OKLAHOMA CITY – In a matchup of NAIA Top 25 foes at the MACU Baseball Field on Friday afternoon, the No. 18 MACU Baseball team behind a stellar pitching and defensive effort shut down one of the best hitting teams in the country in No. 17 MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) with a pair of 8-1, 5-2 victories.

GAME ONE
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 8, MidAmerica Nazarene 1
  • Mid-America Christian (27-9)
  • MidAmerica Nazarene (26-12)

PITCHING DECISIONS

• Win: Isaac Baez (8-1)
• Loss: Zach Trevino (8-1)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Isaac Baez – W, CG, 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO
• Jacob Police – 2-3, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R
• Carlos Medina – 3-3, RBI
• Zachary Stark – 2-3, 2B, RBI

SCORING SUMMARY

• TOP 1^st – MNU – Brycen Sherwood homered to right-center, RBI – MNU 1, MACU 0
• BTM 2^nd – MACU – Jacob Police singled to left, RBI; Kyle Williams scored – MACU 1, MNU 1
• BTM 2^nd – MACU – Zachary Stark singled down lf line, RBI; Anthony Hampton scored – MACU 2, MNU 1
• BTM 2^nd – MACU – Taiga Sakuma singled thru left side, RBI; Jacob Police scored – MACU 3, MNU 1
• BTM 2^nd – MACU – Noel McGarry-Doyle singled up the middle, 2 RBI; Taiga Sakuma scored; D'Andre Gaines scored – MACU 5, MNU 1
• BTM 5^th – MACU – Jacob Police homered to left, 2 RBI; K.J. Moo-Young scored – MACU 7, MNU 1
• BTM 6^th – MACU – Carlos Medina singled thru left side, RBI; Tylor Richey scored – MACU 8, MNU 1

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian scored its eight runs on 13 hits while MidAmerica Nazarene notched its lone run on six hits and committed one error.
• The Pioneers were the first to break through in the scoring column in just the second at-bat of the contest when Brycen Sherwood launched a homer to the right-center field wall that was just barely out of the reach of the glove of D'Andre Gaines on the leap to make it a 1-0 game.
• While the Evangels went down in-order in the bottom of the first, MACU put together a monster second inning by pushing five runs across. After the Evangels led off the frame with a Kyle Williams walk and an Anthony Hampton single to center before being moved over on a Carlos Medina sac bunt, Jacob Police quickly tied the game by lining an RBI single to left to make it a 1-1 game and put runners at the corners.
• With a strikeout threatening to thwart MACU's big inning, Zachary Stark reinvigorated the Evangels' hit parade as his RBI single down the left field line put MACU in-front 2-1. Taiga Sakuma than slapped a ground ball single through the left side to add one more and after Gaines drew a walk to load the bases, MACU's RBI leader Noel McGarry-Doyle hammered a two-RBI single up the middle to extend the Evangels' edge to 5-1.
• The Pioneers tried to muster their own threat with back-to-back singles to start off the top of the third, MACU starting pitcher Isaac Baez quickly got out of the jam by inducing a flyout in foul territory to right before getting Sherwood to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.
• MACU managed to get runners to third in both the third and fourth innings, but despite coming up empty in each frame, the Evangels picked up some big-time insurance in the fifth. After Medina snuck an infield single in-between the third baseman and shortstop, Police made it a six-run lead by hammering a no-doubt two-run homer over the left field wall to set the score to 7-1.
• In the sixth, Medina wrapped up his 3-for-3 day with an RBI single for MACU's final run. After Williams reached on a single dropped into the right-center field gap, he was moved down to second on a Jason Thurman sac bunt and to third on a wild pitch before Medina grounded his third single through the hole at short to ultimately wrap-up the 7-1 final.
• The pitching matchup not only featured both teams' aces, but MACU's Baez and MNU's Zach Trevino both grew up in Santa Maria, California, were former high school teammates and faced off against each other at the JUCO level.
• In what was likely their last collegiate face-off, Baez got the better of Trevino as Baez improved to 8-1 after throwing a complete game, allowing just one earned run off the first inning homer while allowing just six hits with no walks while striking out two. Meanwhile, the Evangels were able to get to Trevino, who suffered his first loss to fall to 8-1 after allowing seven earned runs on 10 hits with three walks and two strikeouts.
• Baez's eighth win of the season went down as his second mark in MACU's NAIA Era (2008-present) single season wins top five as he moved into a tie with teammate Ryan Harney (2023) for the third-most pitching victories in a season, moving to just one away from tying his program record that he set last season.
• Police led the MACU's bats with a strong day from the dish, slashing 2-for-3 with his seventh home run of the season for three RBIs and two runs.
• Medina also had a great day from the plate after going 3-for-3 with three singles and an RBI while his only plate appearance where he didn't reach came on a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt.
• Hampton, Stark and Williams also notched two-hit games for the Evangels.

GAME TWO
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 5, MidAmerica Nazarene 2
  • Mid-America Christian (28-9)
  • MidAmerica Nazarene (26-13)

PITCHING DECISIONS

• Win: Zane Robeaux (7-0)
• Loss: Adam Gray (3-3)
• Save: Cameron Brown (3)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Zane Robeaux – W, 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 7 SO
• Kyle Williams – 2-3, 2B, 2 RBI, R, BB
• Carlos Medina – 1-1, RBI, 2 BB
• Taiga Sakuma – 1-3, 2 R, BB

SCORING SUMMARY

• BTM 1^st – MACU – Kyle Williams doubled down lf line, 2 RBI; D'Andre Gaines scored; Taiga Sakuma scored – MACU 2, MNU 0
• BTM 1^st – MACU – Jacob Police hit a sac fly to rf, RBI; Kyle Williams scored – MACU 3, MNU 0
• BTM 1^st – MACU – Marcus Burton singled to left-center, RBI; Anthony Hampton scored – MACU 4, MNU 0
• BTM 2^nd – MACU – Carlos Medina walked, RBI; Taiga Sakuma scored – MACU 5, MNU 0
• TOP 5^th – MNU – Willy Borquez homered to right, RBI – MACU 5, MNU 1
• TOP 5^th – MNU – Bryce Sherwood singled to left, RBI; Sean Maple scored – MACU 5, MNU 2

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian scored its five runs on six hits while the Pioneers tallied their two runs on six hits and committed an error.
• The Evangels did a bulk load of their scoring very early in the contest as a four-run first allowed MACU to gain a strong lead. After leading off the frame with back-to-back singles from Taiga Sakuma and D'Andre Gaines, Kyle Williams put the first runs across by hammering a double down the left field line to bring in both runners as Gaines slid in just barely before the tag was applied to set the score to 2-0.
• After loading the bases back up on a fielder's choice error and a Carlos Medina walk, Jacob Police pushed across the next run by hitting a sacrifice fly to right to bring in Williams before Marcus Burton's RBI single to left-center plated Anthony Hampton to extend the edge to 4-0.
• The Evangels pushed across one more run in the second when MACU's batters drew four walks as Sakuma, Gaines and Hampton all reached via a free pass before Medina's bases-load walk set the score to 5-0. However, MNU reliever Alex Meyers was able to limit the damage to just the one run.
• It looked like MACU was going to get one more in the bottom of the third when MACU courtesy runner Tylor Richey nabbed second on a stolen base with one out and Sakuma hit a scoring liner down the first base line. However, MNU first baseman Kaden Owens made a sensational leaping grab to rob Sakuma of a hit before relaying it down to second to get the inning-ending double play.
• Despite cruising through the Pioneers lineup, registering three-straight 1-2-3 innings, MACU starting pitcher Zane Robeaux ran into trouble in the fifth when he gave up a lead-off homer to right before a walk and a one-out double to left-center by Joshua Martinez put two runners in scoring position before Drew Woodley's walk loaded the bases. While Bryce Sherwood's RBI single to left pushed a run across to make it 5-2, Robeaux was able to get out of the massive jam by getting Javier Melendez to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to limit the damage to just two runs.
• In the top of the sixth, Robeaux walked Noah Castillo after a prolonged at-bat as MACU closer Cameron Brown entered to try to hold the lead down. After getting a groundout to third and a flyout to left, the Evangels ended the frame in dramatic fashion when Joel Nieves made an incredible diving catch in left for the final out to keep the leadoff runner stranded at second.
• After the first two batters were retired in the top of the seventh, MidAmerica Nazarene tried to muster a late threat when a Woodley ground-rule double down the right field line and a Sherwood infield single to second put runners at the corners with the tying run coming to the plate. However, Melendez hit a scorching liner to right that Noel McGarry-Doyle was in the perfect position to snare to wrap-up the 5-2 final.
• Robeaux's incredible win streak on the mound continued on Saturday as he notched the victory in his sixth-straight pitching appearance, improving to 7-0 on the mound after allowing just two earned runs on four hits. However, the Mustang, Oklahoma native had an uncharacteristic game by walking a season-high four batters after entering the contest with just six walks all season.
• Despite some slight command struggles, Robeaux still finished with seven strikeouts over five innings of work, as his 182 career punchouts moved him into second in MACU's NAIA Era career record book. Robeaux needs just seven more strikeouts to tie David Wynn's (2010-11) program record of 189.
• While the Evangels were able to get to MNU's starting pitcher Adam Gray, the Evangels chased the Pioneers No. 2 after just one inning after notching four hits in the first frame. However, the Evangels struggled to hit against MNU's pen over the final five frames, notching just two hits the rest of the way.
• Williams continued his torrid pace from the plate, leading the MACU bats by batting 2-for-3 with his 16^th double of the season for two RBIs and a run.
• Sakuma also helped MACU's run production from the top of the order, finishing the contest 1-for-2 with a pair of runs scored and a walk.
• On the whole, MACU's pitching and defense was downright stellar in the doubleheader as it held a Pioneers team that entered the weekend ranking in the top 10 in the NAIA in batting average (.350, 7^th), slugging percentage (.603, 8^th) and on-base percentage (.447, 9^th) to just three runs on 12 hits with four walks.
• With the victory, the Evangels improved to 7-4 against teams that are currently ranked in the NAIA Top 25 Coaches' Poll while also improving to 3-0 all-time against MidAmerica Nazarene.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will close out the series against No. 17 MidAmerica Nazarene on Saturday with a noon first pitch. The Evangels will hold a Senior Day Ceremony to celebrate its 12 graduating seniors at 11:30 a.m. at the MACU Baseball Field.