OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU baseball team will look to continue to stay hot in the middle of its 11-game home stand as the Evangels will host Southwestern (Kan.) for a four-game series at the MACU Baseball Field this weekend. The Evangels will start the series with a noon doubleheader on Saturday before wrapping-up the slate with a 1 p.m. Sunday doubleheader.
 
MACU SEASON REPORT

• Record: 13-2
• Last Game: Won vs. Iowa Wesleyan – 4-2 – Feb. 18, 2023 – MACU Baseball Field
• Top Performers (Hitting):
  • Noel McGarry-Doyle – SO – OH
    • .364 BA (16-44), 1 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 11 RBI, 18 R, 8 BB, 3 HBP, 6 SB, .491 OB%, .614 SLG%
  • Cole Fuecker – JR – 3B
    • .364 BA (16-44), 4 2B, 2 HR, 13 RBI, 8 R, 4 BB, 2 HBP, .423 OB%, .591 SLG%
  • Jacob Police – FR – 2B
    • .356 BA (16-45), 4 2B, 1 HR, 9 RBI, 15 R, 4 BB, 3 HBP, 6 SB, .426 OB%, .511 SLG%
• Top Performers (Pitching):
  • Ryan Harney – SO – RHP
    • 3-0 W-L, 2.00 ERA, 4 APP, 4 GS, 2 CG, 1 SHO, 27.0 IP, 20 H, 10 R, 6 ER, 5 BB, 18 SO, .198 OBA
  • Zane Robeaux – JR – RHP
    • 4-0 W-L, 3.12 ERA, 4 APP, 4 GS, 2 CG, 26.0 IP, 19 H, 11 R, 9 ER, 7 BB, 28 SO, .196 OBA
  • Kelton Lachelt – JR – RHP
    • 1-0 W-L, 3 SV, 0.00 ERA, 4 APP, 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 SO, .105 OBA
• Team Notes:
  • Mid-America Christian put together a solid all-around performance in its four-game home-opening series against Iowa Wesleyan last weekend as the Evangels swept the series in four close games: 4-3, 6-2, 8-4 and 4-2.
  • While MACU hit for a slightly better average (.307 to .274), pitching and defense played the biggest outcomes in the contests as MACU's pitchers allowed just a 3.54 ERA to a 7.13 for the Tigers. Meanwhile, the Evangels defense only committed two errors in the entire series while IWU finished with eight.
  • Junior third baseman Cole Fuecker continued to swing a hot bat for MACU in that series, swatting a .455 average (5-11) with a pair of homers and five RBIs. Yan Ely Adames was also swinging a blazing bat, leading the team with a .462 average (6-13) with two doubles and a pair driven in.
  • While MACU's starting pitching was solid throughout, junior closer Kelton Lachelt shut the door on IWU twice to pick up a pair of saves, improving his SAC-leading total to three with now seven closures in his career, moving alone into second in MACU's NAIA Era career record book. While Zane Robeaux and Ryan Harney each earned their fourth and third wins, freshman hurler Dylan Lyddon notched his first career victory after tossing two scoreless innings of relief in the series finale.

SCOUTING REPORT
Southwestern (Kan.)

• Record: 5-7
• Last Game: Lost at Newman (Kan.) – 12-9 – Feb. 21, 2023 – Wichita, Kan.
• Series vs MACU: MACU leads 4-1
• Last Game vs MACU: MACU won 4-2 – Feb. 18, 2022 – Oklahoma City (Putnam City HS)
• Players to Watch (Hitting):
  • Zach Boone – JR – OF
    • .348 BA (8-23), 4 2B, RBI, 3 R, 2BB, 5 SB, .400 OB%, .522 SLG%
  • London Penland – JR – INF
    • .333 BA (12-36), 1 2B, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 15 R, 9 SB, .469 OB%, .528 SLG%
  • Marcus Burton – JR – OF
    • .290 BA (9-31), 1 2B, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 10 R, 2 SB, .389 OB%, .419 SLG%
• Players to Watch (Pitching):
  • Taylor Petty – SO – RHP
    • 1-1 W-L, 4.76 ERA, 2 APP, 2 GS, 11.1 IP, 10 H, 9 R, 6 ER, 6 BB, 7 SO
  • Jacob Crabtree – SR – RHP
    • 1-1 W-L, 5.73 ERA, 2 APP, 2 GS, 11.0 IP, 15 H, 10 R, 7 ER, 4 BB, 12 SO
  • Gannon Dow – JR – P
    • 1-1 W-L, 6.43 ERA, 3 APP, 3 GS, 14.0 IP, 12 H, 10 R, 10 ER, 8 BB, 15 SO
• Team Notes:
  • Southwestern had a rocky start to the season by opening the year with an 0-5 record, including being swept in a four-game series at Evangel (Mo.), but the Moundbuilders have since bounced back by winning five of their last seven.
  • In the early on-set of a 12-game road streak, SC enters the contest ranking 105^th in the NAIA in team batting average (.272), but are scoring a solid 6.8 runs per game. An element that has helped the Moundbuilders score in-bunches is their base-stealing ability as Southwestern boasts the sixth-most robbed bags in the NAIA with 39.
  • However, an area where Southwestern has struggled mightily this season has been in its pitching as the Mounbuilders are tossing the 113^th-ranked ERA (6.35), but most of the runs they are giving up are coming off of hits as the team has only walked 39 batters while striking out 82.
  • Leading the SWC bats will be junior infielder London Penland. Posting the team's second-best batting average (.333), Penland leads the team in runs scored (15) and RBIs (9) and has been troublesome on the basepaths with nine steals.
  • The weekend series will mark the first time that the two programs will have played against each other that lasted more than a doubleheader. The first time the two teams met in 2018, they split a doubleheader before MACU took the lead in the all-time series with a 6-3 victory in Winfield, Kan. on Apr. 30, 2018. The two teams met in a doubleheader played at Putnam City High School last season as MACU took a pair of 8-2-4-2 wins to complete the sweep on Feb. 18, 2022.