CHICKASHA, Okla. – The No. 3 MACU softball team completed a monumental rally in its Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament opener at Bill Smith Ballpark on Friday as the Evangels rallied from two runs down in the bottom of the 11^th to come away with a 5-4 victory over sixth-seeded Texas Wesleyan on a Kisbel Vizcaya walk-off single to right.

The Evangels followed it up with a hard-fought battle against second-seeded and nationally No. 6 Science & Arts, but came up just a bit short in a 2-0 defeat on Friday night.

GAME ONE / Mid-America Christian vs. Texas Wesleyan
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 5, Texas Wesleyan 4
  • Mid-America Christian (35-13)
  • Texas Wesleyan (23-26)

PITCHING DECISIONS

• Win: Chana Wolfe (11-4)
• Loss: Kylie Barnes (7-10)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Rachel Eggleston – 10.1 IP, 4 R, 4 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 6 SO
• Morgan Fowble – 1-4, HR, 2 RBI, R
• Emylee Campbell – 3-5, HR, RBI, R, SB
• Kisbel Vizcaya – 2-6, RBI

SCORING SUMMARY

• BTM 4^th – MACU – Emylee Campbell homered to left, RBI – MACU 1, TWU 0
• BTM 4^th – MACU – Kayten Herman doubled to center, RBI; Brooklyn Wilson scored – MACU 2, TWU 0
• TOP 7^th – TWU – Kylie Barnes singled to right, RBI; Alyssa Bates scored – MACU 2, TWU 1
• TOP 7^th – TWU – Abby Bird singled to left, RBI; Jaelin Ornelas scored – MACU 2, TWU 2
• TOP 11^th – TWU – Kylie Barnes homered to left, 2 RBI; Alyssa Bates scored – TWU 4, MACU 2
• BTM 11^th – MACU – Morgan Fowble homered to left, 2 RBI; Cierra Russell scored – MACU 4, TWU 4
• BTM 11^th – MACU – Kisbel Vizcaya singled to right, RBI; Talyn Wheeler scored – MACU 5, TWU 4

GAME SUMMARY

• With neither team mustering much of a scoring threat through the first three frames, Emylee Campbell emphatically started the rare scoring chances on the very first pitch in the bottom of the fourth, hammering a no-doubt solo shot over the left field fence to make it a 1-0 game.
• The Evangels immediate added to it in the fourth as Brooklyn Wilson drew a walk in the very next at-bat and stole second to set up Kayten Herman for the RBI double dropped into the left-center field gap, setting the score to 2-0.
• After incredibly throwing six no-hit innings, Texas Wesleyan was finally able to get to MACU starting pitcher Rachel Eggleston in the top of the seventh as an Alyssa Bates leadoff single followed by a Jaelin Ornelas double to left put a pair of runners in scoring position for Kylie Barnes to drop an RBI single down the right field line to cut it to a 2-1 game. With runners at the corners, Abbie Bird slipped a ground ball single through the left side to tie the game at 2-2.
• Texas Wesleyan continued to threaten in the inning as a swinging bunt moved the go-ahead runners to second and third with one away in the top of the seventh, but Eggleston got out of the jam with a strikeout and a pop-up to the catcher to give MACU the chance to walk it off.
• Neither team mustered much of a scoring threat through the next three innings, but the Rams captured their first and only lead of the game when Barnes hit a two-run homer down the left field line with one out in the top of the 11^th to grab the 4-2 advantage over the Evangels.
• After Cierra Russell led off the bottom of the 11^th on a shallow single to center, Morgan Fowble emphatically tied the game up by hammering a two-run towering shot over the left field wall.
• It was looking like the Evangels were going to be held to just the game-tying homer in the 11^th after back-to-back strikeouts, but MACU put together a two-out rally as Talyn Wheeler slipped a groundball single through the left side. After moving down to second on a high pitch, Kisbel Vizcaya ended it in walk-off fashion by dropping a bloop single into right just over the second baseman's glove as Wheeler beat the throw home to complete the 5-4 victory.

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian scored its five runs on 11 hits and committed one error while Texas Wesleyan turned in four runs on six hits with two miscues.
• Despite not getting the decision in the contest, senior pitcher Rachel Eggleston put together the longest outing in MACU softball history, going 10.1 innings and allowing four earned runs on six hits with two walks and six strikeouts. The previous longest outing also came in the SAC Tournament as Katie Long went 9.1 innings against Science & Arts on May 7, 2021.
• Chana Wolfe ended up getting the win in relief after throwing just two pitches to get two outs in the top of the 11^th.
• While the Evangels finished with 11 hits in the contest, it was a balanced batting effort as just Emylee Campbell and Kisbel Vizcaya finished with multi-hit games. Campbell wrapped up the day batting 3-for-5 with her fifth career homer tallying an RBI and a run scored while Vizcaya went 2-for-6 with the walk-off RBI.
• The victory marked MACU's fourth walk-off victory of the season. The Evangels' previous walkoffs came in a 2-1 win over Southwestern Assemblies of God on Feb. 24 on a Campbell sac fly to right as well as getting an 8-7 win over Southwestern (Kan.) on Mar. 6 on Hallie Wilson's RBI single to right. MACU's only other walk-off also came off of Campbell's at-bat with a single to right to propel the Evangels to an 8-7 win over Southwestern Christian on Apr. 6.
• The Evangels improved to 4-1 against the Rams this season with the victory.
• It also marked the second-straight year that MACU got a walk-off win in the SAC Tournament inside Bill Smith Ballpark. The Evangels also opened their SAC tourney with a 4-3 walk-off victory in the bottom of the seventh against Southwestern Assemblies of God on May 4, 2023 as Macy Stockton laced the bases-loaded single to left-center.

GAME TWO / Mid-America Christian vs. Science & Arts
SCORE

• Science & Arts 2, Mid-America Christian 0
  • Mid-America Christian (35-14)
  • Science & Arts (42-7)

PITCHING DECISIONS

• Win: Sophie Williams (24-4)
• Loss: Avery Schneringer (10-3)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Avery Schneringer – L, 7.0 IP, 2 R, 0 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 6 SO
• Emylee Campbell – 1-3
• Cierra Russell – 0-1, BB
• Hallie Wilson – 0-1, BB

SCORING SUMMARY

• BTM 3^rd – USAO – Macenzie Ruth stole third, scored on throwing error by c – USAO 1, MACU 0
• BTM 6^th – USAO – Sophie Williams singled up the middle, RBI; Jadyn Goucher scored – USAO 2, MACU 0

GAME SUMMARY

• Science & Arts put together a major scoring threat in the bottom of the first when Macenzie Ruth drew a one-out walk, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error. However, MACU starting pitcher Avery Schneringer left the runner stranded by recording back-to-back strikeouts to keep it scoreless.
• The Drovers once again threatened in the second as a pair of singles from Sophie Williams and Taygan Graham with a double-steal putting two in scoring position with two outs, but once again, Schneringer stranded them by striking out the next batter.
• Despite leaving runners stranded the first two frames, Schneringer got a bit unlucky in the third. After Ruth drew a walk, stole second and stole third with two outs, she came across automatically when the ball slipped out of the hand of Emylee Campbell trying to throw out the runner at third. The ball went out of play and allowed the runner to get the automatic score on the advancement.
• Facing off against one of the hottest pitchers in the NAIA in Williams, the Evangels struggled to find baserunners. However, an opportunity arose in the top of the fourth when a pair of speedy runners in Stormy Haynes and Cierra Russell drew back-to-back two-out walks. Unfortunately, MACU came up empty when Williams struck out Hallie Wilson to close out the frame.
• Another defensive miscue allowed the only other score in the game to come across in the bottom of the sixth. Jadyn Goucher reached second following an air-mailed throw to first in the leadoff at-bat. Two batters later, Williams slapped an RBI single up the middle to score Goucher. It looked as though MACU might be able to make a play at the plate on Brooklyn Wilson's throw home, but the ball unfortunately popped out of Campbell's glove trying to apply a quick tag, ultimately wrapping up the 2-0 final.

GAME NOTES

• Science & Arts scored its two runs on four hits while Mid-America Christian was only able to manage one hit and committed three errors defensively.
• Avery Schneringer suffered the tough-luck loss in the circle for MACU as she tossed her 34^th career complete game, allowing only two unearned runs on four hits with four walks and six strikeouts over six innings of work. It was the first defeat Schneringer faced this season since Mar. 10 at No. 2 Oklahoma City.
• Emylee Campbell's groundball single through the right side was the only hit MACU could muster against three-time NAIA Pitcher of the Week Sophie Williams, who was a pitcher that had only allowed five hits in her last 30 innings, including two perfect games during that time.
• Despite coming up short, MACU put up a spirited effort against the No. 6 team in the NAIA, who hasn't suffered a defeat since the Evangels got a 2-0 win over the Drovers at Bill Smith Ballpark on Mar. 23.

UP NEXT

• With the defeat, Mid-America Christian will now be rematched against Texas Wesleyan in the elimination game on Saturday as the Evangels will battle the Rams at 1 p.m. at Bill Smith Ballpark.
• If MACU can get the win, they'd face the Drovers once again in the 3 p.m. game.