OKLAHOMA CITY – Junior starter
Isaac Baez broke a MACU long standing program pitching record on Saturday as his complete-game shutout in a 12-0 victory over Oklahoma Panhandle State at the MACU Baseball Field on Saturday. By tossing seven clean innings, Baez extended his scoreless inning streak to 22, surpassing Evangels legend Keisy Portorreal for the MACU record. Mid-America Christian completed the series sweep with a hard-fought 3-1 victory in game two.
GAME ONE
SCORE
- Mid-America Christian 12, Oklahoma Panhandle State 0
- Mid-America Christian (28-8, 10-4 SAC)
- Oklahoma Panhandle State (8-23-1, 3-11 SAC)
PITCHING DECISION
TOP PERFORMERS
- Isaac Baez – W, CG, SHO, 7 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 10 SO
- Noel McGarry-Doyle – 2-4, HR, 3 RBI, R,
- Ryan Reed – 1-4, HR, 3 RBI, R
- Carlos Medina – 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R
SCORING SUMMARY
- BTM 2nd – MACU – Andrew Enwiya homered to left-center, RBI – MACU 1, OPSU 0
- BTM 2nd – MACU – George Gallardo hit a sac fly to lf, RBI; Carlos Medina scored – MACU 2, OPSU 0
- BTM 3rd – MACU – Jacob Police scored on a balk – MACU 3, OPSU 0
- BTM 3rd – MACU – Carlos Medina doubled to right-center, 2 RBI; Andrew Enwiya scored; Conner McKinney scored – MACU 5, OPSU 0
- BTM 3rd – MACU – Carlos Medina scored on a balk – MACU 6, OPSU 0
- BTM 3rd – MACU – Ryan Reed homered to left, 3 RBI; George Gallardo scored; German Sepulveda scored – MACU 9, OPSU 0
- BTM 5th – MACU – Noel McGarry-Doyle homered to center, 3 RBI; Jacob Police scored; Caden Harris scored – MACU 12, OPSU 0
GAME NOTES
- Mid-America Christian scored its 12 runs on 12 hits while Oklahoma Panhandle State notched just four hits and committed a pair of errors.
- The Evangels first big chance to put up a crooked inning came in the second when Andrew Enwiya led off the frame with a no-doubt solo jack to left-center before a Carlos Medina single and a German Sepulveda double to right put a pair of runners in scoring position with no one out. However, MACU was only able to push one across on an RBI sac fly to left by George Gallardo to make it a 2-0 game.
- MACU put up a stellar seven-run inning in the third. After loading the bases with just one out, the first run came across to score on a balk before Medina drove a 2-RBI double to right-center to extend the lead to five. After Medina came around to score on another Aggies balk, Ryan Reed capped the scoring in the inning with a laser line drive 3-run homer to left to set the score to 9-0.
- Noel McGarry-Doyle added a three-run blast of his own in the fifth when he launched a towering shot over the centerfield fence, tying up the team-lead with Enwiya with his sixth home run of the season to wrap-up the 12-0 scoring.
- After allowing just two hits through the first six innings, the Aggies were able to tally a pair of singles off of Isaac Baez for their first inning with multiple base runners. However, Baez shut the door on OPSU with his career-best 10th strikeout on Jose Arrieta to seal the victory.
- Not only did Baez take over the team-lead in wins with his seventh of the season, but the complete-game shutout extended his scoreless inning streak to 22, surpassing the previous record held by 2018 SAC Pitcher of the Year Keisy Portorreal, who threw 21 scoreless frames. Baez has now allowed a run since the third inning in a 9-5 win at Science & Arts back on Mar. 11.
- By issuing no walks with his 10 strikeouts, Baez stretched his strikeout to walk ratio to 10.5, which leads the entire NAIA.
- With the win, Mid-America Christian took the season series against OPSU for their eighth series victory of the season. Overall, the Evangels have won eight of the nine series consisting of three or more games they've competed in this year.
GAME TWO
SCORE
- Mid-America Christian 3, Oklahoma Panhandle State 1
- Mid-America Christian (29-8, 11-4 SAC)
- Oklahoma Panhandle State (8-24-1, 3-12 SAC)
PITCHING DECISION
TOP PERFORMERS
- Cameron Brown – W, 6 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 6 SO
- Kelton Lachelt – S, 1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 SO
- Conner McKinney – 2-3, 2B, RBI, R
SCORING SUMMARY
GAME NOTES
- Mid-America Christian scored its three runs on eight hits while OPSU notched its lone run on three hits and made one miscue.
- The entirety of the MACU offense came in the bottom of the first as the Evangels pushed across three runs on five hits on an RBI double by Conner McKinney and an infield RBI single by Carlos Medina while McKinney also came across to score on a throwing error by the pitcher down to first trying to throw out Medina.
- Much like the Evangels, the only offense the Aggies could muster came in the top of the third. After the first two batters reached on a hit-by-pitch and a walk before a SAC bunt moved them both into scoring position, OPSU's top-hitter Jeremy Dibartolomeo drove a line drive RBI single to center to plate one of the runs before advancing to second on the throw home to keep two runners in scoring position with only one out.
- However, MACU starter Cameron Brown was able to get out of the jam by getting Tucker Bond to strike out before getting Braeden McBeth to ground out to third to end the inning at 3-1.
- The only threat the Evangels mustered the rest of the way came in the bottom of the third when McKinney reached on a one-out single before eventually trotting down to third after a balk and an Andrew Enwiya single through the left side to put runners at the corners. However, MACU came up empty when Medina hit a sharp liner to the shortstop before Adan Federico struck out.
- Brown allowed just one single over his final three innings of work before Kelton Lachelt entered in the seventh as the Evangels closer tossed a three-up, three-down frame with a pair of strikeouts to seal the 3-1 victory for the series sweep.
- By getting the win, Mid-America Christian has swept back-to-back opponents in Sooner Athletic Conference play after winning three contests in dominant fashion at Central Christian last weekend.
- Lachelt earned his sixth save of the season and his 10th career save, the Henderson, Nevada product moved just one away from tying Wyatt Glasgow's single-season record in 2015 and Glasgow's career record accumulated between 2014-16.
- By getting his eighth win on the mound, Cameron Brown also placed himself in the MACU career record books as he matched Thomas Peabody (2009-10) and David Wynn (2010-11) for the ninth-most career victories in the NAIA Era.
- Mid-America Christian now owns the lead in the all-time series against OPSU at 9-7 and have won eight straight since 2021.
UP NEXT
- Mid-America Christian will be back on the road next weekend as the Evangels will head west to Plainview, Texas for a three-game series at Wayland Baptist. MACU will open the series with a doubleheader on Apr. 7 starting at 1 p.m.
