PLAINVIEW, Texas – For the third time in the series, the game ended with a 4-3 final, but this time the Mid-America Christian baseball team came up on the short end against Wayland Baptist at David & Myrt Wilder Field on Sunday afternoon.
 
SCORE

• Wayland Baptist, 4, Mid-America Christian 3
  • Mid-America Christian (15-6, 5-1 SAC)
  • Wayland Baptist (14-8, 1-5 SAC)

PITCHING DECISION

• Win: Victor Feliz (2-2)
• Loss: Luuk ter Beek (1-2)
• Save: Jose Suero (6)

SCORING SUMMARY

• TOP 5^th – MACU – German Sepulveda homered to left, RBI – MACU 1, WBU 0
• TOP 5^th – MACU – Isaiah Leon doubled to left, RBI; Ryan Reed scored – MACU 2, WBU 0
• TOP 5^th – MACU – Yan Ely grounded into a fielder's choice, RBI; Isaiah Leon scored – MACU 3, WBU 0
• BTM 6^th – WBU – Dawin Santos homered to center, 3 RBI; Jake Green scored; Arturo Disla scored – MACU 3, WBU 3
• BTM 8^th – WBU – William Flowers grounded into a double play; Dawin Santos scored – WBU 4, MACU 3

TOP PERFORMERS

• Devon Villanueva – 3-4, 2B, 3B
• German Sepulveda – 1-4, HR, RBI, R
• Isaiah Leon – 2-5, 2B, RBI, R

GAME NOTES

• Despite suffering the loss, Mid-America Christian out-hit the Pioneers 9-8, but committed one error to none for WBU.
• Mid-America Christian scored all three of its runs in the top of the fifth when German Sepulveda led off the frame with a solo homer, his third of the season, over the left field fence on the very first pitch.
• After Ryan Reed reached on a bunt single down the third base line, Isaiah Leon drove him in with a double to the left-center field gap, bringing the score to 2-0. With runners at first and third and one out, Yan Ely Adames drove in the final run by beating out a potential double play on a fielder's choice groundout to second.
• Wayland Baptist mustered a major threat in the bottom of the fifth by loading the bases with just one out, but MACU starter Cameron Brown was able to get out of the jam by getting Cesar Lopez to fly out into shallow right field before inducing Jack Kolich to hit into a 6-4 fielder's choice groundout to keep the Pioneers off the board.
• With two of the first three WBU batters reaching to start off the fifth, the Pioneers' power hitter Dawin Santos tied the game up by smashing a three-run blast to center, bringing the score to 3-3.
• MACU's biggest threat to take the lead back came in the top of the seventh when Devon Villanueva just barely missed a home run to left-center that banged off the wall, resulting in a two-out triple. However, WBU reliever Victor Feliz was able to get Caden Harris to popout to short to end the inning.
• Wayland Baptist pushed ahead the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth. After the first two batters reached on back-to-back singles to start off the inning, Evangels reliever Luuk ter Beek was able to get pinch-hitter William Flowers to ground into a 4-3 double play, but it resulted in Santos scoring from third to make it a 4-3 game.
• In the top of the ninth, Mid-America Christian got a runner on as Julian Martinez was able to slap a one-out single through the right side, but Pioneers reliever Jose Suero was able to get MACU's top bat in Andrew Enwiya to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to end the game.
• Despite suffering the loss, Mid-America Christian won the regular season series against Wayland Baptist after winning both games of the doubleheader by a score of 4-3 on Saturday.
• Mid-America Christian suffered its first Sooner Athletic Conference loss of the season, dropping to second in the SAC standings with a 5-1 league mark.
• Cameron Brown put together a solid outing in the no-decision, giving up three earned runs on four hits with three walks and one strikeout across 5.2 innings. Luuk ter Beek took the tough-luck loss after allowing just one earned run on four hits with a strikeout over 2.1 innings of work.
• Devon Villanueva finished just a homer away from completing the cycle after slashing 3-for-4 with a double and a triple.
• Isaiah Leon had another solid day at the plate, batting 2-for-5 with a double, an RBI and a run scored.

UP NEXT

• With renovations completed at the MACU Baseball Field, the Evangels will get to play their first home games of the season on the campus of Mid-America Christian on Tuesday, Mar. 15 as the Evangels will host Dallas Christian for a 1 p.m. non-conference doubleheader.