OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU baseball team will be looking to finish its home stand strong before hitting the road the Oklahoma panhandle this weekend as the Evangels face off against NCAA Division II Southern Nazarene for a 2 p.m. first pitch at the MACU Baseball Field.
 
SEASON REPORT

• Record: 16-8 (7-2 SAC)
• Last Game: Won vs. Central Christian (Kan.) – 16-4 – Mar. 16, 2024 – MACU Baseball Field
• Top Performers (Hitting):
  • Noel McGarry-Doyle – JR – OF
    • .436 BA (34-78), 5 2B, 3 3B, 5 HR, 29 RBI, 22 R, 13 BB, 2 HBP, 4 SB, .527 OB%, .769 SLG%
  • Taiga Sakuma – SO – OF
    • .421 BA (24-57), 6 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 14 RBI, 20 R, 9 BB, 6 SB, .493 OB%, .614 SLG%
  • Kyle Williams – JR – OF
    • .403 BA (31-77), 9 2B, 3 HR, 24 RBI, 15 R, 15 BB, 4 SB, .489 OB%, .636 SLG%
  • D'Andre Gaines – SO – OF
    • .377 BA (29-77), 6 2B, 2 3B, 4 HR, 20 RBI, 31 R, 11 BB, 2 HBP, 7 SB, .467 OB%, .662 SLG%
• Top Performers (Pitching):
  • Isaac Baez – SR – RHP
    • 6-1 W-L, 2.68 ERA, 7 APP, 7 GS, 37.0 IP, 28 H, 11 R, 11 ER, 10 BB, 45 SO, .201 OBA
  • Carlos Escobosa – JR – RHP
    • 3-1 W-L, 2.70 ERA, 6 APP, 4 GS, 20.0 IP, 15 H, 9 R, 6 ER, 14 BB, 27 SO, .200 OBA
  • Cameron Brown – SR – RHP
    • 1-0 W-L, 2.65 ERA, 2 SV, 7 APP, 2 GS, 17.0 IP, 15 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 7 BB, 15 SO, .242 OBA
  • Zane Robeaux – SR – RHP
    • 3-0 W-L, 2.95 ERA, 7 APP, 1 GS, 21.1 IP, 18 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 4 BB, 17 SO, .231 OBA
• Team Notes:
  • Mid-America Christian is coming off a dominant three-game home set against Central Christian this past weekend as the Evangels outscored the Tigers 40-9 on their way to 14-3, 10-2 and 16-4 victories.
  • As a result of a sensational week from the dish, redshirt sophomore second baseman Jacob Police was selected as the Sooner Athletic Conference Player of the Week as well as the NCCAA Offensive Player of the Week. In that three-game sweep over the Tigers as well as an 18-8 victory at Oklahoma City last Monday, the Prescott, Arizona native finished the slate with a .769 (10-13) batting average, hitting two doubles and two homers for nine RBIs and scored seven runs to go with a pair of walks and two stolen bases.
  • Statistically, the Evangels have been one of the best teams in the NAIA from hitting, pitching and defensive standpoint. As of Monday, MACU ranks second in the SAC and 30^th nationally in batting average (.325), second in the SAC and 41^st nationally in on-base percentage (.421) as well as fourth in the SAC and 26^th in the NAIA in slugging percentage (.527).
  • On the mound, the Evangels have been even better, leading the SAC and posting the 21^st-lowest earned run average (4.39) while defensively, MACU also owns the best fielding percentage in the SAC (.966), which ranks 33^rd in the NAIA.

SCOUTING REPORT
Southern Nazarene (Okla.)

• Record: 6-19 (2-12 GAC)
• Last Game: Lost at No. 7 (NCAA DII) Southern Arkansas – 12-1 – Mar. 18, 2024 (result not yet reported from game two of doubleheader at time of publication)
• Series vs MACU (2004-): SNU leads 26-9
• Last Game vs MACU: SNU won 23-21 – Apr. 12, 2022 – Bethany, Okla.
• Series Streak: SNU won 5
• Players to Watch (Hitting):
  • Jacob Martinez – GR – UTL
    • .368 BA (32-87), 10 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 12 RBI, 22 R, 9 BB, 1 HBP, 7 SB, .433 OB%, .563 SLG%
  • Trey Orman – JR – OF
    • .333 BA (16-48), 1 2B, 6 HR, 23 RBI, 12 R, 2 BB, 1 HBP, .373 OB%, .729 SLG%
  • Chase Hudson – JR – 1B
    • .355 BA (22-62), 6 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 16 RBI, 7 R, 9 BB, 2 HBP, .452 OB%, .532 SLG%
• Players to Watch (Pitching):
  • Patrick Hine – GR – LHP
    • 1-2 W-L, 5.28 ERA, 6 APP, 6 GS, 29.0 IP, 33 H, 21 R, 17 ER, 15 BB, 21 SO, .275 OBA
  • Gunner Phillips – JR – RHP
    • 0-3 W-L, 7.71 ERA, 9 APP, 1 GS, 25.2 IP, 40 H, 26 R, 22 ER, 8 BB, 22 SO, .348 OBA
  • Zack Robinson – JR – LHP
    • 2-2 W-L, 6.19 ERA, 10 APP, 1 SV, 16.0 IP, 18 H, 19 R, 11 ER, 11 BB, 17 SO, .286 OBA
• Team Notes:
  • Southern Nazarene is coming off a short turnaround after facing the No. 7 team in NCAA Division II Southern Arkansas in a road series in Magnolia, Ark. The Crimson Storm dropped the first two games of the series 12-1 and 11-1 before facing the Muleriders in the series finale on Monday afternoon.
  • SNU is currently having a tough season both offensively and from a pitching standpoint as the Crimson Storm are only batting .272 as a team with just a .386 team on-base percentage and a .420 slugging percentage. On the mound, Southern Nazarene is boasting a 10.07 team ERA with its opposition hitting for a .345 batting average.
  • Offensively, graduate student utility man Jacob Martinez has been the team's top hitter, batting for a .368 batting average while scoring the most runs (22) and stealing the most bases (7) while reaching base safely on a .433 clip. Junior outfielder Trey Orman is the team's top run producer, driving in 23 RBIs while slugging six homers on a .333 batting average.
  • Of SNU's rotation, Patrick Hine has been the team's best pitcher this season, posting a 5.28 ERA and has a 1-2 record in his six starts. Gunner Phillips and Zack Robinson have been the most stable of SNU's relievers as Phillips own a 7.71 ERA in nine appearances while Robinson is tossing a 6.19 ERA over his 16 innings of work.
  • Mid-America Christian will be seeking to snap a five-game losing streak to Crimson Storm, but the two teams' last meeting turned out to be a thriller at Feland Field on Apr. 21, 2022. In that contest, the two teams went back-and-forth in a high scoring, extra-inning affair, but the Evangels lost a heartbreaker when Cole Embrey hit a walk-off three-run homer in the bottom of the 10^th to wrap-up the 23-21 final. In that contest, German Sepulveda slashed 3-for-6 with a double and a homer for five RBIs and three runs, Andrew Enwiya swatted 3-for-7, also hitting a double and a home run for four RBIs and three runs. The most notable performance came from Yan Ely Adames, who set the program's new single-game hit record after going 6-for-7 with a double, a homer, three RBIs and three runs.