OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU baseball team won a thriller in its series-opener against Oklahoma Panhandle State on Friday as
Carlos Medina hit the walk-off pop-up single to center and
Noel McGarry-Doyle beat out the throw home to propel the Evangels to a 5-4 victory at the MACU Baseball Field.
SCORE
- Mid-America Christian 5, Oklahoma Panhandle State 4
- Mid-America Christian (27-8, 9-4 SAC)
- Oklahoma Panhandle State (8-22-1, 3-10 SAC)
PITCHING DECISION
TOP PERFORMERS
- Carlos Medina – 2-5, 2B, RBI
- Noel McGarry-Doyle – 2-4, 2B, RBI, 2 R
- Maycin Smothermon – W, 3 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 SO
SCORING SUMMARY
- BTM 1st – MACU – Conner McKinney singled up the middle, RBI; Noel McGarry-Doyle scored – MACU 1, OPSU 0
- TOP 4th – OPSU – Jett Brown doubled down lf line, RBI; Sam Bond scored – MACU 1, OPSU 1
- TOP 4th – OPSU – Payton Brown doubled to left, RBI; Jett Brown scored – OPSU 2, MACU 1
- TOP 4th – OPSU – Jose Arrieta doubled to left-center, RBI; Payton Brown scored – OPSU 3, MACU 1
- TOP 5th – OPSU – Jett Brown hit a sac fly to center, RBI; Jeremy Dibartolomeo scored – OPSU 4, MACU 1
- BTM 5th – MACU – Caden Harris scored on a wild pitch – OPSU 4, MACU 2
- BTM 5th – MACU – Noel McGarry-Doyle singled to right, RBI; Ryan Reed scored – OPSU 4, MACU 3
- BTM 6th – MACU – Tylor Richey scored on a balk – MACU 4, OPSU 4
- BTM 9th – MACU – Carlos Medina singled to center, RBI; Noel McGarry-Doyle scored – MACU 5, OPSU 4
GAME NOTES
- Mid-America Christian scored its five runs on 11 hits while Oklahoma Panhandle State scored four run on 11 hits and committed two errors.
- It looked like the Evangels were going to put up a crooked inning in the bottom of the first when Ryan Reed led off the inning with a single before Noel McGarry-Doyle hit a flyball to left that gave the fielder trouble as it dropped for a double. However, Reed was gunned down at the plate trying to score on the play for the second out.
- The Evangels pushed across their first run a batter later when Conner McKinney drove a single up the middle to make it a 1-0 game.
- Both teams struggled to get baserunners before the Aggies strung together a big inning in the top of the fourth. After MACU starter Ryan Harney struck out Tucker Bond to start off the frame, OPSU hit four straight doubles to take a 3-1 lead.
- The Aggies added an insurance run in the top of the fifth as the first two batters reached on a double and a single before Jett Brown notched his second RBI on a sac fly to center to stretch the OPSU edge to 4-1.
- The Evangels got a pair back in the bottom of the fifth when Caden Harris led off the inning by getting a short pop-up double on the infield that dropped in fair due to the wind before coming across to score three batters later on a wild pitch. McGarry-Doyle drove in another run to make it a 4-3 game with an RBI single to right to score Reed and advanced to third when the right fielder misplayed the ball.
- MACU threatened to put together a massive inning in the sixth when Carlos Medina hit a one-out double to left before Cole Fuecker reached on a walk and Harris loaded the bases with a hit-by-pitch. The Evangels scored the tying run during Makael Shaw's at-bat when OPSU reliever Bryan Rivera was called for a balk.
- Unfortunately, MACU was unable to push the go-ahead run across as Rivera was able to strike out Shaw and get Reed to ground out to first to get out of the jam.
- The Evangels mustered another major threat in the bottom of the eighth as Medina reached on an error before Harris drew a walk and German Sepulveda was hit by a pitch to load the bases with two outs. However, MACU was once again held in-check as Reed struck out to end the frame.
- Finally, in the bottom of the ninth, the Evangels were able to score the game-winning run with the bases loaded. After Yan Ely Adames flied out to left to start the inning, McGarry-Doyle drew a walk before McKinney put a pair in scoring position with a double to left. With one of MACU's most clutch hitters in Andrew Enwiya coming to the dish, the Aggies elected to intentionally walk the senior DH to create a force out situation at any base. During Medina's at-bat, the junior shortstop hit a shallow Texas Leaguer popup to center that dropped in-front of the centerfielder trying to slide in to make the catch. On the throw home, McGarry-Doyle was able to slide in just before the catcher could get to the plate for the walk-off run.
- Four Evangels recorded two hits in the contest as McGarry-Doyle finished 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored while Ryan Reed, Conner McKinney and Carlos Medina each slashed 2-for-5.
- Ryan Harney received a rare no-decision after pitching six innings and allowing four earned runs on 10 hits with a walk and three strikeouts.
- Maycin Smothermon earned his first career win at MACU after throwing three shutout innings, allowing no runs on one hit with no walks and one strikeout. Impressively, since moving into the MACU bullpen midseason, Smothermon has yet to give up a run over eight innings of relief this season.
- The Evangels earned a walk-off win over the Aggies for the second straight year after MACU rallied for a 9-8 win over OPSU at Tuttle High School on Mar. 5, 2022. In that victory, German Sepulveda hit the game-tying home run in the bottom of the seventh before Ryan Reed cranked the walk-off jack to left in the very next at-bat to seal the victory.
- With their sixth straight victory against Panhandle State, the Evangels have evened the all-time series at seven wins apiece.
UP NEXT
- Mid-America Christian will aim to take the series tomorrow as the Evangels will wrap-up the slate against Oklahoma Panhandle State with a home doubleheader. The opening pitch is slated for 11 a.m. at the MACU Baseball Field.
