STERLINGTON, La. – The MACU baseball team not only picked up its first win against a ranked opponent, but the Evangels also recorded their first extra-inning victory of the season as MACU defeated No. 12 MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 9-5 before winning a 7-5 thriller in nine innings against Louisiana Christian on the first day of the Cajun Collision Presented by NAIA Ball at the Sterlington Sports Complex on Friday.
GAME ONE / Mid-America Christian vs. No. 12 MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.)
SCORE
- Mid-America Christian 9, Louisiana Christian 5
- Mid-America Christian (8-0)
- MidAmerica Nazarene (1-4)
PITCHING DECISION
TOP PERFORMERS
- Yan Ely Adames – 3-4, 3 RBI
- Cole Fuecker – 2-3, 2B, 3 RBI, R
- Zane Robeaux – W, CG, 7 IP, 5 ER, 9 H, 1 BB, 8 SO
SCORING SUMMARY
- TOP 1st – MACU – Tylor Richey stole third, scored on error by c – MACU 1, MNU 0
- TOP 1st – MACU – Cole Fuecker doubled to right, RBI; Noel McGarry-Doyle scored – MACU 2, MNU 0
- TOP 1st – MACU – Yan Ely Adames singled to center, RBI; Cole Fuecker scored – MACU 3, MNU 0
- BTM 1st – MNU – Brycen Sherwood singled to right, RBI; Drew Woodley scored – MACU 3, MNU 1
- BTM 1st – MNU – A.J. McMahon homered to right, 2 RBI; Brycen Sherwood scored – MACU 3, MNU 3
- TOP 3rd – MACU – Cole Fuecker singled to right, RBI; Noel McGarry-Doyle scored – MACU 4, MNU 3
- TOP 3rd – MACU – Yan Ely Adames singled to center, RBI; Conner McKinney scored – MACU 5, MNU 3
- TOP 3rd – MACU – German Sepulveda singled to right, RBI; Cole Fuecker scored – MACU 6, MNU 3
- BTM 4th – MNU – Frank Vogel doubled to right, RBI; Javier Melendez scored – MACU 6, MNU 4
- BTM 4th – MNU – Drew Woodley hit a sac fly to cf, RBI; Frank Vogel scored – MACU 6, MNU 5
- TOP 6th – MACU – Cole Fuecker hit a sac fly to cf, RBI; Jacob Police scored – MACU 7, MNU 5
- TOP 6th – MACU – Yan Ely Adames singled to left, RBI; Noel McGarry-Doyle scored – MACU 8, MNU 5
- TOP 7th – MACU – Jacob Police singled to right, RBI; KJ Moo-Young scored – MACU 9, MNU 5
GAME NOTES
- Mid-America Christian pushed across its nine runs on 11 hits while MidAmerica Nazarene scored its five runs on nine hits and committed a pair of errors.
- Yan Ely Adames and Cole Fuecker were the big run producers for the Evangels in the victory as each finished with three RBIs. Both came up with some crucial ones as they went back-to-back in the sixth on a sacrifice fly for Fuecker before Adames drove a single to left to stretch the MACU edge to 8-5 at the time.
- Noel McGarry-Doyle continued to score in-bunches for MACU as he came across home plate three times while slashing 1-for-3 with a walk and hit-by-pitch.
- For the second time this season, Zane Robeaux went the distance to get the win and improve to 3-0 on the season. Over seven innings of work, Robeaux allowed five earned runs on nine hits and issued just one walk while striking out a season-high eight batters.
- The win for MACU marked their first NAIA Top 25 victory of the season. Robeaux was also on the bump when the Evangels got their last ranked win as it came in an 8-5 victory over No. 14 Science & Arts (Okla.) at the MACU Baseball Field on Mar. 31, 2022.
- The victory also marked MACU's first against MidAmerica Nazarene as the two teams were facing each other for the first time ever.
GAME TWO / Mid-America Christian vs. Louisiana Christian
SCORE
- Mid-America Christian 7, Louisiana Christian 5 (9 Inn.)
- Mid-America Christian (9-0)
- Louisiana Christian (5-1)
PITCHING DECISION
TOP PERFORMERS
- Jacob Police – 3-5, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, R
- George Gallardo – 1-1, HR, 2 RBI, R
- Kelton Lachelt – W, 2 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 4 SO
SCORING SUMMARY
- TOP 1st – MACU – Jacob Police homered to center, 2 RBI; Tylor Richey scored – MACU 2, LCU 0
- BTM 1st – LCU – Ju'Juan Franklin doubled to center, RBI; Nicholas Brunet scored – MACU 2, LCU 1
- BTM 1st – LCU – Haydon Helms singled to right, RBI; Ju'Juan Franklin scored – MACU 2, LCU 2
- TOP 2nd – MACU – German Sepulveda homered to right, RBI – MACU 3, LCU 2
- TOP 2nd – MACU – Jacob Police reached on error by 2b; Carlos Medina scored – MACU 4, LCU 2
- TOP 3rd – MACU – Carlos Medina singled to center, RBI; Andrew Enwiya scored – MACU 5, LCU 2
- BTM 4th – LCU – Nick Lorio singled to left, RBI; Peyton Lamartiniere scored – MACU 5, LCU 3
- BTM 7th – LCU – Adrian Aguilar scored on a wild pitch – MACU 5, LCU 4
- BTM 7th – LCU – Ja'Juan Franklin reached on an error by rf; Nicholas Brunet scored – MACU 5, LCU 5
- TOP 9th – MACU – George Gallardo homered to left-center, 2 RBI; Noel McGarry-Doyle scored – MACU 7, LCU 5
GAME NOTES
- The Evangels scored their seven runs on 12 hits and committed a pair of miscues while Louisiana Christian notched its five runs on nine hits to go with one error.
- MACU had the power bats going in game two as six of the Evangels' 11 hits came off of extra-base knocks with three doubles and three home runs. Jacob Police, German Sepulveda and George Gallardo each recorded their first homers of the season.
- While MACU held LCU scoreless in back-to-back innings and looked like it was going to close the door on the Wildcats in the seventh after Ryan Harney induced a groundout and a flyout in-between a hit-by-pitch. However, LCU rallied behind a Nicholas Brunet double down the left field line to put a pair of runners in scoring position. After a wild pitch plated one-run, the tying run came across when Noel McGarry-Doyle was unable to haul in the final out on a flyball to right-center.
- With two outs in the top of the ninth, Gallardo, who came in to play third as part of a defensive switch with Cole Fuecker, launched a two-strike missile over the left-center field wall to give the Evangels the lead.
- After allowing just one baserunner and tallying a pair of strikeouts in the eighth, MACU closer Kelton Lachelt earned his first win of the season after opening the ninth with back-to-back strikeouts before forcing the game-ending flyout to right-center to end the contest.
- Despite not getting the result, Harney had a solid outing, allowing just five runs, four earned on eight hits with no walks and a season-high eight strikeouts.
- Much like the earlier game, the Evangels earned their first ever win against the Wildcats in the first meeting between the two programs.
- The victory kept MACU's undefeated streak intact as the Evangels improved to 9-0 on the season while also handing Louisiana Christian its first loss of the 2023 campaign.
UP NEXT
- Mid-America Christian will close out the Cajun Collision on Saturday as the Evangels will take on Tabor (Kan.) at 2:30 p.m. before wrapping up with a 6 p.m. first pitch against McPherson (Kan.) at the Sterlington Sports Complex.
