OKLAHOMA CITY – The Sooner Athletic Conference unveiled its 2025 Baseball Preseason Poll on Thursday morning as Mid-America Christian was selected to repeat as the league champions in the poll voted on by the league's 10 head coaches.
The Evangels were selected to repeat after winning both the SAC regular season and tournament championships last season for the first time in program history. During the 2024 campaign, MACU finished the year with a program record in wins at 41-13 while going 20-4 during conference play.
MACU comfortably locked up the SAC title over Oklahoma City and Science & Arts, who finished in a tie for second at 17-7.
The Evangels then stormed their way through SAC Tournament play and after defeating Science & Arts 15-8 in the semifinal round on May 6, MACU took down Oklahoma City 12-6 in the title tilt at Bill Smith Ballpark on May 7.
As a result of the regular season and postseason, Mid-America Christian was selected to its first ever NAIA Tournament and earned the No. 1 seed in the Hattiesburg, Mississippi bracket. MACU did get its first ever NAIA Tournament win by a 5-4 result over Oklahoma Wesleyan but suffered a pair of tough 4-2, 8-7 defeats to Milligan.
Mid-America Christian brings back most of its hitting and defense from last year's squad, including three All-SAC First Team performers in senior outfielder Noel McGarry-Doyle, senior catcher Zachary Stark and junior outfielder D'Andre Gaines as well as a pair of All-SAC Second Team performers in senior second baseman Jacob Police and senior shortstop Carlos Medina.
The Evangels also bring back two more experienced bats in junior outfielder Taiga Sakuma, who served as a sparkplug at the top of MACU's lineup last season while senior designated hitter Guillermo Velasco was a productive bat in the last half of the season for MACU.
On the pitching side, MACU lost a large sum of its staff last season due to graduation, but senior lefty Jordan Smith served a strong arm out of the pen last season while senior righty Carlos Escobosa also served some time as both a starter and a reliever last year.
Mid-America Christian will officially get its 2025 campaign underway tomorrow as MACU will head to Pineville, Louisiana for a doubleheader against Louisiana Christian. The games are slated for 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. at Billy Allgood Field.
