OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU baseball team will be looking to seek some revenge on the road on Wednesday as the Evangels travel to Tabor for another midweek matchup at 1 p.m. in Hillsboro, Kansas.
 
SEASON REPORT

• Record: 11-6 (2-1 SAC)
• Last Game: Lost vs. (RV) Science & Arts (Okla.) – 3-2 – Mar. 2, 2024 – MACU Baseball Field
• Top Performers (Hitting):
  • Kyle Williams – JR – OF/1B
    • .426 BA (23-54), 6 2B, 2 HR, 16 RBI, 11 R, 11 BB, 3 SB, .515 OB%, .648 SLG%
  • D'Andre Gaines – SO – OF
    • .393 BA (22-56), 5 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 14 RBI, 18 R, 3 BB, 1 HBP, 4 SB, .433 OB%, .661 SLG%
  • Noel McGarry-Doyle – JR – OF
    • .385 BA (20-52), 3 2B, 3 3B, 3 HR, 17 RBI, 15 R, 9 BB, 2 HBP, 3 SB, .492 OB%, .731 SLG%
• Top Performers (Pitching):
  • Isaac Baez – SR – RHP
    • 4-1 W-L, 2.33 ERA, 5 APP, 5 GS, 27.0 IP, 19 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 9 BB, 37 SO, .190 OBA
  • Carlos Escobosa – JR – RHP
    • 2-0 W-L, 1.26 ERA, 4 APP, 2 GS, 14.1 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 6 BB, 21 SO, .173 OBA
  • Cameron Brown – SR – RHP
    • 1-0 W-L, 1.93 ERA, 5 APP, 2 GS, 1 SV, 14.0 IP, 11 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 6 BB, 13 SO, .231 OBA
• Team Notes:
  • Mid-America Christian is coming off a hard-fought 2-1 Sooner Athletic Conference series win against Science & Arts where every game was decided by one run. After holding off a late Drovers rally for a 4-3 win on Mar. 1, the Evangels claimed the series win after rallying from three runs down in the bottom of the seventh for a walk-off 5-4 win in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader. MACU had a chance at a sweep after jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the series finale, but the Drovers put together a late rally to end the series with a 3-2 win.
  • After picking up the win on the mound on Friday, senior starting pitcher Isaac Baez was named the SAC Pitcher of the Week for the second time in three weeks. In the victory, Baez allowed just one earned run on six hits with a walk and nine strikeouts over seven innings of work. Baez also joined some elite company with that win as he joined the 2018 SAC Pitcher of the Year Keisy Portorreal for the program's NAIA Era (2008-present) pitching wins record with the 13^th of his MACU career.
  • For the third time in his two-year Evangels career, senior shortstop Carlos Medina came up with a clutch walk-off hit for MACU in that 5-4 victory on Saturday. The Apple Valley, California native tabbed a pair of walk-offs last season, which included a bloop single to center in a 5-4 win over Oklahoma Panhandle State at the MACU Baseball Field on Mar. 31 before coming up with one of the biggest walk-offs in program history. In MACU's 3-2 win over Southwestern Christian in the NCCAA National Championship, Medina drove the walk-off single through the left side with two outs in the bottom of the 10^th to propel the Evangels to the national title.
  • Despite battling through injuries, junior outfielder Noel McGarry-Doyle has continued to put up stellar hitting numbers for the Evangels. Over the course of last week, the NCCAA All-American batted .385 (5-for-13) with a triple and a homer for five RBIs and since his three-hit game against Southwestern on Feb. 18 is currently on an eight-game hit streak.

SCOUTING REPORT
(RV) Tabor (Kan.)

• Record: 10-6 (7-2 KCAC)
• Last Game: Won vs. York (Neb.) – 30-13 – Mar. 3, 2024 – Hillsboro, Kan.
• Series vs MACU (2019-): Tabor leads 5-2
• Last Game vs MACU: Tabor won 9-5 – Feb. 27, 2024 – MACU Baseball Field
• Series Streak: Tabor won 4
• Players to Watch (Hitting):
  • Tyler Mata Lloyd – SR – INF
    • .529 BA (27-51), 3 2B, 2 HR, 18 RBI, 31 R, 13 BB, 7 HBP, 14 SB, .653 OB%, .706 SLG%
  • Miguel Ramos III – SR – 3B
    • .485 BA (16-33), 4 HR, 17 RBI, 14 R, 5 BB, 4 HBP, .595 OB%, .848 SLG%
  • Isaiah Cohens – JR – INF
    • .467 BA (21-45), 3 2B, 2 HR, 12 RBI, 18 R, 6 BB, 5 SB, .519 OB%, .667 SLG%
• Players to Watch (Pitching):
  • Payton Tinker – SR – RHP
    • 3-2 W-L, 3.62 ERA, 5 APP, 5 GS, 27.1 IP, 28 H, 15 R, 11 ER, 3 BB, 24 SO, .262 OBA
  • Cutter Smith – SR – RHP
    • 4-1 W-L, 6.41 ERA, 5 APP, 5 GS, 26.2 IP, 33 H, 20 R, 19 ER, 7 BB, 29 SO, .306 OBA
  • Sergio Gutierrez – JR – RHP
    • 1-0 W-L, 6.61 ERA, 6 APP, 3 SV, 16.1 IP, 17 H, 12 R, 12 ER, 8 BB, 12 SO, .283 OBA
• Team Notes:
  • Tabor is coming off a three-game home sweep over York in Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference play at home this past weekend. The powerhouse offensive team continued its clubbing ways in the trio of victories, outscoring the Panthers 62-21 in the 15-5, 17-3 and 30-13 wins.
  • The Bluejays have only continued to solidify themselves as the top hitting team in the NAIA as Tabor currently leads the nation in batting average (.382) and on-base percentage (.488) while clubbing the sixth-best slugging percentage (.603). Tabor also ranks eighth in runs scored 185, but are averaging an astounding 11.6 runs per game and have reached double-digit runs in six of the last seven games.
  • Despite its hitting prowess, one area of weakness for TC has been in its pitching game as Tabor ranks just seventh in the KCAC in team ERA (6.64) and eighth in WHIP (1.67), but do pose the fourth-best strikeout-per-nine-inning ratio in the conference (9.53).
  • The Tabor lineup from top-to-bottom has been nothing short of incredible with 11 players with 30 or more at-bats hitting above .300 with five of its every day players hitting above .400. However, no bat has been as potent as senior infielder Tyler Mata Lloyd, who comes into the contest slashing .529 from the leadoff spot with 18 RBIs and 31 runs to go with 14 stolen bases.
  • With it being a midweek game, the Evangels are unlikely to see the Bluejays top two pitchers in Payton Tinkler and Cutter Smith. Tabor has run three different pitchers in its No. 3 pitcher rotation between Xander Roberts (10.00 ERA), Quintin Holman (10.13 ERA) and Max Raddatz (10.38 ERA).
  • In their previous meeting at the MACU Baseball Field last Tuesday, the Evangels managed to jump out to a 5-0 lead due in-large part to a five-run third inning. However, the Bluejays were able to do some damage against the MACU pen, putting up a run in the fifth and four runs in the sixth to tie it up before scoring four runs over the final two frames for nine-unanswered to hand the Evangels the 9-5 defeat.