WAXAHACHIE, Texas – The No. 20 MACU Baseball Team battled for a hard-fought 6-2 victory to achieve the series win over Nelson behind fantastic outings from pitchers Fabian Hernandez and Brock Cordes.
 
GAME ONE
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 6, Nelson 2
  • Mid-America Christian (32-12, 18-6 SAC)
  • Nelson (23-20, 11-13 SAC)

PITCHING DECISIONS

• Win: Fabian Hernandez (6-1)
• Loss: Jake McMahan (2-3)
• Save: Brock Cordes (1)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Fabian Hernandez – W, 6 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 9 SO
• D'Andre Gaines – 2-2, 2 R, RBI, 3 BB, 3 SB
• Brock Cordes – SV, 3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 3 BB, 3 SO
• Taiga Sakuma – 1-3, R, RBI, 3 BB, 2 SB

SCORING SUMMARY

• TOP 3^rd – MACU – D'Andre Gaines singled, advanced to second, RBI; Taiga Sakuma scored– MACU 1, NELS 0
• TOP 4^th – MACU – Jonluke Hobdy scored on a wild pitch – MACU 2, NELS 0
• TOP 5^th – MACU – Carlos Medina doubled, RBI; D'Andre Gaines scored – MACU 3, NELS 0
• BTM 5^th – NELS – Xavien Thompson flied out to lf, SAC, RBI; Alex Ortiz scored – MACU 3, NELS 1
• BTM 6^th – NELS – Jaxson Bates hit a sac fly to rf, RBI; Blair Speas scored – MACU 3, NELS 2
• TOP 7^th – MACU – D'Andre Gaines scored on a wild pitch – MACU 4, NELS 2
• TOP 7^th – MACU – Zachary Stark reached first on an error by 2b, RBI; Dyson Kinnaman scored – MACU 5, NELS 2
• TOP 7^th – MACU – Taiga Sakuma hit a sac fly to lf, RBI; Payton Matthews scored – MACU 6, NELS 2

GAME SUMMARY

• After two scoreless frames Mid-America Christian pulled through with the first run after Taiga Sakuma started off the third with a walk, he then stole second and scored on a two-out single by D'Andre Gaines.
• Fabian Hernandez threw up another scoreless inning in the third, striking out two for the third straight frame and keeping MACU up 1-0.
• In the fourth the Evangels extended the lead to 2-0 behind a couple of mishaps by Nelsons defense. Jonluke Hobdy led off reaching second on an error by the right fielder, advanced to third on a grounded to the right side by Giordany Mendoza and then scored on a wild pitch.
• The Lions loaded up the bases in the fourth behind a single and a couple walks, but Hernandez got Eli Lyons to groundout to shortstop Carlos Medina who flipped it over to Cristopher Munoz at second for the third out.
• With one down and nobody on in the fifth, Gaines worked a walked and scored on double by Medina that split the left-center field gap, making it 3-0 in favor of MACU.
• The Lions got the run back in the bottom half of the frame after a pair of singles set up a sac fly to left by Xavien Thompson. Nelson mirrored its fifth inning in the sixth, cutting the lead to 3-2 on two more singles and a sac fly by Jaxson Bates.
• Gaines started off the seventh with a single, Carlos Medina then wore a pitch and Gaines swiped third the next at bat. With first-and-third nobody out, Hobdy walked and on ball four the pitch was wild, allowing Gaines to cross the plate. Mendoza then got on via a walk to load them up, and Zachary Stark hit one to second that was misplayed by Addison Patton, allowing MACU to score another and keep the bases juiced with one-away. The Evangels tacked on another on a Sakuma sac fly to left, carrying a 6-2 lead into the bottom of the seventh.
• Noel McGarry-Doyle banged a two-bagger leading off the eighth, Gaines then drew a walk and the speedsters pulled off a double steal, making it second and third with nobody out. The Evangels got some tough luck though as a couple of lineouts by Medina and Payton Matthews as well as a groundout by Mendoza got the Lions out of the jam with the score remaining 6-2 MACU.
• Brock Cordes left the bases loaded in the eighth, working around two singles and a walk, getting Alex Ortiz to line out to right to retire the inning.
• Cordes stranded a pair of Lions runners in the ninth, striking out Dominick Padillia swinging to end it, with MACU winning it by a 6-2 final.

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian strung together eight hits while giving up nine to Nelson, MACU had a pair of doubles and Nelson had just one extra-base hit.
• Despite being walked 14 times, which fell two shy of the program record that occurred back on Mar. 15 in the 22-6 win over Panhandle State, on top of four errors committed by Nelson, the Evangels stranded 14 on the basepaths.
• Nelson had difficulty cashing in runners as well, as they left 13 on base.
• MACU swiped seven bags, which tied the second most in a game this season, falling three short of the season-high that occurred in the 13-3 win over McPherson on Apr. 1^st.
• D'Andre Gaines set a career-high with three stolen bases, it becomes the tenth time during the NAIA-era (2007-present) in which a MACU player has stolen three bases and the fourth time this season. Gaines overall had a phenomenal day as he went 2-for-2 with two runs, a RBI, and three walks to go along with his three stolen bases.
• Taiga Sakuma reached base four times behind a 1-for-2 performance, he walked three times, scored a run and picked up an RBI on a sac fly.
• Fabian Hernandez pushed his win-loss record to 5-1, he has now made eight consecutive starts without receiving a loss, he turned in his fifth quality start of the season, going six innings on 2 earned runs, giving up seven hits, two walks and striking out nine. It also marked the third time this season Hernandez has punched out nine or more batters.
• Brock Cordes received his first save of the season, he logged three innings of shutout ball behind two hits, three walks and three k's.
• Noel McGarry-Doyle and Carlos Medina both picked up RBI doubles, McGarry-Doyle added a walk and stolen base.
• With the win the Evangels clinched the regular-season series over Nelson for the third straight season.

UP NEXT

• MACU takes a break from SAC play with the last midweek matchup of the season, with a 1:00 p.m. start at McPherson Tuesday, Apr. 15.