VICTORIA, Texas – Senior pitcher Zane Robeaux paced the MACU baseball team in the opening game as the Evangels split the opening doubleheader at Houston-Victoria, picking up a 5-1 win before falling 4-2 in the night cap at Riverside Park on Friday afternoon.
 
GAME ONE
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 5, Houston-Victoria 1
  • Mid-America Christian (2-1)
  • Houston-Victoria (4-1)

PITCHING DECISIONS

• Win: Zane Robeaux (1-0)
• Loss: Mason Longoria (1-1)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Zane Robeaux – W, 5 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 4 SO, 2 HBP
• Zachary Stark – 1-3, 2 RBI
• Noel McGarry-Doyle – 2-3, 3B, R
• D'Andre Gaines – 1-4, 3B, RBI, R

SCORING SUMMARY

• TOP 1^st – MACU – DeAndre Gaines tripled to right-center, RBI; Noel McGarry Doyle scored; Gaines scored on error by 2b – MACU 2, UHV 0
• TOP 4^th – MACU – Jordan Crawford grounded into double play; Kyle Williams scored – MACU 3, UHV 0
• TOP 6^th – MACU – Zachary Stark singled thru left side, 2 RBI; Carlos Medina scored; Joel Nieves scored – MACU 5, UHV 0
• BTM 7^th – UHV – Hal Perez homered to left-center, RBI – MACU 5, UHV 1

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian scored its five runs on nine hits while Houston-Victoria plated its one run on six hits with an error.
• The Evangels grabbed the early advantage in the top of the first when Noel McGarry-Doyle reached on an infield single before D'Andre Gaines in his first plate appearance as an Evangel blasted a triple to right-center before coming home on a Jaguars throwing error to make it a 2-0 game.
• The Evangels were able to get some breathing room in the top of the sixth. After Kyle Williams and Carlos Medina reached on a pair of one-out singles before advancing into scoring position on a wild pitch, Zachary Stark hammered a hot shot single that got by the shortstop, plating a pair of runs to make it a 5-0 game.
• The Jaguars' lone run came in the bottom of the seventh when Hal Perez smashed a lead-off solo home run to left-center, but despite getting a pair of two-out singles, UHV wasn't able to gain any more ground.
• Zane Robeaux notched his first win of the season after throwing five shutout innings, allowing just four baserunners off a pair of hits and a pair of hit batters to go with four strikeouts. The win marked his 12^th career victory on the mound with MACU, moving him into a tie with teammate Kelton Lachelt for the second-most wins in the NAIA Era (2007-present), sitting only behind Keisy Portorreal (2018-20).
• Noel McGarry-Doyle, Kyle Williams and Carlos Medina led the MACU bats with a pair of hits apiece while Zachary Stark was the lone Evangel to notch multiple RBIs off his 2-RBI single.

GAME TWO
SCORE

• Houston-Victoria 4, Mid-America Christian 2
  • Mid-America Christian (2-2)
  • Houston-Victoria (5-1)

PITCHING DECISIONS

• Win: Brady Parker (2-0)
• Loss: Devan Quesada (0-1)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Carlos Escobosa – 2 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 2 SO, 1 HBP
• Noah Prince – 1-3, 2B
• D'Andre Gaines – 1-3, SB

SCORING SUMMARY

• TOP 1^st – MACU – Anthony Hampton reached on throwing error by 3b; scored on throwing error by 1b – MACU 1, UHV 0
• TOP 2^nd – MACU – Julian Martinez caught stealing; Jacob Police scored on throw – MACU 2, UHV 0
• BTM 3^rd – UHV – Kaden Fikac homered to right-center, RBI – MACU 2, UHV 1
• BTM 4^th – UHV – Juan Martin homered down lf line, 2 RBI; Juan Perez scored – UHV 3, MACU 2
• BTM 4^th – UHV – Hal Perez homered to left, RBI – UHV 4, MACU 2

GAME NOTES

• The Evangels struggled to generate much offense as MACU plated its two runs on three hits and committed one error while Houston-Victoria scored its four runs off six hits with two errors.
• MACU scored its two runs in rather unorthodox fashion in the first two innings. In the top of the first, Anthony Hampton reached on a throwing error by UHV's third baseman on a slow chopper and after trying to get Hampton on advancing to third, the first baseman threw the relay away, allowing Hampton to score on the play. In the second, MACU was able to get runners on first and third with one out off a walk and a single before trying to execute a double steal. On the play, Julian Martinez was thrown out trying to steal second, but the relay home to get Jacob Police was not in-time, allowing the Evangels to take a 2-0 lead.
• The Jaguars immediately got the run back in the bottom of the second when Kaden Fikac slammed a lead-off solo shot over the right-center field fence to set the score to 2-1.
• Things came apart for MACU in the bottom of the seventh when the Jaguars led off the frame with a Fikac single to right before back-to-back homers to left from Juan Martin and Hal Perez gave all the offense UHV would need for the rest of the game.
• Mid-America Christian would struggle to get runners on the rest of the way as a one-out Noah Prince double in the fifth and a Kyle Williams walk in the sixth would be the only two baserunners to reach for the Evangels over the final three frames.
• It was a rough outing for senior pitcher Devan Quesada in his second start with the Evangels as he suffered his first loss of the season, allowing four earned runs on five hits with a walk, a hit-batter and three strikeouts in three-plus innings of work.
• MACU's pen gave the Evangels a chance as Jacob Mallozzi and Carlos Escobosa combined to throw three innings of one-hit ball while Escobosa notched a pair of punch-outs.
• Noah Prince notched the lone extra-base hit for the Evangels with his double down the left field line while D'Andre Gaines and Julian Martinez tallied the other two MACU hits.
• The loss for MACU marked just its second loss ever to Houston-Victoria as the Evangels hold an 8-2 lead in the all-time series since the two squads started facing each other in 2020.

UP NEXT

• The series will wrap-up on Saturday as Mid-America Christian will open the second doubleheader of the four-game series with a noon first pitch at Riverside Park.