STERLING, Kan. – The No. 17 MACU Baseball team brought the winning streak up to five games with a 9-6 win on the road against the Sterling Warriors. The Evangels took advantage of the free passes yet again, seeing 11 walks and being drilled four times while adding on nine hits.
 
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian, Sterling
  • Mid-America Christian (23-7, 10-2 SAC)
  • Sterling (7-19, 2-10 KCAC)

PITCHING DECISIONS

• Win: Andrew Long (4-3)
• Loss: Jackson Califono (1-2)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Cristopher Munoz – 3-5, 2B, R, 2 RBI, BB
• Jacob Police – 1-3, HR, R, 3 RBI, 2 BB
• Carlos Medina – 1-2, HR, 2 R, RBI, 2 BB
• Andrws Acosta – SV, 1 IP, BB, 3 SO

 
SCORING SUMMARY

• BTM 1^st – SC – Austin Santiago singled through the right-side RBI; Luis Morales scored – SC 1, MACU 0
• TOP 2^nd – MACU – Jacob Police homered to left-center, 3 RBI; D'Andre Gaines scored, Carlos Medina scored – MACU 3, SC 1
• TOP 2^nd – MACU – Dyson Kinnaman stole home – MACU 4, SC 1
• TOP 2^nd – MACU – Cristopher Munoz singled through the left-side, RBI; Taiga Sakuma scored – MACU 5, SC 1
• BTM 4^th – SC – Nate Heffline singled through the left side, RBI; Jason Smith scored – MACU 5, SC 2
• BTM 4^th – SC – Luis Morales flied out to rf, SAC, RBI; James Easter scored – MACU 5, SC 3
• BTM 4^th – SC – Andrew Dutro singled up the middle, RBI; Nate Heffline scored – MACU 5, SC 4
• TOP 5^th – MACU – Carlos Medina homered to right-center, RBI – MACU 6, SC 4
• BTM 5^th – SC – Landen Volner flied out to cf, SAC, RBI; Austin Santiago scored – MACU 6, SC 5
• TOP 6^th – MACU – Brett Justice grounded out to second, RBI; Cristopher Munoz scored – MACU 7, SC 5
• BTM 6^th – SC – Andrew Dutro doubled to right field, RBI; Emmanuel Huerta Cardenas scored – MACU 7, SC 6
• TOP 7^th – MACU – Cristopher Munoz singled, RBI; Dyson Kinnaman scored – MACU 8, SC 6
• TOP 9^th – MACU – Conner Thompson homered to left-center, RBI – MACU 9, SC 6

GAME SUMMARY

• Sterling scored a run in the bottom of the first on an RBI single through the right-side by Luis Morales to take the early 1-0 lead.
• Mid-America Christian responded in the top of the second in a big way, putting five across to take a 5-1 advantage. With the bases empty and one down, Carlos Medina wore a pitch and D'Andre Gaines followed up with a two-bagger to center. Stepping in the box with two runners in scoring position, Jacob Police scored three with one swing on a three-run blast to left-center. Connor Thompson and Taiga Sakuma kept the inning alive with a couple of free passes, and Dyson Kinnaman as the courtesy runner stole third and home after Sakuma got in the first-and-third rundown on the steal attempt. The attempt allowed both runners to advance safely and gave Cristopher Munoz the opportunity to single home Sakuma on a grounder through the left-side to cap off the big inning.
• Andrew Long worked back-to-back scoreless frames, but got into some trouble in the fourth, allowing three Warriors runs on three hits and a walk. Long eventually escaped a first-and-third jam picking off Andrew Dutro at first, keeping MACU ahead with a 5-4 lead.
• Medina answered back for the Evangels with a solo shot to right-center to lead off the fifth.
• The Warriors fought back for a run in the bottom half of the frame after a couple of hits allowed Landen Volner to execute a sac fly to right, cutting the Evangels lead to 6-5.
• Noel McGarry-Doyle and Munoz walked in the sixth and got into scoring position on a wild pitch, Brett Justice then grounded out to second to score McGarry-Doyle making it 7-5 MACU.
• Sterling continued to chip away, plating another in the sixth on a two-out double to right-center by Andrew Dutro, but Bradley Waite escaped the jam after a grounder to third basemen Police ricocheted to Medina at short, he scoped it up and rifled it across to get the out at first to strand Dutro in scoring position with MACU ahead 7-6.
• Looking to start something up in the seventh with one out and nobody on, MACU turned to Jonluke Hobdy off the bench, he worked a walk and was pinch ran for by Kinnaman. A passed ball put Kinnaman in scoring position and Munoz brought him home on a soft liner up the middle, putting the Evangels up 8-6.
• Carlos Escobosa came out the bullpen and worked a scoreless eighth, working his way around a two-out double and wild pitch, stranding Emmanuel Huerta Cardenas at third and keeping MACU up 8-6.
• In need of some insurance runs in the ninth, Conner Thompson rose to the occasion, smashing a solo homer to left-center making it 9-6 in favor of Mid-America Christian.
• Andrws Acosta converted the save, he walked the leadoff man but got the next three to punchout the seal the deal and provide the Evangels with a 9-6 win.

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian fell short in the hit column, with a nine compared to 11 for Sterling, however the Evangels were walked 11 times and hit by four pitches, allowing them to outscore the Warriors 9-6.
• Both teams left a lot of traffic on the bases, MACU stranded 12 and Sterling left nine on base.
• The Evangels continued to be disciplined in the box, they walked 11 times, making it the third straight game they have walked eight or more times, a feat that has not been done since February of 2022 in a game against Wiley and doubleheader against Jarvis Christian.
• Cristopher Munoz racked up another three-hit game, after missing the OPSU series he returned to the lineup with a double, two singles for a pair of RBIs with a run scored.
• Carlos Medina and Jacob Police both homered, they also moved up in the top ten in the MACU history books, sliding from ninth to now eighth as the duo both has 16 career homers.
• Police has now homered in three of his last five games.
• D'Andre Gaines had another solid game, he went 1-3 with a couple of walks and two stolen bases, he also scored a run.
• Andrew long gets credited with the win, he tossed four innings giving up four runs, (three earned) on six hits, a walk and five strikeouts.
• Andrws Acosta recorded his team leading third save of the season after his shutdown ninth inning.
• With two outs in the ninth and nobody on, Noel McGarry-Doyle singled on a liner to right, extending his hitting streak to 20 games. He reached base three times with a pair of walks and stole his eighteenth bag of the season, which is just one behind Payton Matthews for a team lead.
• Dyson Kinnaman scored two runs and stole a couple of bases, he has now stolen more than one bag in three games this season. Kinnaman scored two runs which tied Medina for a game high.
• MACU stole five-plus bases for the third time this season, falling one short of a season high of seven that was done in the 8-6 victory over Central Christian.
• The Evangels push the NAIA-era record to 3-3 with the win over Sterling, in the first matchup amongst the teams since 2013.

UP NEXT

• MACU returns to SAC play with a highly anticipated series against Science and Arts with a first pitch scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Friday at Bill Smith Ballpark.