OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU baseball team heads to Victoria, Texas for a pair of doubleheaders against two tough opponents in Houston-Victoria and No. 14 Central Methodist. Friday's doubleheader will be against UHV with a first-pitch slated for 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. The Evangels then will take on the Eagles with a first pitch scheduled for 12 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.
 
MACU SEASON REPORT

• Record: 3-1
• Last Game: Won at LSU-Alexandria – 13-3 – Jan. 25, 2025 – Alexandria, La.
• Stat Leaders (Hitting):
  • Payton Matthews – SR – OF
    • .375 BA (6-16), 1 2B, 1 3B,1 HR, 6 RBI, 4 R, 2 BB, .474 OB%, .750 SLG%, 4 SB
  • D'Andre Gaines – JR – OF
    • .313 BA (5-16), 2 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 7 R, 2 BB, .421 OB%, .938 SLG%
  • Brett Justice – JR – 1B
    • .333 BA (4-12), 1 2B, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 3 R, 3 BB, .467 OB%, .667 SLG%
• Stat Leaders (Pitching):
  • Angel Miranda – JR – RHP
    • 0.00 ERA, 1-0 W-L, 1 APP, 1 GS, 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 11 SO, .136 OBA
  • Fabian Hernandez – JR – LHP
    • 0.00 ERA, 1-0 W-L, 1 APP, 1 GS, 4 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 2 BB, 1 SO, .000 OBA
  • Andrws Acosta – JR – RHP
    • 0.00 ERA, 2 APP, 2.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 SO
• Team Notes:
  • Mid-America Christian opened its season winning three of four in Louisiana with a pair of doubleheaders at Louisiana Christian and LSU-Alexandria. Both games against LCU resulted in a score of 5-1 with a split on the day, the Evangels woke up the bats on Saturday as they slugged 29 runs in the two wins over LSU-Alexandria.
  • In his first weekend as an Evangel, senior Payton Matthews had a stellar weekend landing him SAC Player of the Week. Matthews slashed 6-16 (.375 avg) with a double, triple and a homer while driving in six. He also tore it up on the basepaths going 4-4 on stolen bags.
  • In the 29 runs scored on Saturday, Brett Justice contributed greatly, driving in eight runs on the day. Justice's six RBIs in game one fell two-short of Yan Adames' record of eight on Feb. 20, 2020, in the 27-5 win against Bacone. It was overall a challenge for LSUA pitchers to get outs as they allowed 23 hits and 23 walks in the doubleheader.
  • Every Evangels starting pitcher debuted last weekend in Louisiana. Andrew Long, Angel Miranda, Fabian Hernandez and Gabriel Dixon combined for a W-L of 3-1 on 18 innings, giving up nine runs (four earned), while allowing 16 hits and striking out 20. Of the 16 hits allowed only two were extra-base hits. Andrws Acosta finished two of the three wins on the mound, he secured the 5-1 victory over Louisiana Christian picking up two strikeouts in his inning of work. Acosta toed the rubber the next day where he cooled off the red-hot Generals bats, he initially allowed two hits but retired the next five three via the strikeout to secure a 16-13 win for MACU.

SCOUTING REPORT
(RV) Houston-Victoria

• Record: 3-0
• Last Game: Won vs. Wiley (Texas) – 7-3 – Jan. 25, 2025 – Victoria, Texas
• Series vs MACU (2020-): MACU leads 8-4
• Last Game vs MACU: UHV won 6-5 – Feb. 3, 2024 – Victoria, Texas
• Series Streak: UHV won 3
• Players to Watch (Hitting):
  • Cristian Garcia – GS – OF
    • .625 BA (5-8), 3 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 6 R, 4 BB, .750 OB%, 1.375 SLG%
  • Hal Perez – SR – C
    • 455 BA (5-11), 1 HR, 5 RBI, 1 BB, .500 OB%, .727 SLG%
  • Terry Burrel III – JR – OF
    • .500 BA (4-8), 1 HR, 4 RBI, 2 R, 2 BB, 2 SB, .600 OB%, .875 SLG%
• Players to Watch (Pitching):
  • Brady Parker – JR – LHP
    • 0.00 ERA, 1-0 W-L, 1 APP, 1 GS, 1 CG, 1 SHO, 7.0 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 11 SO, .000 OBA
  • Jonathan Jones – SR – RHP
    • 0.00 ERA, 1-0 W-L, 1 APP, 1 GS, 5.0 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 3 SO
  • Mason Longoria – SR – RHP
    • 3.60 ERA, 1-0 W-L, 1 APP, 1 GS, 5.0 IP, 5 R, 4 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 8 SO
• Team Notes:
  • Houston-Victoria began the year with a bang, winning 10-0 behind a no-hitter by Brady Parker. The southpaw was near perfect, as he retired 21 of 22 batters, with a two-out walk in the top of the second being the only baserunner he allowed. The Jaguars ended up beating Wiley in the three-game set with a 2-1 and 14-5 win on Saturday to complete the sweep.
  • In the three-game sweep, the Jaguars hit .333 as a team on 26 hits and 23 RBIs. The trio of Hal Perez, Terry Burrell III and Cristian Garcia did the heavy lifting on offense, combining for 14-27 3 2Bs, 3 HRs, and 13 RBIs. The Jaguars are also not afraid to be aggressive on the bases as they picked up nine stolen bags on 12 attempts in the series.
  • Jonathan Jones turned in a gem in game two of the series in the low scoring 2-1 win, he chucked 5 innings of one-run ball on just three hits while not allowing a walk and striking out three. UHV responded in the bottom of the second with a pair of runs to take the 2-1 lead and that is where things would hold up the rest of the way, with Jones turning it over to Justin Mireles for the hold and Jacob Baker for the save to move UHV to 2-0 on the season. In game three, the Jaguars jumped to a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the first and never looked back in the 14-5 victory.
  • Mid-America Christian will be hungry for the doubleheader against Houston-Victoria, as last season the Jaguars were the only team in the country to defeat the Evangels three times. MACU went 1-3 after completing a four-game sweep there in 2023.

SCOUTING REPORT
No. 14 Central Methodist

• 2024 Record: 44-21 (28-4 HAAC)
• Last Game: Lost vs. Tabor – 15-4 – May 15, 2024 – Fayette, Mo. (NAIA Opening Round – Elimination Game)
• Series vs MACU: First meeting
• Players to Watch (Hitting):
  • Carlos Negron – SR – OF
    • 2024 Stats: .419 BA (72-172), 21 2B, 1 3B, 19 HR, 72 RBI, 49 R, 31 BB, .532 OB%, .884 SLG%
  • Valentin Cerna Jr. – SR – INF
    • 2024 Stats: .355 BA (66-186), 11 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 38 RBI, 60 R, 26 BB, .455 OB%, .489 SLG%
  • Tanner Sears – SR – C
    • 2024 Stats: .367 BA (62-169), 12 2B, 15 HR, 66 RBI, 25 R, 32 BB, .484 OB%, .704 SLG%
• Players to Watch (Pitching):
  • Foster Seitz – SR – RHP
    • 2024 Stats: 8-2 W-L, 5.63 ERA, 15 G, 15 GS, 3 CG, 76.2 IP, 86 H, 20 BB, 57 SO
  • Cesar Morales – JR – RHP (Frederick Community College)
    • 2024 Stats: 9-0 W-L, 1.41 ERA, 11 G, 11 GS, 63.2 IP, 37 H, 42 BB, 73 SO
• Team Notes:
  • Central Methodist is coming off a phenomenal 2024 campaign that included a 44-11 record with a dominating 28-4 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference. The Eagles saw their season come to an end in the opening round of the NAIA tournament, after winning game one to Tabor 7-6 in ten innings, they then lost to defending champions Hope International 10-8, and ultimately saw things come to complete in a 15-4 loss to Tabor.
  • The Eagles powerhouse offense slugged a team batting average of .347 which finished sixth in the NAIA and 81 homers. Offensively the Eagles bring back their power threats in Carlos Negron and Tanner Sears, the senior duo combined for 34 bombs and 138 RBIs.
  • With one of the best lineups in the NAIA last season, the pitching staff had a great season with a staff ERA of 4.17, however the Eagles return only two pitchers with experience in a Central Methodist uniform in Foster Seitz and Alfred Ulloa. Seitz logged 76.2 innings in 15 starts while posting a 5.63 ERA. He is a pitch to contact first type of arm with 86 hits allowed and striking out 57.
  • With just two returning arms the Eagles went out and landed some new talent including Cesar Morales, a righty starting pitcher out of Frederick Community College. Morales had a dominating 2024 season going undefeated in 11 starts with a 9-0 record in 63.2 innings with a whopping seven complete games and four shutouts, which both ranked second best in the nation amongst NJCAA Division 2 players.
  • This will be the first ever meeting amongst the teams.