pair of RBIs and a solo home run. The dinger marked the 18^th of his four-year MACU career.
• The Evangels won their second straight season-opener after notching a 9-7 win in eight innings against Central Baptist (Ark.) in Dallas on Feb. 5, 2021.

 
GAME TWO
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 13, Wiley 4
  • Mid-America Christian (2-0)
  • Wiley (0-8)

PITCHING DECISION

• Win: Zane Robeaux (1-0)
• Loss: Chance Guidry (0-1)
• Save: Reese Cusiter (1)

SCORING SUMMARY

• BTM 2^nd – WC – Bryce Garrett walked, RBI; Traylon Ansley scored – WC 1, MACU 0
• BTM 2^nd – WC – Julian Rosales walked, RBI; Dennis Everson scored – WC 2, MACU 0
• TOP 3^rd – MACU – Blake Diggle singled to right, 2 RBI; Amni Ortega scored; Brandon Reese scored – MACU 2, WC 2
• TOP 3^rd – MACU – Yan Ely Adames grounded out to third, RBI; Isaiah Leon scored – MACU 3, WC 2
• BTM 3^rd – WC – Traylon Ansley singled to left, RBI; Donovan Rice scored – MACU 3, WC 3
• TOP 4^th – MACU – Amni Ortega reached on an error by 1B, RBI; Austin Wood scored, unearned; Caden Harris scored – MACU 5, WC 3
• TOP 5^th – MACU – German Sepulveda homered to left, 2 RBI; Caden Harris scored – MACU 7, WC 3
• BTM 5^th – WC – Traylon Ansley homered to center, RBI – MACU 7, WC 4
• TOP 7^th – MACU – Reid Rios scored on a wild pitch – MACU 8, WC 4
• TOP 7^th – MACU – Amni Ortega walked, RBI; Ryan Reed scored – MACU 9, WC 4
• TOP 7^th – MACU – Andres Gonzalez doubled to left, 2 RBI; Payton Walk scored; Caden Harris scored – MACU 11, WC 4
• TOP 7^th – MACU – Blake Diggle reached on an error by SS; Amni Ortega scored, unearned – MACU 12, WC 4
• TOP 7^th – MACU – Reid Rios hit a SAC fly to center, RBI; Andres Gonzalez scored – MACU 13, WC 4

TOP PERFORMERS

• German Sepulveda – 1-1, HR, 2 RBI, R
• Caden Harris – 1-2, 3 R, 2 BB
• Zane Robeaux – W, 5 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 8 SO
• Reese Cusiter – S, 2 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 SO

GAME SUMMARY

• Wiley was able to grab the early advantage in the bottom of the second. After the Wildcats loaded the bases on an error, a hit-by-pitch and an infield single following a strikeout, WC pushed across a pair of runs on bases loaded walks. However, MACU starter Zane Robeaux was able to limit the damage by striking out a pair of batters in-between the walks to keep it to a 2-0 game.
• MACU quickly answered back in the top of the third. After the Evangels loaded the bases on a hit-by-pitch for Grant Roberts, an Amni Ortega walk and an Isaiah Leon bunt single, Blake Diggle smacked a single to right to tie the game up at 2-2. Yan Ely Adames gave MACU the 3-2 advantage on the ensuing at-bat on an RBI groundout to score Leon from third.
• The Wildcats tied it back up on a Traylon Ansley single, but Ortega put MACU back in-front in the top of the fourth. On the go-ahead play, Ortega smashed a screeching liner to right to score Austin Wood and Caden Harris to make it a 5-3 game.
• In the top of the fifth, German Sepulveda came up with his second huge pinch-hit of the day, this time launching a two-run homer over the left field wall following a Harris walk to stretch the lead to 7-3.
• Wiley was able to get a run back in the bottom half of the fifth on a solo shot by Ansley, his second RBI of the day to pull it back into a save situation.
• After a scoreless sixth, the Evangels put the game away with a huge six-run frame in the top of the seventh. The Evangels loaded the bases on a pair of walks by Andrew Enwiya and Ryan Reed as well as a hard-hit single to center to center by Harris before pinch-runner Reid Rios started the scoring onslaught by scoring on a wild pitch by WC reliever Cord Mitchell.
• Three batters later, Ortega walked in his third RBI with the bases loaded prior to Andres Gonzalez smacking a two-RBI double to left to expand the lead to 11-4. The Evangels scored their final two runs of the game on a Diggle error to short before Rios hit a SAC fly to center to score Gonzalez, capping the scoring at 13-4.

GAME NOTES

• The Evangels were opportunistic in the night cap, scoring their 13 runs on six hits and made just one error while the Wildcats notched their four runs on six hits and also committed just one error.
• MACU was opportunistic from the plate, taking advantage of 11 walks issued by Wiley's pitching staff.
• Four different Evangels notched at least two RBIs with Blake Diggle, Andres Gonzalez, Amni Ortega and German Sepulveda leading the way.
• In his first start with MACU, Zane Robeaux earned the win after allowing four runs, but just two earned on six hits, three walks and eight strikeouts.
• Redshirt freshman reliever Reese Cusiter recorded his first career save with the Evangels after throwing a three-up, three-down seventh inning following a scoreless sixth. Cusiter only allowed one baserunner on a hit-by-pitch in his two innings of work.

UP NEXT
Mid-America Christian will return to action on Monday as the Evangels will wrap-up its four-game swing with a doubleheader at Jarvis Christian. The first game is slated for a noo