FORT WORTH, Texas – No. 18 MACU Baseball picked up a pair of massive Sooner Athletic Conference victories at Sycamore Park on Thursday afternoon as the Evangels swept the Thursday doubleheader at Texas Wesleyan by scores of 7-5 and 6-2.
 
GAME ONE
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 7, Texas Wesleyan 5
  • Mid-America Christian (31-9, 16-3 SAC)
  • Texas Wesleyan (26-16, 14-8 SAC)

PITCHING DECISIONS

• Win: Isaac Baez (9-1)
• Loss: Justin Ward (3-2)
• Save: Cameron Brown (4)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Isaac Baez – W, 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO
• Taiga Sakuma – 3-4, 2 RBI, R
• Jacob Police – 1-2, 2B, 2 RBI, R, BB
• D'Andre Gaines – 1-4, HR, 2 RBI, R

SCORING SUMMARY

• TOP 4^th – MACU – Jacob Police doubled to left-center, 2 RBI; Carlos Medina scored; Anthony Hampton scored – MACU 2, TWU 0
• TOP 5^th – MACU – Taiga Sakuma singled to left, RBI; Marcus Burton scored – MACU 3, TWU 0
• TOP 5^th – MACU – Noel McGarry-Doyle singled down lf line, RBI; Joel Nieves scored – MACU 4, TWU 0
• TOP 6^th – MACU – Taiga Sakuma singled to third, RBI; Jacob Police scored – MACU 5, TWU 0
• TOP 6^th – MACU – D'Andre Gaines homered to right-center, 2 RBI; Taiga Sakuma scored – MACU 7, TWU 0
• BTM 7^th – TWU – Aiden Kenney singled to center, RBI; Evann Head scored – MACU 7, TWU 1
• BTM 7^th – TWU – Roddy Garcia singled to right, RBI; Conner DeLeon scored; Logan Sivertooth scored – MACU 7, TWU 3
• BTM 7^th – TWU – TJ Tomlinson singled to right, RBI; Aiden Kenney scored – MACU 7, TWU 4
• BTM 7^th – TWU – Ryan Flores singled to left, RBI; TJ Tomlinson scored – MACU 7, TWU 5

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian scored its seven runs on 11 hits while Texas Wesleyan tallied its five runs on nine hits with a pair of errors.
• Both teams struggled to get baserunners or scoring opportunities until the top of the fourth when back-to-back two-out singles by Anthony Hampton and Carlos Medina set up the reigning SAC Player of the Week Jacob Police with a deep two-RBI double to the left-center field wall to give MACU the 2-0 advantage.
• In the top of the fourth, the Evangels took advantage of a leadoff throwing error by TWU starting pitcher James Ward as Marcus Burton reached on the error before a Tanner Graves bunt single in-between the pitcher and the third baseman put runners on the corners for Taiga Sakuma's RBI single to left before D'Andre Gaines added an RBI single down the left field line to extend the edge to 4-0.
• MACU added what proved to be three vital insurance runs in the top of the sixth as Sakuma beat out an infield single to third to score Police from third before Gaines hammered a 2-RBI line drive homer over the right-center field wall to set the score to 7-0.
• After being held in-check throughout the entire game by MACU starting pitcher Isaac Baez, the Rams broke through against the Evangels pen as TWU scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh before MACU closer Cameron Brown came in and got Chase Cos to fly out to center for the final out to get his fourth save of the season.
• For the second-straight year, Baez reached nine wins in a season to tie the single year NAIA Era (2008-present) throwing six shutout innings and allowing only three hits and three walks while striking out four. Baez also moved up the top five list in a couple more career categories as his 28^th start is the fourth-most for a MACU pitcher while his 153.1 innings pitched moved into fifth on the career list.
• Three different Evangels recorded a pair of RBIs in the contest as Sakuma slashed 3-for-4, Police batted 1-for-2 with a double and Gaines finished 1-for-4 with the lone homer for MACU.
• The victory for MACU snapped a 14-game winning streak in the series by Texas Wesleyan while also allowing the Evangels to claim its most ever wins in Sooner Athletic Conference play after going 15-9 in 2023.

GAME TWO
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 6, Texas Wesleyan 2
  • Mid-America Christian (32-9, 17-3 SAC)
  • Texas Wesleyan (26-17, 14-9 SAC)

PITCHING DECISIONS

• Win: Zane Robeaux (8-0)
• Loss: Sutton Tidwell (6-2)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Zane Robeaux – W, CG, 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO
• D'Andre Gaines – 2-2, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, 2 BB
• Noel McGarry-Doyle – 2-3, RBI, R
• Taiga Sakuma – 2-4, RBI, R
• Jacob Police – 2-4, 2B, R

SCORING SUMMARY

• TOP 1^st – MACU – D'Andre Gaines doubled to left, RBI; Taiga Sakuma scored – MACU 1, TWU 0
• TOP 1^st – MACU – Noel McGarry-Doyle hit a sac fly to lf, RBI; D'Andre Gaines scored – MACU 2, TWU 0
• TOP 3^rd – MACU – D'Andre Gaines homered to left, RBI – MACU 3, TWU 0
• TOP 3^rd – MACU – Kyle Williams singled to 1b, RBI; Noel McGarry-Doyle scored – MACU 4, TWU 0
• TOP 4^th – MACU – Taiga Sakuma singled to right, RBI; Jacob Police scored – MACU 5, TWU 0
• TOP 4^th – MACU – Marcus Burton scored on an error by c – MACU 6, TWU 0
• BTM 7^th – TWU – Logan Silvertooth doubled to right-center, RBI; TJ Tomlinson scored – MACU 6, TWU 1
• BTM 7^th – TWU – Chase Cos singled to left, RBI; Logan Silvertooth scored – MACU 6, TWU 2

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian scored its six runs on 11 hits while Texas Wesleyan totaled its two runs on four hits and notched a pair of errors.
• In a flip of game one where the Evangels struggled to score early, MACU managed to jump on Rams ace Sutton Tidwell as Taiga Sakuma led-off the contest with a single before D'Andre Gaines batted an RBI double down the left field line to produce the first score. After trotting down to third on a balk, Noel McGarry-Doyle added to the advantage by hitting a deep sacrifice flyout in left field foul territory to score Gaines easily from third, setting the score to 2-0.
• MACU added two more runs in the top of the third when Gaines blasted his second home run of the day over the left field wall with one out before McGarry-Doyle hammered a single to center and advanced to third on the misplay by the center fielder. Kyle Williams brought him in with an RBI infield single toward the first base side to extend the edge to 4-0.
• The Evangels chipped in two more in the top of the fourth on a pair of clutch two-out hits as a Jacob Police infield single and a Marcus Burton walk put runners at first and second for Sakuma to drop an RBI single into right field before Burton eventually scored on an error by the catcher to make it 6-0.
• After the Rams could muster just one hit against MACU starting pitcher Zane Robeaux through the first six innings, TWU managed to break through against the righty as a leadoff single and a one-out double Logan Silvertooth pushed across the Rams first run of the contest. Silvertooth later came around to score on Chase Cos' single through the left side before Robeaux finally ended the run with a strikeout of Aiden Kenney.
• The contest proved to be a record-setting day for Robeaux on the mound as his seven strikeouts allowed him to move into a tie with David Wynn for the most strikeouts by a MACU pitcher in the NAIA Era at 189. The Mustang, Oklahoma native also moved into a tie for sixth in games started with his 25^th nod while also sliding into the No. 7 spot with his fifth career complete game.
• Gaines once again led MACU's batting efforts after putting together a 2-for-2 game with a double and his team-high ninth homer for a pair of RBIs and two runs scored to go with a pair of walks. In his first year with the program, the sophomore centerfielder continues to climb up MACU's single season runs book with his 55^th run scored, overtaking Sam Lewis (2010) for the third-most in a year.
• With his first inning sacrifice fly, McGarry-Doyle also continued his ascent up the single season record book as his 55^th RBI of the year moved him into a tie with former teammate Yan Ely Adames (2021) for third place in the book. The junior right fielder currently sits just eight RBIs away from tying the 2010s MACU Player of the Decade Jerry McNew (2017) for the program record.
• McGarry-Doyle also continued climbing the career record book as well as 115^th career hit ties him with McNew (2013-17) for sixth, needing just one more to match Chevin Noone (2014-17) for fifth and three more to catch Edgar Martinez (2019-21) for fourth. The Maple, Ontario, Canada product also overtook a former teammate on the career total bases list as his 207 bags pushed him past Andrew Enwiya (2022-23) for fourth.
• Overall, four Evangels finished with a pair of hits in the contest with Gaines being the most effective bat in the contest by slashing 2-for-2 with a double, a homer, two RBIs and two runs scored to go with a pair of walks.
• Sakuma's sensational day at the dish carried over as he finished 2-for-4 to wrap-up the day by batting 5-for-8 with four RBIs.
• With the victory, Mid-America Christian has won all seven of its SAC series this season with just one series remaining in the regular season. The win also moved MACU into a four-game lead over Oklahoma City with only four games left in league play. If MACU can complete the sweep over Texas Wesleyan, the Evangels would lock up at least a share of their first Sooner Athletic Conference Championship while earning the No. 1 seed by holding the tiebreaker over the Stars for the top seed.

UP NEXT

• The Evangels will look to aim for the sweep on Friday as MACU wraps-up its three-game series against the Rams with a 1 p.m. first pitch at Sycamore Park.