OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU baseball team split its doubleheader with No. 22 Oklahoma City at the MACU Baseball Field on Saturday as the Evangels scored three early runs and turned a rare triple play in a 3-0 victory over Oklahoma City in the opener before falling 4-3 in game two.
GAME ONE
SCORE
- Mid-America Christian 3, Oklahoma City, 0
- Mid-America Christian (20-7, 4-3 SAC)
- Oklahoma City (11-11, 3-1 SAC)
PITCHING DECISION
TOP PERFORMERS
- Conner McKinney – 1-3, 2 RBI, R
- Ryan Reed – 1-2, R, BB
- Isaac Baez – W, CG, 7 IP, 0 R, 6 H, 0 BB, 7 SO
SCORING SUMMARY
GAME NOTES
- Mid-America Christian scored its three runs on five hits with no errors while Oklahoma City was held scoreless with six hits and committed one error.
- The Evangels got things going early scoring all three of their runs in the bottom half of the first inning. After Ryan Reed led off the inning with a single and Yan Ely Adames ripped a double to right to put runners at second and third, Conner McKinney put the Evangels in-front two batters later with a bloop single to right to plate both Reed and Adames to make it a 2-0 game.
- With the bases juiced later in the frame, Andrew Enwiya gave MACU an insurance run with a sacrifice fly to right to plate McKinney to swell the score to 3-0.
- The Stars came close to getting on the board in the third inning having the bases juiced with no one out. However, Felix Chenier-Rondeau roped a liner to Reed at second that hit the dirt just in front of the glove. The Evangels were then able to take advantage of OCU's runners being unaware the ball hit the ground as MACU executed a 4-6-3-2 triple play to get out of the jam and end the inning in electric fashion.
- McKinney continued to stay hot at the plate to lead the MACU bats, going 1-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored
- Isaac Baez earned his first complete-game shutout as a member of the Evangels, outlasting the 2022 SAC Pitcher of the Year Eli Davis by finishing with seven strong shutout innings with seven strikeouts and no walks.
- With the win, MACU earned its second victory over the Stars in the last three matchups, after OCU won 44 of the first 47 meetings against the Evangels, setting up an opportunity to take the series for the first time ever.
GAME TWO
SCORE
- Oklahoma City 4, Mid-America Christian 3
- Mid-America Christian (20-8, 4-4 SAC)
- Oklahoma City (12-11, 4-1 SAC)
PITCHING DECISION
- Win: Rylan Roberson (4-20)
- Loss: Cameron Brown (2-4)
- Save: Tyler Polk (3)
TOP PERFORMERS
SCORING SUMMARY
- BTM 1st – MACU – Noel McGarry-Doyle homered to right, 2 RBI; Ryan Reed scored – MACU 2, OCU 0
- TOP 2nd – OCU – Reese Ratchford homered to left-center, RBI – MACU 2, OCU 1
- TOP 2nd – OCU – Aiden Alexander grounded out to ss, RBI; Hunter Lenochan scored – MACU 2, OCU 2
- BTM 2nd – MACU – Andrew Enwiya homered to left-center, RBI – MACU 3, OCU 2
- TOP 4th – OCU – Tristin Williams homered to left-center, RBI – MACU 3, OCU 3
- TOP 4th – OCU – Aiden Alexander singled to left field, RBI; Barrett Daniel scored – OCU 4, MACU 3
GAME NOTES
- The Evangels scored three runs on seven hits while the Stars tallied in four runs on eight hits while committing one error.
- Despite the loss, Noel McGarry-Doyle and Andrew Enwiya both racked up two-hit games and were responsible for all three RBIs behind a pair of homers.
- MACU opened up game two in similar fashion as McGarry-Doyle smashed a one-out, two-run homer to right field to put the Evangels out in-front early with a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first.
- OCU fired right back at the Evangels with a home run of its own by Reese Ratchford and RBI groundout from Aiden Alexander to tie things up at two apiece in the second inning.
- Andrew Enwiya put MACU back on-top in the bottom half of the second frame with a solo home run to left-center. However, MACU couldn't keep OCU down as the Stars rattled off two more runs with a home run from Tristan Williams another RBI from Alexander to take a 4-3 in the fourth inning.
- After the explosive offensive showing in the first four innings combined with four home runs, both teams were held scoreless for the rest of the way as Tyler Polk entered the game in the seventh to shut the door on the Evangels and secure a 4-3 victory.
- With the Stars getting the victory, the series will now be decided in Sunday's nine-inning contest.
UP NEXT
- Mid-America Christian will look to take the series for the first time ever against Oklahoma City as MACU and OCU will meet once more for a Sunday showdown to finish out the three-game slate. The game is slated for a 1 p.m. first pitch at the MACU Baseball Field.
