OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU baseball team will be home for the first time this season as the Evangels host Iowa Wesleyan for a four-game series at the MACU Baseball Field this weekend. The series will open with a noon doubleheader on Friday before coming back for another noon first pitch on Saturday.
 
MACU SEASON REPORT

• Record: 9-2
• Last Game: Lost vs. (RV) McPherson (Kan.) – 8-2 – Feb. 11, 2023 – Sterlington, La.
• Top Performers (Hitting):
  • Noel McGarry-Doyle – SO – OF
    • .406 BA (13-32), 1 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 15 R, 6 BB, 2 HBP, 3 SB, .525 OB%, .750 SLG%
  • Jacob Police – FR – 2B
    • .364 BA (12-33), 2 2B, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 11 R, 4 BB, 2 HBP, 5 SB, .450 OB%, .515 SLG%
  • Cole Fuecker – JR – 3B
    • .333 BA (11-33), 4 2B, 8 RBI, 6 R, 3 BB, 2 HBP, .400 OB%, .455 SLG%
• Top Performers (Pitching):
  • Ryan Harney – SO – RHP
    • 2-0 W-L, 1.80 ERA, 3 APP, 3 GS, 1 CG, 1 SHO, 20 IP, 13 H, 8 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 13 SO
  • Zane Robeaux – JR – RHP
    • 3-0 W-L, 2.70 ERA, 3 APP, 3 GS, 2 CG, 20 IP, 16 H, 8 R, 6 ER, 4 BB, 18 SO
  • Kelton Lachelt – JR – RHP
    • 1-0 W-L, 1 SV, 0.00 ERA, 2 APP, 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO
• Team Notes:
  • Mid-America Christian competed in the prestigious Cajun Collision last week as the Evangels went 2-2, winning the Friday games 9-5 over No. 12 MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) and 7-5 over Louisiana Christian, but had a tough showing in the Saturday slate, suffering a 6-0 loss to Tabor (Kan.) and an 8-2 defeat to McPherson (Kan.).
  • The Evangels have been getting solid starting pitching through the first three weeks as three of MACU's four starters are posting a 3.00 or lower ERA. Junior starter Zane Robeaux has especially been off to a strong start, throwing a pair of complete games while notching a 2.70 ERA to go with 18 strikeouts to only four walks.
  • After getting off to a brutal start, going 2-for-16 (.125) through Feb. 3, junior third baseman Cole Fuecker has been swinging an electric bat in the last six games, swatting 9-of-20 (.450) with seven RBIs and four runs scored with three of the hits being doubles.
  • MACU has featured a balanced batting lineup to start the season with seven players hitting .300 or better through the first 11 games while Conner McKinney just barely sits outside of the .300 threshold with a .297 (11-of-37).

SCOUTING REPORT
Iowa Wesleyan

• Record: 3-0
• Last Game: Won vs. Hannibal-LaGrange (Mo.) – 7-0 – Feb. 11, 2023 – Memphis, Tenn.
• Series vs. MACU: First Meeting
• Last Game vs. MACU: N/A
• Players to Watch (Hitting):
  • Drew Cook – FR – 1B
    • .600 BA (3-5), 1 HR, 3 RBI, 3 R, 2 BB, .714 OB%, 1.200 SLG%
  • David Amaya – FR – OF
    • .455 BA (5-11), 3 RBI, 4 R, 2 BB, .538 OB%, .455 SLG%
  • Carlos Vicente – FR – OF
    • .375 BA (3-8), 1 2B, 3 RBI, 3 R, 4 SB, .545 OB%, .500 SLG%
• Players to Watch (Pitching):
  • Jackson Van Roekel – FR – LHP
    • 1-0 W-L, 0.00 ERA, 1 APP, 1 GS, 6 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO
  • Cauy Massner – FR – RHP
    • 1-0 W-L, 0.00 ERA, 1 APP, 1 GS, 6 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO
• Team Notes:
  • Iowa Wesleyan opened their season with a three-game sweep over Hannibal-LaGrange in Memphis last weekend. After opening the series with a 13-4 win over the Trojans on Feb. 10, the Tigers notched a pair of 5-0, 7-0 shutout wins on Feb. 11.
  • IWU's pitching in the series was downright spectacular, allowing just a 0.78 ERA on 23 hits and issued only seven walks over 23 innings of work. Jackson van Roekel has been the most effective starter thus far for the Tigers, striking out seven batters over six innings in his first appearance while allowing just seven batters to reach.
  • The Tigers bats have been slashing an effect .321 (26-of-81) average as a team behind a young core that consists entirely of sophomores and freshmen. The balanced batting lineup with 18 total RBIs on the Tigers' 25 runs features four players with three RBIs. Freshman outfielder Carlos Vicente has been an incredibly dangerous runner for IWU when he's gotten on-base, scoring three runs and tallying four stolen bases while David Amaya leads the squad with five hits on a .455 batting average.
  • Mid-America Christian and Iowa Wesleyan will be playing each other for the first time in the two programs' respective histories. The Tigers are a relatively new NAIA program, joining the association last season after previously competing at the NCAA Division III level.