FORT WORTH, Texas – The MACU softball team rallied from a pair of runs down in the top of the seventh in game one to come away with a 7-4 extra-inning victory before cruising to an 11-0 win in game two to complete the series sweep over Texas Wesleyan at Sycamore Park on Sunday.
GAME ONE
SCORE
- Mid-America Christian 7, Texas Wesleyan 4 (8 Inn)
- Mid-America Christian (34-13, 19-10 SAC)
- Texas Wesleyan (11-29, 9-22SAC)
PITCHING DECISION
TOP PERFORMERS
- Mikaylee Allen – 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI, SB
- Aurelia Holguin – 2-4, 2 RBI
- Emylee Campbell – 2-4, 2B, RBI, 2 R
- Rachel Eggleston – W, CG, 3 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 8 SO
SCORING SUMMARY
- BTM 3rd – TWU – Izzy Valenzuela homered to center, 2 RBI; Dylann Dunn scored – TWU 2, MACU 0
- TOP 7th – MACU – Aurelia Holguin singled thru right side, 2 RBI; Emylee Campbell scored; Hallie Wilson scored – MACU 2, TWU 2
- TOP 8th – MACU – Rachel Humburg reached on a sac bunt muffed throw error by 2b; Megan Widener scored – MACU 3, TWU 2
- TOP 8th – MACU – Janessa Larman singled to left, RBI; Rachel Humburg scored – MACU 4, TWU 2
- TOP 8th – MACU – Emylee Campbell singled up the middle, RBI; Stormy Haynes scored – MACU 5, TWU 2
- TOP 8th – MACU – Mikaylee Allen doubled to right-center, 2 RBI; Cierra Russell scored; Emylee Campbell scored – MACU 7, TWU 2
- BTM 8th – TWU – Izzy Valenzuela homered to center, 2 RBI; Jaeley May scored – MACU 7, TWU 4
GAME NOTES
- Mid-America Christian scored its seven runs on eight hits while Texas Wesleyan tallied four runs on six hits and committed one error.
- Neither team was able to muster much of a threat in the early going, but TWU right fielder Izzy Valenzuela was able to take advantage of a mistake by Rachel Eggleston as she hammered a two-strike, two-out pitch over the center field wall to give the Lady Rams the 2-0 advantage.
- The Evangels were unable to get any sort of serious threat going on the basepaths until the top of the seventh when Hallie Wilson led off the frame with a walk before Emylee Campbell smashed a double down the left field line to put runners at second and third with no one out. In the very next at-bat, Aurelia Holguin was able to poke a groundball through the right side past the diving first baseman to plate both runners, but was thrown out trying to get to second off the throw home.
- MACU was still able to threaten when Mikaylee Allen reached on a one-out single up the middle and stole second, but Cailey Parsells flied out to left and Megan Widener popped out to short to end the threat.
- Going to extras for the seventh time this season, Mid-America Christian was able to blow the game wide open. Starting off with Widener being placed on second, the Evangels immediately drove her in when Rachel Humburg laid down a sac bunt and reached safely when the second baseman covering the bag muffed the throw over, allowing Widener to score and move down to second on the play.
- With a 3-2 lead and Olivia Roberts moving Humburg down on a sac bunt, Janessa Larman brought Humburg home with a single that just floated over the outreached arm of the shortstop in shallow left before Campbell brought in her pinch-runner Stormy Haynes with a single up the middle to make it a 5-2 game.
- Mikaylee Allen capped off the MACU scoring in the eighth with a two-RBI double to right-center before being thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple to end the frame.
- The Lady Rams immediately got two runs back in the bottom of the eight on Valenzuela's second homer of the day to straight center, but Eggleston was able to retire the next three TWU batters in order to seal the 7-4 victory.
- By getting the victory, Mid-America Christian locked up the season series against Texas Wesleyan.
- Despite making a pair of mistakes over the plate, Rachel Eggleston was able to put together a good outing in the circle, tossing her 14th complete game of the season while allowing four runs, three earned, on six hits with only one walk to go with eight strikeouts.
- Mikaylee Allen and Aurelia Holguin led the MACU batting efforts as each slashed 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs while Emylee Campbell also chimed in a 2-for-4 day with a pair of runs and an RBI.
GAME TWO
SCORE
- Mid-America Christian 11, Texas Wesleyan 0
- Mid-America Christian (35-13, 20-10 SAC)
- Texas Wesleyan (11-30, 9-23 SAC)
PITCHING DECISION
TOP PERFORMERS
- Janessa Larman – 3-3, 2B, 4 RBI, R
- Jess Moore – 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI, R
- Emylee Campbell – 1-2, BB, 3 R, 3 SB
- Avery Schneringer – W, CG, SHO, 5 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 SO
SCORING SUMMARY
- TOP 1st – MACU – Janessa Larman singled to left, 2 RBI; Emylee Campbell scored; Hallie Wilson scored – MACU 2, TWU 0
- TOP 3rd – MACU – Janessa Larman singled up the middle, RBI; Emylee Campbell scored – MACU 3, TWU 0
- TOP 3rd – MACU – Hannah Robbins hit a sac fly to lf, RBI; Janessa Larman scored – MACU 5, TWU 0
- TOP 4th – MACU – Abby Womack reached on a fielding error by 3b, RBI; Emylee Campbell scored; Hallie Wilson scored – MACU 7, TWU 0
- TOP 4th – MACU – Janessa Larman doubled to left-center, RBI; Cierra Russell scored – MACU 8, TWU 0
- TOP 5th – MACU – Jess Moore doubled to left, 2 RBI; Stormy Haynes scored; Abby Hoover scored – MACU 10, TWU 0
- TOP 5th – MACU – Aubrey Meyers hit a sac fly to rf, RBI; Jess Moore scored – MACU 11, TWU 0
GAME NOTES
- The Evangels scored their 11 runs on 11 hits and committed a pair of errors while Texas Wesleyan was held to just one hit and made three miscues.
- Janessa Larman sparked the Evangels scoring right out of the gate. After getting runners over to second and third with two outs, Larman smashed a single to left to bring home Hallie Wilson and Emylee Campbell to make it a 2-0 game.
- Larman added to her big day at the dish with an RBI base hit up the middle as Macy Stockton chipped in with an RBI single through the same spot to push it out to 4-0. Hannah Robbins added to it later in the inning by hitting a deep fly to left-center that scored Larman on the sac fly, setting the score to 5-0.
- The Evangels took advantage of a defensive miscue in the fourth as a misplayed chopper to third allowed Wilson and Campbell to score again before Larman capped off her four-RBI day with a double to left-center, swelling the advantage to 8-0.
- The MACU bench came up big in the top of the fifth as well as Jess Moore drove in two on a double to before Aubrey Meyers brought Moore home on a sac fly to right two batters later to wrap-up the 11-0 final.
- MACU starting pitcher Avery Schneringer put together one of her finest outings of the season as she threw a complete one-hit shutout, allowing no walks to go with a strikeout. The game marked her third goose egg of the season and the seventh of her career, moving alone into third in MACU's all-time record book for shutouts.
- Janessa Larman finished off the series strong, slashing 3-for-3 with a double, four RBIs and a run while Jess Moore's first career hit with the Evangels turned into a two-RBI double.
- Emylee Campbell caused all sorts of problems for the Lady Rams on the basepaths as she scored three runs and stole three bases off a 1-for-2 performance to go with a walk.
- With the four-game sweep and Southwestern Christian splitting its four-game series at SAGU, the Evangels have locked up the No. 3 seed in the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament, improving MACU's conference record to 20-10.
- The Evangels have reached 20 conference wins for just the second time in program history. The last time MACU won 20 games in a SAC slate, it went 21-9 during the 2021 campaign.
- The win also allowed the Evangels to sweep the season series against Texas Wesleyan while extend their win streak over the Lady Rams to eight games. It also marked the first time MACU had ever swept TWU in a season series.
UP NEXT
- Mid-America Christian will close out the regular season on Tuesday as the Evangels will head uptown to No. 5 Oklahoma City for a doubleheader. The twin-bill is slated for a 2 p.m. start at Ann Lacy Stadium.
