SHREVEPORT, La. – The MACU baseball team made a statement in its season-opening doubleheader at Pilot Field on Sunday as the Evangels run-ruled No. 5 LSU-Shreveport 11-1 in game one before dropping a hard-fought 5-4 defeat in the nightcap.
 
GAME ONE
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 11, LSU-Shreveport 1 (8 Inn.)
  • Mid-America Christian (1-0)
  • LSU-Shreveport (0-1)

PITCHING DECISION

• Win: Isaac Baez (1-0)
• Loss: Draven Zeigler (0-1)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Isaac Baez – W, 4.1 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 SO
• Zane Robeaux – 2 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 2 BB, 2 SO
• Jordan Crawford – 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI, BB
• Noel McGarry-Doyle – 1-4, 2 RBI, 2 R, BB

SCORING SUMMARY

• TOP 2^nd – MACU – Caden Harris singled to center, RBI; Kyle Williams scored – MACU 1, LSUS 0
• TOP 3^rd – MACU – Anthony Hampton doubled, RBI; Jacob Police scored – MACU 2, LSUS 0
• TOP 3^rd – MACU – Carlos Medina hit a sac fly to right, RBI; Anthony Hampton scored – MACU 3, LSUS 0
• TOP 3^rd – MACU – Jordan Crawford singled thru left side, 2 RBI; Noel McGarry-Doyle scored; Zachary Stark scored – MACU 5, LSUS 0
• BTM 5^th – LSUS – Vantrel Reed hit-by-pitch, RBI; Cooper Huspen scored – MACU 5, LSUS 1
• TOP 8^th – MACU – KJ Moo-Young scored on wild pitch – MACU 6, LSUS 1
• TOP 8^th – MACU – Julian Martinez singled to center, RBI; Caden Harris scored – MACU 7, LSUS 1
• TOP 8^th – MACU – Zachary Stark doubled down lf line, RBI; Julian Martinez scored – MACU 8, LSUS 1
• TOP 8^th – MACU – Noel McGarry-Doyle singled thru middle, 2 RBI; Joel Nieves scored; Vasin Thurman scored – MACU 10, LSUS 1
• TOP 8^th – MACU – Carlos Medina singled through middle, RBI; Noel McGarry-Doyle scored – MACU 11, LSUS 1

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian scored its 11 runs on 14 hits while LSU-Shreveport tallied one run on five hits and committed one error.
• After going down in-order in the first inning, the Evangels pushed across their first run of the season when Kyle Williams led off the frame with a single, advanced to third on a groundout and passed ball before Caden Harris laced a single to center to plate MACU's first baseman to make it a 1-0 game.
• In the top of the third, the first four Evangels reached base successfully as Jacob Police hit a leadoff single before being driven in on an Anthony Hampton RBI double followed by back-to-back walks drawn by Zachary Stark and Noel McGarry-Doyle to load the bases. Two batters later, Carlos Medina drove home Hampton a sac fly foul out to right before Jordan Crawford smashed a 2-RBI single through the left side to make it a 5-0 game.
• After loading the bases with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, MACU nearly navigated out of trouble, but Evangels reliever Jacob Mallozzi accidentally hit his initial batter on his first pitch of the season to plate LSUS's only run of the game. Mallozzi bounced back in the very next at-bat, getting Angel Rodriguez to watch strike three to limit the damage.
• Scoring came at a premium over the next two innings before the Evangels blew the game wide-open in the top of the eighth. MACU pushed across six runs in the frame, featuring a 2-RBI McGarry-Doyle single as well as RBI knocks from Stark, Julian Martinez and Crawford to ultimately seal the 11-1 victory.
• Isaac Baez became just the eighth MACU pitcher in the NAIA Era to record 10 career wins as the senior pitcher allowed just one earned run on four hits with two walks and four strikeouts over 4.2 innings of work.
• In his MACU debut, junior first baseman Jordan Crawford led the bats with a 3-for-4 performance with a double and three RBIs while also drawing a walk.
• The Evangels' top hitter from a season ago in Noel McGarry-Doyle also turned in a 2-RBI game by slashing 1-for-4 with a single, a run scored and a walk drawn.
• Zachary Stark and Kyle Williams each scored a pair of runs with Stark batting 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and a walk while Williams finished 2-for-4 with a pair of singles and a walk.
• As a whole, MACU's bullpen pitched extremely well as Jacob Mallozzi, Zane Robeaux and Cameron Brown combined to toss 3.2 shutout innings, allowing only one hit, four walks and a hit batter to go with four strikeouts.
• The win for Mid-America Christian was its first ever against LSU-Shreveport in the first ever meeting while also marking the program's first win again against an NAIA top five opponent since defeating No. 5 Oklahoma City in a thrilling 3-2 walk-off fashion on Mar. 26, 2022 at the MACU Baseball Field.

GAME TWO
SCORE

• LSU-Shreveport 5, Mid-America Christian 4
  • Mid-America Christian (1-1)
  • LSU-Shreveport (0-1)

PITCHING DECISION

• Win: Kenneth Schecther (1-0)
• Loss: Jordan Smith (0-1)
• Save: Chase Guitreau (1)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Kyle Williams – 1-4, , 2 RBI
• Noel McGarry-Doyle – 3-4, 2B, RBI, R
• Anthony Hampton – 3-5, R
• Breyllin Suriel – 2 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 3 SO

SCORING SUMMARY

• TOP 1^st – MACU – Noel McGarry-Doyle singled thru left side, RBI; Anthony Hampton scored – MACU 1, LSUS 0
• TOP 1^st – MACU – Kyle Williams singled to center, RBI; Noel McGarry-Doyle scored; Joel Nieves scored – MACU 3, LSUS 1
• BTM 3^rd – LSUS – AJ Fritz singled to right, RBI; Josh Gibson scored – MACU 3, LSUS 1
• BTM 3^rd – LSUS – Jose Aquino reached on a dropped fly error by ss, RBI; Vantrel Reed scored – MACU 3, LSUS 2
• BTM 4^th – LSUS – Trevor Burkhart doubled to right, RBI; Jose Sallorin scored – MACU 3, LSUS 3
• BTM 4^th – LSUS – Josh Gibson singled to right, RBI; Cooper Huspen scored – LSUS 4, MACU 3
• BTM 4^th – LSUS – Vantrel Reed reached on a fielder's choice to rf, RBI; Trevor Burkhart scored – LSUS 5, MACU 3
• TOP 7^TH – MACU – Jacob Police hits an inside-the-park homer to left-center, RBI – LSUS 5, MACU 4

GAME NOTES

• Despite the result, the Evangels managed to out-hit the Pilots as MACU scored its four runs on 10 hits and made one error while LSUS scored five runs on six hits with an error.
• Mid-America Christian got off to a quick start in the top of the first as the first four batters reached on an Anthony Hampton single and a Zachary Stark hit-by-pitch before Noel McGarry-Doyle smashed a single through the left side to plate Hampton before Kyle Williams smacked a single to center to plate both Joel Nieves and McGarry-Doyle make it a 3-0 game.
• In the bottom of the third, LSU-Shreveport took full advantage of back-to-back batters being hit before advancing to third on a wild pitch. An AJ Fritz single to right plated one of the runs before a dropped pop-up in shallow center allowed the second to score, cutting it to a 3-2 game.
• The very next inning, the Pilots captured complete momentum. After MACU reliever Jordan Smith induced a flyout to left, LSUS took advantage of a Jose Sallorin walk as the as a pair of singles and a double brought in three more runs to give Shreveport the 5-3 lead.
• Scoring came at a premium the rest of the way as the only run that came across for either team came on Jacob Police's deep fly to center that saw the center fielder collide with the wall while dropping the ball, allowing the speedy second baseman to score on the inside-the-park home run to make it 5-4 in the seventh.
• The Evangels had one last chance to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth when Hampton laced a two-out single to center and advanced to second on a passed ball, but LSUS closer Chase Guitreau managed to get Zachary Stark to strike out to end the potential rally.
• Two different Evangels turned in three-hit games as Anthony Hampton batted 3-for-5 with a run scored while Noel McGarry-Doyle slashed 3-of-4 with a double, an RBI and a run.
• Kyle Williams was the only MACU batter to record more than one with his 2-RBI single in the first.
• Jordan Smith suffered the loss in his first Evangels appearance in relief. After giving up three runs in the fourth, the junior lefty retired seven of his last eight batters he faced.
• Breyllin Suriel put together a strong first appearance in relief, retiring six of seven batters while allowing just one batter to reach on a hit-by-pitch while striking out three.

UP NEXT

• The Evangels will face another Red River Athletic Conference opponent next weekend as MACU will travel to Victoria, Texas to face Houston-Victoria in a four-game series. Mid-America Christian will open the slate with a Friday doubleheader slated for a 3 p.m. start at Riverside Stadium.