WAXAHACHIE, Texas – Facing one of the top pitchers in the NAIA, the MACU baseball team put together an outstanding offensive effort as the Evangels rallied to pull out a 10-4 win at the SAGU Baseball Field on Friday afternoon.
SCORE
- Mid-America Christian 10, Opponent 4
- Mid-America Christian (31-10, 13-6 SAC)
- SW Assemblies of God (27-15, 11-8 SAC)
PITCHING DECISION
- Win: Reece Cusiter (1-0)
- Loss: Michael Watson (8-2)
- Save: Kelton Lachelt (7)
TOP PERFORMERS
- Yan Ely Adames – 2-3, HR, 3 RBI, R
- Cole Fuecker – 1-3, HR, 3 RBI, R
- Kelton Lachelt – SV, 2 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 1 SO
SCORING SUMMARY
- BTM 3rd – SAGU – Bryson Collins singled to left, RBI; Avery Chatman scored – SAGU 1, MACU 0
- BTM 3rd – SAGU – Craig Venable doubled to left, RBI; Matt Daiy scored – SAGU 2, MACU 0
- TOP 4th – MACU – Yan Ely Adames singled up the middle, RBI; Noel McGarry-Doyle scored – SAGU 2, MACU 1
- BTM 5th – SAGU – Bryson Collins hit a sac fly to lf, RBI; Avery Chatman scored – SAGU 3, MACU 1
- TOP 6th – MACU – Cole Fuecker homered to left, 3 RBI; Conner McKinney scored; Tylor Richey scored – MACU 4, SAGU 3
- BTM 5th – SAGU – Bryson Collins singled to center, RBI; Nick Mosley scored – MACU 4, SAGU 4
- TOP 8th – MACU – Yan Ely Adames homered to left-center, RBI – MACU 5, SAGU 4
- TOP 9th – MACU – Julian Martinez scored on a wild pitch – MACU 6, SAGU 4
- TOP 9th – MACU – Isaiah Leon singled thru right side, RBI; Jacob Police scored – MACU 7, SAGU 4
- TOP 9th – MACU – Conner McKinney walked, RBI; Ryan Reed scored – MACU 8, SAGU 4
- TOP 9th – MACU – Yan Ely Adames hit-by-pitch, RBI; Tylor Richey scored – MACU 9, SAGU 4
- TOP 9th – MACU – Andrew Enwiya hit a sac fly to cf, RBI; Noel McGarry-Doyle scored – MACU 10, SAGU 4
GAME NOTES
- Mid-America Christian scored its 10 runs on 10 hits and committed a pair of errors while SAGU pushed across four runs on 11 hits and committed five errors.
- Both teams struggled to get baserunners in the early going, but with two outs in the bottom of the third, the Lions put a pair on with an Avery Chatman double and Matt Daiy reached on an error before both came across to score on a Bryson Collins RBI single and a Craig Venable RBI double to make it a 2-0 game.
- The Evangels cut into the lead in the fourth on a Yan Ely Adames RBI single up the middle to score Noel McGarry-Doyle, who led off the frame with a single and a stolen base. However, the Lions got it back in the bottom of the fifth on a Collins sac fly to center.
- With two outs in the sixth, Cole Fuecker gave MACU its first lead when he launched a three-run homer to left to bring it to 4-3.
- The Lions threatened to put up a big inning in the seventh as a Collins RBI single to center tied the game and put runners at the corners with two outs, but MACU reliever Reese Cusiter got out of the jam by getting Collins caught in a pick-off as Conner McKinney got the tag applied before Daiy could score from third to keep it to a 4-4 score.
- In the top of the eighth, Adames gave MACU the lead for good with two outs by blasting his 29th career dinger with a solo shot to left-center.
- With runners at first and second and two outs, the Lions came close to tying the game back up when Nick Mosley smashed a single to center, but Caden Harris made a great throw to the plate as Adames tagged out Venable trying to score from second to keep the MACU lead intact.
- MACU blew the game wide open in the ninth by pushing across five runs, none of which came across to score on a hit to push the Evangels' edge to 10-4.
- After giving up a lead-off single, MACU closer Kelton Lachelt retired three straight batters to close out his seventh save of the season. That seventh save matched Wyatt Glasgow (2015) for the most in a single season in the NAIA Era (2007-present).
- The save also marked the 11th in Lachelt's career at MACU, also drawing him even with Glasgow in the NAIA Era record book.
- Adames led the MACU offensive efforts by batting 2-for-3 with a homer and three RBIs while Cole Fuecker was the only other player in the game to smash a home run, finishing 1-for-3 with three RBIs.
- The Evangels handed NAIA All-American Watch List member Michael Watson just his second loss on the mound as the SAC leader in wins fell to 8-2 after giving up five runs, four earned over eight innings of work.
- Ryan Harney put together a quality appearance in the no-decision, allowing four runs, just two earned on seven hits with no walks and three strikeouts over 6.1 innings of work. Reese Cusiter earned his second career win after allowing no runs on a hit and a walk over 0.2 innings of relief.
- The Evangels handed Southwestern Assemblies of God its fourth straight conference loss and just their fifth home defeat of the season.
UP NEXT
- Mid-America Christian will aim to take the series tomorrow as the Evangels will face SAGU in a noon doubleheader.
