OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU baseball team will make the trip up to McPherson, Kansas on Friday as the Evangels will take on Central Christian in a three-game Sooner Athletic Conference series. The Evangels will open the slate with a doubleheader on Friday starting at 1 p.m. before wrapping up the series with a nine-inning game at noon on Saturday at Tiger Stadium.
 
MACU SEASON REPORT

• Record: 23-8 (5-4 SAC)
• Last Game: Won vs. Bacone (Okla.) – 12-1 – Mar. 24, 2023 – MACU Baseball Field
• Top Performers (Hitting):
  • Noel McGarry-Doyle – SO – OF
    • .361 BA (30-83), 5 2B, 2 3B, 5 HR, 24 RBI, 31 R, 18 BB, 8 HBP, 11 SB, .509 OB%, .651 SLG%
  • Yan Ely Adames – GR – C/OF
    • .317 BA (32-101), 6 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR, 16 RBI, 9 R, 5 BB, 4 HBP, .369 OB%, .505 SLG%
  • Andrew Enwiya – SR – OF
    • .308 BA (20-65), 2 2B, 4 HR, 19 RBI, 15 R, 17 BB, 9 HBP, .484 OB%, .523 SLG%
• Top Performers (Pitching):
  • Kelton Lachelt – JR – RHP
    • 4-1 W-L, 5 SV, 3.31 ERA, 12 APP, 16.1 IP, 17 H, 8 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 11 SO, .266 OBA
  • Ryan Harney – SO – RHP
    • 5-1 W-L, 3.54 ERA, 8 APP, 8 GS, 4 CG, 1 SHO, 53.1 IP, 55 H, 26 R, 21 ER, 11 BB, 34 SO, .264 OBA
  • Isaac Baez – JR – RHP
    • 5-1 W-L, 4.35 ERA, 8 APP, 8 GS, 1 CG, 1 SHO, 41.1 IP, 48 H, 23 R, 20 ER, 5 BB, 44 SO, .282 OBA
• Team Notes:
  • Mid-America Christian is coming off a dominant midweek performance against Bacone as the Evangels cruised to a pair of 7-1, 12-1 victories at the MACU Baseball Field on Tuesday. The Evangels went with a pair of bullpen games as the MACU pen continued to perform at a high level as five pitchers combined to allow just two earned runs (1.29 ERA) on eight hits with two walks and 12 strikeouts.
  • Caden Harris had a breakout day at the dish as the junior outfielder who just recently moved into the starting lineup swatted .714 (5-of-7) with a pair of doubles and a homer for four RBIs and three runs scored.
  • Noel McGarry-Doyle found himself on-base constantly in the twin bill against Bacone as the sophomore outfielder posted a .750 on-base percentage after batting 2-for-4 with four RBIs to go with three walks and a hit-by-pitch.
  • Ryan Reed continued his productive outings at the top of the MACU order. Since moving to the leadoff spot in the OCU series, Reed is batting .500 (6-of-12) with a double, an RBI, four runs scored and has also nabbed a pair of bags.

SCOUTING REPORT
Central Christian (Kan.)

• Record: 4-25 (1-8 SAC)
• Last Game: Lost at (RV) SW Assemblies of God (Texas) – 15-1 – Mar. 18, 2023 – Waxahachie, Texas
• Series vs MACU (2004-): MACU leads 18-9
• Last Game vs MACU: MACU won 16-11 (10 Inn) – Apr. 30, 2022 – McPherson, Kan.
• Players to Watch (Hitting):
  • Tim Escamilla – JR – OF
    • .351 BA (13-37), 2 2B, 6 RBI, 2 R, 4 BB, 3 HBP, .455 OB%, .405 SLG%
  • Justin Taylor – SR – OF
    • .342 BA (13-38), 2 2B, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 11 R, 9 BB, 2 HBP, 6 SB, .490 OB%, .474 SLG%
  • Carlos Gusman – SO – INF
    • .286 BA (24-84), 7 2B, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 14 R, 10 BB, 1 HBP, 2 SB, .365 OB%, .405 SLG%
• Players to Watch (Pitching):
  • Michael Pelosi – SO – RHP
    • 2-1 W-L, 4.91 ERA, 4 APP, 4 GS, 1 CG, 22.0 IP, 21 H, 13 R, 12 ER, 8 BB, 27 SO, .344 OBA
  • Brandon Vegas – SR – RHP
    • 1-5 W-L, 7 APP, 7 GS, 19.2 IP, 18 H, 26 R, 21 ER, 19 BB, 29 SO, .234 OBA
  • Levi Altherton – FR – OF/P
    • 0-6 W-L, 7 APP, 7 GS, 1 CG, 20.2 IP, 19 H, 30 R, 24 ER, 25 BB, 23 SO, .241 OBA
• Team Notes:
  • Central Christian struggled to get the bats going in a three-game series at Southwestern Assemblies of God last week as the Tigers could only muster two runs while falling 9-0, 8-1 and 15-1 in the three-game slate.
  • The Tigers enter the weekend as the worst hitting team in the SAC, boasting just a .222 team batting average with a league-worst .323 on-base percentage and a .286 slugging percentage. CCC's pitching has also been highly suspect as the Tigers are allowing a SAC worst 11.32 ERA while the defense is turning in the worst fielding percentage at .922.
  • The only Central players in the everyday lineup that are posting a batting average north of .300 are junior outfielder Tim Escamilla (.351) and senior outfielder Justin "JT" Taylor (.342) while Carlos Gusman leads the team in runs (14) and Joseph Gusman leads in RBIs (13).
  • The only starter in the Tigers staff that has been productive is sophomore righty Michael Pelosi, who is turning in a 4.91 ERA over 22.0 innings of work. However, Pelosi has not seen action since getting a complete-game win at Oklahoma Panhandle State on Mar. 3.
  • Even though MACU only leads the all-time series 18-9, the Evangels have dominated the Tigers since joining the NAIA in 2008, posting an 18-3 record against CCC in that time frame. While Central was able to take a game in the series last year at Tigers Stadium, the Evangels won a thriller in the rubber match. After CCC tied it up in the bottom of the ninth with a four-run inning, the Evangels blasted away with the bats in the 10^th with six runs on two home runs, a solo shot by Andres Gonzalez and a grand slam by Devon Villanueva to go with an RBI double for German Sepulveda to pull away with the 16-11 win.