OKLAHOMA CITY – The No. 22 MACU Baseball team swept its third-straight Sooner Athletic Conference series in dramatic fashion as a D'Andre Gaines go-ahead two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh propelled the Evangels to an 8-5 victory over Wayland Baptist at the MACU Baseball Field on Saturday afternoon.
 
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 8, Wayland Baptist 5
  • Mid-America Christian (24-8, 13-2 SAC)
  • Wayland Baptist (17-17, 7-5 SAC)

PITCHING DECISIONS

• Win: Cameron Brown (2-0)
• Loss: Grayson Soukap (2-3)
• Save: Carlos Escobosa (1)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Anthony Hampton – 3-4, 3 RBI, R
• D'Andre Gaines – 1-2, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, 3 BB
• Isaac Baez – 6.2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 10 SO
• Carlos Escobosa – SV, 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO

SCORING SUMMARY

• BTM 1^st – MACU – Kyle Williams grounded out to 2b, RBI; Taiga Sakuma scored – MACU 1, WBU 0
• BTM 1^st – MACU – Anthony Hampton singled up the middle, 2 RBI; Noel McGarry-Doyle scored; D'Andre Gaines scored – MACU 3, WBU 0
• TOP 3^rd – WBU – Felix Polanco singled thru left side, 2 RBI; Riley Watson scored; Vann Johnson scored – MACU 3, WBU 2
• BTM 6^th – MACU – Anthony Hampton scored on a balk – MACU 4, WBU 2
• TOP 7^th – WBU – Breyden Peyton homered to right-center, 2 RBI; Delvis Claudio scored – MACU 4, WBU 4
• TOP 7^th – WBU – Riley Watson scored on a wild pitch – WBU 5, MACU 4
• BTM 7^th – MACU – D'Andre Gaines homered to center, 2 RBI; Taiga Sakuma scored – MACU 6, WBU 5
• BTM 7^th – MACU – Anthony Hampton singled thru right side, RBI; Marcus Burton scored – MACU 7, WBU 5
• BTM 8^th – MACU – Jacob Police homered to center, RBI – MACU 8, WBU 5

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian scored its eight runs on 11 hits and committed one error while Wayland Baptist scored its five runs on five hits and also tallied an error.
• The Evangels immediately did some damage with the bats right away in the bottom of the first when Taiga Sakuma and D'Andre Gaines each drew a walk and Noel McGarry-Doyle lined a sharply-hit single to right to load the bases with no outs. After Kyle Williams chopped an RBI groundout to second to score the first run, Anthony Hampton grounded a two-RBI single right back up the middle to make it a 3-0 MACU lead
• The Pioneers got on the board quickly to start the top of the third as back-to-back singles and a steal of second put two runners in scoring position before Felix Polanco smashed a two-RBI single through the left side to cut the WBU deficit to 3-2. Polanco eventually got down to third on a throwing error on a failed pickoff attempt and a passed ball, but MACU starting pitcher Isaac Baez was able to get a strikeout and a groundout to second to keep the Evangels lead intact.
• Both teams struggled to find baserunners over the next three innings before MACU was finally able to generate some offense when back-to-back one-out singles by Hampton and Carlos Medina put runners at the corners before WBU starting pitcher Nathan Baca was called for a balk, advancing both runners to make it a 4-2 game. The Evangels had the chance to add more when Jacob Police was hit by a pitch and both runners were moved on a sac bunt, but Zachary Stark was called out on a slow chopper to the pitcher to end the frame.
• In the top of the fifth, the Pioneers made their charge when Delvis Claudio reached on a four-pitch walk before Brayden Peyton hammered the game-tying two-run homer over the right-center field fence. WBU managed to get one more later in the frame against MACU reliever Cameron Brown on a wild pitch, but the Evangels' closer did make a great defensive play to record an out and ended the run with a runner on third by getting Samuel Fabian to popout to short.
• Despite just losing the lead, it didn't take long for the Evangels to get it back in the bottom of the seventh. After Sakuma reached first on a booted ground ball by the second baseman, Gaines blasted a line drive homer that cleared the center field wall, putting MACU back in-front 6-5. The Evangels added to their advantage later in the frame when Williams bashed a double down the left field line and his pinch-runner Marcus Burton got down to third on a passed ball before Hampton notched his third RBI of the day on a single through the right side to set the score to 7-5.
• The Evangels added one more run of insurance in the bottom of the eighth when Police crushed a no-doubt solo home run over the center field call to wrap-up the would-be 8-5 final.
• For the first time since Feb. 3, Baez did not get a win in his start, seeing his six-game win streak on the mound come to an end. However, the senior ace did finish the contest with 10 strikeouts and just two walks while allowing four earned runs on four hits.
• With his 10 punchouts, Baez increased his career strikeout mark to 158, surpassing Arcangel Soto (153, 2018-21) for seventh-most for a MACU player in the NAIA Era (2008-present). The Santa Maria, California native needs just three more to supplant Ben Donnell (2017-19) for sixth in the book. Baez also made his 25^th career start with MACU, moving into a tie for fifth with Madison Spencer (2016-17) on the career list.
• Hampton led MACU's hitting efforts, finishing the contest 3-for-4 with three RBIs to go with a run scored. In a series that saw limited production from the Evangels bats, the Houston product led MACU in the three-game set by slashing 5-for-9 (.556) with six RBIs and a run.
• The home run for Gaines marked his fifth of the season, boosting his season RBI total to 27 while also improving his team-best runs scored to 47.
• Police's solo blast in the eighth tied him for the second-most home runs on the team with Williams at six.
• With the victory, MACU's win streak moved up to 12 games, which is currently the fourth-longest in the NAIA only behind No. 4 Cumberland (Ky.) at 15-straight wins as well as Kansas Wesleyan and Northwestern Ohio at 13 in a row.
• The Evangels also completed their third consecutive three-game sweep in Sooner Athletic Conference play to increase their league record to 13-2, taking a 3.5 game lead over Oklahoma City at the top of the SAC standings.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will continue its extended home stand next weekend as the Evangels host Southwestern Assemblies of God for a three-game set. MACU will open the series on Friday, Apr. 5 with a doubleheader slated for a 1 p.m. start.