WAXAHACHIE, Texas – The MACU Softball team got a pair of stellar pitching performances from Chana Wolfe in Gia Reynosa in its Sooner Athletic Conference opening doubleheader at Nelson on Thursday afternoon as the Evangels came away with a pair of 1-0, 2-1 victory at the Nelson Softball Field.
 
GAME ONE
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 1, Nelson 0
  • Mid-America Christian (5-6, 1-0 SAC)
  • Nelson (6-9, 0-3 SAC)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Chana Wolfe – W, CG, SHO, 7 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 6 SO
• Madisson Chavez – 1-3, R

SCORING SUMMARY

• TOP 5^th – MACU – Brooklyn Wilson reached on a dropped fly error by cf; Serena Rodriguez scored on error – MACU 1, NELSON 0

GAME SUMMARY

• Both teams struggled to find baserunners until the bottom of the fourth when Nelson's Trista Ford led off the bottom of the fourth with a deep double to right-center field. MACU starting pitcher also issued a pair of walks in the frame, the last loading the bases. However, Wolfe was able to get out of the jam by striking out Marcella Bryan to end the inning.
• After not being able to get a baserunner aboard through the first four innings, the Evangels finally found a threat with Serena Rodriguez drawing a leadoff walk and Madisson Chavez slapping a single up the middle to put runners at first and second. While a 5-3 double play threatened to end the threat, Chavez ended up coming across to score when Brookyn Wilson's fly ball to center was dropped, giving MACU the 1-0 advantage.
• Nelson once again put together a major threat in the bottom of the fifth with the first two batters reaching on back-to-back singles before Makenzie Kneip laid down a sac bunt to put both runners in scoring position with just one out. However, once again, Wolfe navigated her way out of the jam by inducing a sharp groundball out to third that was hit too hard to advance the runners and striking out the side to keep it to a 1-0 game.
• The Lions put together one last threat in the bottom of the sixth on a Brook Kinnibrugh leadoff single before being advanced to second on a sac bunt. Once again though, Wolfe was able to stop it by striking out Avery Coleman before Brooklyn Wilson ran down a flyball in the right-center field gap to end the frame.

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian scored its one run with one hit and committed no errors while Nelson finished with five hits and committed one error.
• Chana Wolfe recorded her third consecutive complete game shutout, allowing just five hits with three walks and struck out six batters.
• Unfortunately, senior infielder Kisbel Vizcaya saw her 10-game hitting streak come to an end after going 0-for-3, but did have some loud outs during her plate appearances.
• Madisson Chavez was the lone Evangel to record a hit, finishing 1-for-3 while also scoring the only run of the contest.
• The victory was the fourth-straight win for MACU over Nelson while three of the last four games have now been decided by a single run.
• Since getting off to a 0-5 start, the Evangels have won five of their last six with their only loss coming to No. 18 Benedictine.

GAME TWO
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 2, Nelson 1
  • Mid-America Christian (6-6, 2-0 SAC)
  • Nelson (6-10, 0-4 SAC)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Gia Reynosa – W, CG, 7 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 2 SO
• Isabel Ray – 2-3, RBI, HBP
• Emylee Campbell – 2-4, 2B, 3B, R

SCORING SUMMARY

• BTM 2^nd – NELSON – Marcella Bryan hit a sac fly to lf, RBI; Avery Coleman scored – NELSON 1, MACU 0
• TOP 6^th – MACU – Makenzie Thurman singled to left; Chana Wolfe scored on a fielding error by lf – MACU 1, NELSON 1
• TOP 7^th – MACU – Isabel Ray singled up the middle, RBI; Emylee Campbell scored – MACU 2, NELSON 1

GAME SUMMARY

• Mid-America Christian put together the first scoring threat in the top of the first when Emylee Campbell ripped a two-out triple to right and Serena Rodriguez drew a walk to put runners at the corners. Nelson was able to halt the threat by getting Isabel Ray to ground out to second.
• Nelson put together the first scoring threat in the bottom of the first when Sasha Jennings led off with a single that snuck through the left side before trotting down to second on a wild pitch. However, Gia Reynosa was able to keep Jennings at second by inducing a shallow flyout to right, a sharp grounder to short and a routine flyout to left to keep the game scoreless.
• The Lions were able to capitalize of a one-out triple opportunity ripped to right by Avery Coleman before Marcella Bryan hit a deep flyball sac fly to left that was tracked down by Brooklyn Wilson, but allowed Coleman to score to set up the 1-0 lead.
• MACU once again in the top of the third put a runner in scoring position when Faith Kelley slapped a two-out double down the right field line, but the Lions were once again able to end the scoring opportunity by getting Campbell to fly out to right to end the frame.
• After coming up empty the previous two innings, the Evangels finally broke through in the top of the sixth. Following back-to-back singles on a leg out infielder to short by Serena Rodriguez and a bash back up the middle by Isabel Ray, Makenzie Thurman slapped a single to left that would have loaded the bases, but a misplay by the left fielder allowed pinch runner Chana Wolfe to come home and tie the game at 1-1.
• The Evangels continued to threaten as Talyn Lerma getting pegged on the first pitch loaded the bases with no outs, but Nelson pitcher Trinity Muhle navigated the jam by inducing an infield fly popout to the infield, a strikeout and a groundout to keep it a tie game.
• Even though MACU couldn't take the lead in the sixth, they found the winning hit in the top of the seventh after Campbell hammered a deep double off the left field wall and Rodriguez dropped a bloop single into shallow left-center. Isabel Ray then brought in the winning run by smacking MACU's first RBI hit on a grounder up the middle to plate Campbell, making it a 2-1 game.
• Nelson put together one last dangerous spot in the bottom of the seventh when Brooke Kinnibrugh hit a leadoff single before her pinch runner Anna Robinett was moved over to second on a sac bunt and to third on a ground out to second. However, Reynosa came up clutch by striking out Marcella Bryan to wrap-up the 2-1 victory.

GAME NOTES

• After being held to just one hit in the opening game, the bats found a little bit of life in game two as the Evangels scored their two runs on 10 hits while Nelson scored its lone run on four hits and made one miscue.
• Sophomore pitcher Gia Reynosa put together one of the best starts of her Evangels career as she got the complete game victory after allowing just one earned run on four hits and issued only two walks while tallying a pair of strikeouts.
• Emylee Campbell swung a powerful bat in the contest by slashing 2-for-4 with a double and a triple while scoring the winning run for the Evangels. The three-bagger moved the Blanchard, Oklahoma product into some elite company as her seventh career triple puts her into a tie for third in the MACU record book with Hannah Salmon (2020-23) as well as current teammate Hallie Wilson (2023-).
• Isabel Ray recorded the only RBI for the Evangels as she slashed 2-for-3 and reached base three times by also being hit by a pitch.
• Serena Rodriguez also reached base safely three times by batting 2-for-3 to go along with a walk drawn.
• The one-run streak between the Evangels and Lions continued after now five of the last six games between the two teams have been decided by a single run.
• The victory allowed MACU to get back to .500 as the Evangels have won six of the last seven games.
• The Evangels pitching and defense has been downright great since suffering the loss to No. 18 Benedictine on Feb. 22 as the Evangels have only given up four runs and committed just one error over the last 31 innings during their five-game win streak.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will close out the series against the Lions on Friday as the twin bill is schedule to start at 1 p.m. at the Nelson Softball Field.