VICTORIA, Texas – No. 13 MACU baseball split the day against Houston-Victoria winning game one 10-5 behind a stellar six-run seventh that propelled the Evangels to victory. Game two resulted in a 6-3 loss where the Evangels offense could not get it going against UHV starter Julian Garcia.
 
GAME ONE
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 10, Houston-Victoria 5
  • Mid-America Chrisitan (4-1)
  • Houston Victoria (3-1)

PITCHING DECISION

• Win: Carlos Escobosa (1-0)
• Loss: Jacob Baker (0-1)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Brett Justice – 2-4 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI
• Cristopher Munoz – 2-3 2 R, 2 RBI, HBP, SB
• Jonluke Hobdy – 2-4 3B, R, 2 RBI, SB
• D'Andre Gaines – 1-2, 2 R, SB, 2 BB

SCORING SUMMARY

• TOP 1^st – MACU – Cristopher Munoz singled to right field, RBI; D'Andre Gaines scored – MACU 1, LSUA 0
• BTM 3^rd – UHV – Cristian Garcia singled to right field, RBI; DeeAndre Torres scored – UHV 1, MACU 0
• BTM 3^rd – UHV – Hal Perez grounded out to ss, RBI; Jean Gonzalez scored – UHV 2, MACU 1
• BTM 3^rd – UHV – Xavier Ortega singled to right field, RBI; Cristian Garcia scored – UHV 3, MACU 1
• TOP 4^th – MACU – Jonluke Hobdy singled to left field, 2 RBI; Brett Justice scored; Cristopher Munoz scored – MACU 3, UHV 3
• BTM 5^th – UHV – Jackson Purcell singled to right field, RBI; Xavier Ortega scored – UHV 4, MACU 3
• TOP 6^th – MACU – Giordany Mendoza out at second c to ss to 1b, caught stealing; Jonluke Hobdy stole home – MACU 4, UHV 4
• BTM 6^th – UHV – Cristian Garcia singled to right field, RBI; DeeAndre Torres scored – UHV 5, MACU 4
• TOP 7^th – MACU – Payton Matthews singled to right field, RBI; Dyson Kinnaman scored – MACU 5, UHV 5
• TOP 7^th – MACU – Cristopher Munoz hit by pitch, RBI; D'Andre Gaines scored – MACU 6, UHV 5
• TOP 7^th – MACU – Brett Justice homered, 4 RBI; Cristopher Munoz scored; Noel McGarry-Doyle scored; Payton Matthews scored – MACU 10, UHV 5

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian scored 10 runs behind nine hits while allowing six runs on 11 hits. The Evangels staff did a great job limiting the damage as the Jaguars left 12 on base compared to just three left on base for MACU.
• MACU got the first run across on a two-out RBI line-drive single to right by Cristopher Munoz to score D'Andre Gaines. Gaines led off the game with a four pitch walk and later stole second, which allowed him to score on the base-hit by Munoz.
• In the bottom of the third the Jaguars plated three on five hits in the inning to take a 3-1 lead, however the lead did not last very long. The Evangels immediately responded in the top of the fourth with three straight singles by Munoz, Brett Justice and Jonluke Hobdy. Munoz and Justice advanced to scoring position after a passed ball by Hal Perez and Hobdy singled them home on a single over the third basemen's head to tie it up at 3-3.
• MACU threatened in the top of the fifth after the first two got on via a walk to Conner Thompson and single by Gaines, but Payton Matthews struck out and Noel McGarry-Doyle speared a hard grounder right into the glove of the Jaguars shortstop Jean Gonzalez, who tapped second and threw it across to get the double play to escape the inning.
• Evangels starter Gabriel nearly worked his way out of a jam in the top of the fifth after getting a double play on a popped-up sacrifice bunt attempt that he laid out in full extension to catch and double up the Jaguars runner at second, but he threw a wild pitch and surrendered a single to give UHV the go ahead run with a 4-3 advantage.
• With two outs and nobody on in the top of the sixth Hobdy blasted a triple to right to extend the inning. Giordany Mendoza then was hit by a pitch to bring up a first and third situation. Mendoza attempted to steal second and got Perez to throwdown to second base, Hobdy aggressively broke for home and scored without a throw as Mendoza stayed in the rundown to allow MACU to tie it up at 4-4.
• Carlos Escobosa working in relief stranded two Jaguars in the sixth, but he did allow one to score to provide UHV with a 5-4 edge entering the last inning.
• In need of one run to tie and two to take the lead, the Evangels put six across in the top half of the seventh, Carlos Medina led off the inning with a grounder up the middle for a knock, Thompson attempted to bunt him over but fouled out for a strikeout. The next five Evangels reached base, including Payton Matthews tying the game on a single just past the outstretched glove of Jaguars second basemen DeeAndre Torres. McGarry-Doyle and Munoz were both hit-by-pitches, allowing MACU to take a 6-5 lead. With the bases juiced and one down, Justice banged a grand slam to left center to extend the lead 10-5.
• Andrws Acosta checked in out the bullpen and walked the first three batters he faced to put the tying run in the batter's box, but he settled in picking up a strikeout and a game ending grounder to Mendoza who touched third and threw it across to wrap up a 10-5 win for MACU.
• The heart of the Evangels order did the heavy lifting with Munoz, Justice and Hobdy combining for 6-11 with eight of the 10 runs driven in.
• By scoring six in the top of the seventh it marked the third consecutive game the Evangels scored five or more in an inning.
• Carlos Escobosa received the win in relief, he did a good job minimizing the damage, allowing 1 run in an inning and a third giving up a hit, walking two and striking out one.

GAME TWO
SCORE

• Houston-Victoria 6, Mid-America Christian 3
  • Mid-America Christian (4-2)
  • Houston-Victoria (4-1)

PITCHING DECISION

• Win: Julian Garcia (1-0)
• Loss: Andrew Long (0-2)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Payton Matthews – 2-3, HR, R, 2 RBI, 2 SB
• Giordany Mendoza – 2-3
• Jonluke Hobdy – 1-3, 2B, R

SCORING SUMMARY

• TOP 1^st – MACU – Payton Matthews homered to right field, 2 RBI; D'Andre Gaines scored – MACU 2, LSUA 0
• BTM 2^nd – UHV – Juan Perez walked, RBI; Terry Burrel III scored – MACU 2, UHV 1
• BTM 2^nd – UHV – DeeAndre Torres singled to right field, RBI; Jose Montanez scored – MACU 2, UHV 2
• BTM 2^nd – UHV – Jean Gonzalez singled, 2 RBI; Juan Perez scored; Jackson Purcell scored – UHV 4, MACU 2
• TOP 4^th – MACU – Carlos Medina grounded into double play ss to 2b to 1b; Giordany Mendoza out on the play; Jonluke Hobdy scored – UHV 4, MACU 3
• BTM 4^th – UHV – Crisitan Garcia singled to center field, RBI; Juan Perez scored – UHV 5, MACU 3
• BTM 4^th – UHV – Hal Perez singled to right field, RBI; DeeAndre Torres scored – UHV 6, MACU 3

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian tallied eight hits for three runs while allowing six hits for six runs to Houston-Victoria. A four-run second inning for UHV was too much to overcome, as Jaguars starter Julian Garcia was able to go the distance, finishing with seven innings pitched allowing eight hits on three earned runs with no walks and eight strikeouts.
• The Evangels once again got on the board first, this time on a two-run blast to right off the bat of Payton Matthews. After D'Andre Gaines led off the game with a single, Matthews hit a no-doubt shot for his second homer of the year to give MACU an early 2-0 lead.
• Evangels starter Andrew Long ran into some trouble in the second inning, after he allowed three runs on three hits, a walk and a hit-by-pitch Brock Cordes entered in relief and tamed the Jaguars offense escaping the inning with two left on base to keep it at 4-2 in favor of UHV.
• MACU threatened to score in the top of the third after Matthews connected for a single and stole second and third, however he was gunned down after Cristopher Munoz chopped on to third and Jaguar third basemen Jaun Perez elected to catch Matthews in the rundown rather than the easy out at first.
• The Evangels added one in the top of the fourth after back-to-back hits by Jonluke Hobdy and Giordany Mendoza set up Carlos Medina for first and third nobody out, but Medina grounded into a double play scoring Hobdy but cleared the bases in the process.
• Houston-Victoria tacked on two more on back-to-back two-out singles in the bottom of the fourth to extend the lead to 6-3.
• UHV threatened to add on some more insurance in the bottom of the fifth, but reliever Jacob Mallozzi entered with the bases loaded and two outs and got Jean Gonzalez to groundout to short to keep it a 6-3 ballgame.
• MACU nearly scored in the top of the sixth, Munoz led off the inning with a hit-by-pitch and later stole second, however the ball was overthrown by the catcher Perez, allowing Munoz to stride for third, and then that throw by the center fielder was overthrown. Munoz attempted to score on the overthrow to third, but the Jaguars at last made a throw on precision to catch Munoz at the plate shutting down the chance to score in the inning.
• Mendoza began the seventh with a liner up the box for a single, however in an attempt to steal second Medina popped a ball up, allowing UHV to turn a double play and end up wrapping things up with a 6-3 final.
• Payton Matthews continued his red-hot start to the season; he has now recorded a hit in five consecutive games with four of the five being multi-hit games.
• D'Andre Gaines pushed his hitting streak to six games; he is the only Evangel to record a hit in every game thus far this season.

UP NEXT

• MACU will remain in Victoria, Texas overnight as it will be a battle between No. 13 and No. 14 with a doubleheader tomorrow at Riverside Stadium against Central Methodist with a first pitch scheduled for 12 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.