OKLAHOMA CITY – After earning the No. 3 seed in the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament, the MACU softball team will open league tourney play on Friday after being postponed a day due to the threat of inclement weather. The Evangels will be competing in the Chickasha, Oklahoma bracket and will face off against No. 6 seed Texas Wesleyan at 1 p.m. at Bill Smith Ballpark.
 
SEASON REPORT

• Record: 34-13 (27-9 SAC)
• Last Game: Won at Central Christian – 5-1 – Apr. 26, 2024 – McPherson, Kan.
• Top Players:
  • Kisbel Vizcaya – JR – 3B
    • .355 BA (54-152), 4 2B, 3 3B, 2 HR, 19 RBI, 36 R, 6 BB, 3 HBP, 23 SB, .389 OB%, .461 SLG%
  • Brooklyn Wilson – JR – OF
    • .338 BA (47-139), 13 2B, 4 3B, 2 HR, 33 RBI, 34 R, 14 BB, 1 HBP, 12 SB, .390 OB%, .532 SLG%
  • Morgan Fowble – SR – INF
    • .325 BA (41-126), 8 2B, 2 HR, 28 RBI, 18 R, 5 BB, 9 HBP, 6 SB, .382 OB%, .437 SLG%
  • Karlee Danielson – JR – OF
    • .319 BA (23-72), 5 2B, 4 HR, 21 RBI, 22 R, 12 BB, 2 HBP, 11 SB, .411 OB%, .556 SLG%
  • Emylee Campbell – JR – UTL
    • .317 BA (40-126), 2 2B, 5 3B, 2 HR, 21 RBI, 31 R, 16 BB, 3 HBP, 18 SB, .399 OB%, .460 SLG%
• Top Pitchers:
  • Rachel Eggleston – SR – RHP
    • 12-5 W-L, 2.31 ERA, 22 APP, 17 GS, 10 CG, 2 SHO, 109.0 IP, 94 H, 41 R, 36 ER, 22 BB, 100 SO, .230 OBA
  • Avery Schneringer – SR - RHP
    • 10-2 W-L, 2.91 ERA, 22 APP, 12 GS, 7 CG, 2 SHO, 2 SV, 89.0 IP, 92 H, 47 R, 37 ER, 22 BB, 60 SO, .257 OBA
  • Chana Wolfe – SO – RHP
    • 10-4 W-L, 2.81 ERA, 17 APP, 12 GS, 4 CG, 1 SHO, 1 SV, 67.1 IP, 69 H, 32 R, 27 ER, 15 BB, 40 SO, .255 OBA
• Team Notes:
  • Mid-America Christian enters SAC Tournament play coming off one of its most successful regular seasons in program history, wrapping up the campaign with a 34-13 overall record and finished with a program record for SAC wins at 27 and with a 27-9 league record, turned in its best SAC win percentage at .750 after completing the four-game sweep over Central Christian.
  • Under first year head coach Jim Gasso, a big reason for the Evangels success has come from both the plate and the circle. MACU enters the weekend with the league's third-best team ERA (2.93) with the third-best WHIP (1.29) and third-most strikeouts (223) while the bats are slashing for the third-best slugging percentage (.438) and third-best on-base percentage (.379) to go with the fourth-best batting average (.305).
  • Over the last month, the Evangels have also made substantial improvements defensively. Following their series-opening doubleheader against Texas Wesleyan on Mar. 28, MACU had committed 51 errors for a .935 team fielding percentage through 29 games. However, over the last 18 games, the Evangels have committed only 23 errors for a .958 team fielding percentage, boosting their season fielding percentage to the fifth-best in the conference at .944.
  • Offensively, a balanced batting order has been a huge reason for the Evangels success from the plate. Last season, just four MACU players finished with 20 or more RBIs while six have already reached 20 driven-in in 2024 with Kisbel Vizcaya narrowly sitting outside at 19 RBIs. MACU also has seven everyday players hitting north of .300 with Hallie Wilson sitting just outside at .296 while the Evangels only had four hitters last season hit above .300.
  • Another massive change MACU has made in 2024 is running a three-pitcher rotation headlined by seniors Rachel Eggleston and Avery Schneringer while sophomore righty Chana Wolfe seeing more action in her second year with the program. Overall, all three pitchers are tossing a sub-3.00 ERA while for the first time in program history, MACU has three pitchers with at least 10 wins in a season.

SCOUTING REPORT
Texas Wesleyan

• Record: 23-25 (16-20 SAC)
• Last Game: Won at Langston – 14-10 – Apr. 27, 2024 – Langston, Okla.
• Series vs MACU (2014-): MACU leads 22-18
• Last Game vs MACU: MACU won 8-7 – Mar. 29, 2024 – Fort Worth, Texas
• Series Streak: MACU won 2
• Players to Watch:
  • Kylie Barnes – FR – P/OF
    • .350 BA (50-143), 9 2B, 1 3B, 5 HR, 36 RBI, 34 R, 10 BB, 1 HBP, 1 SB, .391 OB%, .531 SLG%
  • Hayley Delarosa – FR – OF
    • .331 BA (50-151), 1 2B, 1 3B, 11 RBI, 33 R, 16 BB, 1 HBP, 27 SB, .399 OB%, .351 SLG%
  • Marissa Reina – SR – 1B
    • .321 BA (34-106), 5 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 17 RBI, 16 R, 2 BB, 8 HBP, .379 OB%, .443 SLG%
  • Abbie Bird – JR – P
    • .303 BA (37-122), 4 2B, 8 HR, 29 RBI, 22 R, 5 BB, 2 HBP, .336 OB%, .533 SLG%
• Pitchers to Watch:
  • Abbie Bird – JR – P
    • 13-12 W-L, 4.18 ERA, 27 APP, 26 GS, 23 CG, 6 SHO, 162.1 IP, 166 H, 118 R, 97 ER, 70 BB, 101 SO, .265 OBA
  • Kylie Barnes – FR – P
    • 8-10 W-L, 4.62 ERA, 20 APP, 18 GS, 12 CG, 1 SHO, 103.0 IP, 123 H, 105 R, 68 ER, 27 BB, 72 SO, .286 OBA
• Team Notes:
  • Texas Wesleyan enters the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament as the No. 6 seed after wrapping up the regular season with a 23-25 overall record and a 16-20 mark against conference competition. The Rams put up a crooked number of runs in their four-game series at Langston to close out the season, pushing across 58 runs in getting 14-7, 26-8 and 14-10 victories, but did suffer a 4-3 defeat on Apr. 27.
  • The Rams are a relatively solid hitting team, ranking fifth in the conference in team batting average (.292), on-base percentage (.348) and slugging percentage (.407) while also ranking fifth in team ERA (4.37) and fourth in WHIP (1.50). TexWes is also posting the fourth-best fielding percentage in the conference (.950).
  • An interesting aspect of Texas Wesleyan this season is its two best pitchers are also two of its best hitters. Junior Abbie Bird and Kylie Barnes have held down the fort in the circle as Bird holds a 13-12 record with a 4.18 ERA while Barnes is posting an 8-10 record with a 4.62 ERA. From the plate, Barnes is hitting a team-best .350 batting average with a .531 slugging percentage off of nine doubles, a triple and five homers for 36 RBIs and 34 runs. Meanwhile, Bird is batting .303 with a team-high .533 slugging percentage off of four doubles and eight home runs to drive in 29 RBIs and score 22 runs.
  • Mid-America Christian has matched well against Texas Wesleyan over the last three seasons. After suffering a 13-3 loss to the Rams back on Mar. 26, 2022, the Evangels have won 11 of the last 12 meetings, taking three out of the four games in the regular season series this year. In this year's series finale, MACU rallied for a dramatic win, battling back from four runs down by putting a five-run fifth inning headlined by a go-ahead three-run homer by Karlee Danielson to propel the Evangels to an 8-7 victory.