BSB JUTN LSUS Postgame - 5-15-25
Katie Worlund
16
Winner Mid-America Christia MID-AMER 41-16
4
Johnson (TN) JOHNSON 36-18
Winner
Mid-America Christia MID-AMER
41-16
16
Final
4
Johnson (TN) JOHNSON
36-18
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Mid-America Christia MID-AMER 1 0 1 0 4 4 6 16 16 1
Johnson (TN) JOHNSON 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 4 8 2

W: Escobosa, Carlos (3-0) L: A. Sykes (1-1)

6
Mid-America Christia MID-AMER 41-17
9
Winner LSU Shreveport LSU SHRE 54-0
Mid-America Christia MID-AMER
41-17
6
Final
9
LSU Shreveport LSU SHRE
54-0
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Mid-America Christia MID-AMER 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 6 7 1
LSU Shreveport LSU SHRE 0 0 5 1 3 0 0 0 X 9 7 1

W: I. Rohde (14-0) L: Dixon, Gabriel (6-3) S: B. Lucas (2)

Game Recap: Baseball | | Adam Stanek - MACU Sports Information

No. 19 Baseball Eliminates No. 21 Johnson, Falls to No. 1 LSU Shreveport to End Season in NAIA Opening Round Championship Game

SHREVEPORT, La. – The No. 19 MACU Baseball team made some major noise in the NAIA Opening Round Tournament, blasting No. 21 Johnson (Tenn.) for its third-straight elimination game win. However, the Evangels saw their historic 2025 campaign come to a very tough end on Wednesday night, falling 9-6 to undefeated No. 1 LSU Shreveport at Pilot Field.
 
GAME ONE / Mid-America Christian vs. Johnson (Tenn.)
SCORE
  • Mid-America Christian 16, Johnson 4 (7 Inn)
    • Mid-America Christian (41-16)
    • Johnson (36-18)
PITCHING DECISION TOP PERFORMERS SCORING SUMMARY GAME SUMMARY
  • Mid-America Christian broke into the scoring column right off the bat in the top of the first when Taiga Sakuma led off the frame with a single to right center before Cristopher Munoz hammered a double to the right center field wall, scoring Sakuma from first to set the score to 1-0.
  • The Evangels had a chance to add to their lead as a ground ball by Noel McGarry-Doyle moved Munoz down to third with one out, but JU starting pitcher Austin Sykes got Carlos Medina to pop out to second and D'Andre Gaines to lineout to center to end the frame.
  • However, MACU's lead was short lived as the first three Johnson batters reached on back-to-back singles off the bats of Luke Wilson and Nolan Cusey with Cusey's being of the RBI variety before Travis Hobbensiefken launched a two-run shot over the left-center field wall to give the Royals the 3-1 lead.
  • In the top of the third, the Evangels narrowly missed a chance to tie it when JU's centerfielder made an incredible diving grab in deep center on Sakuma's flyball before Munoz launched a solo shot over the left center field wall to cut the deficit to 3-2.
  • Johnson got the run back in the bottom of the third as a Cusey double down the right field line set up Brayden Frank for a two-out RBI single into right center to stretch the lead back to two at 4-2.
  • In the fourth, the Royals came dangerous close to taking a three-run lead when Jason Thurman overthrew Julian Martinez at first on Brayden Taylor's grounder to third as Bryson Shown tried to score from second, but Noel McGarry-Doyle made a pinpoint throw to the plate to gun down Shown on the tag, keeping it to a two-run ballgame.
  • In MACU's half of the fifth, the Evangels battled back to take the lead. After Elijah Lee reached on an error and Sakuma reached on a fielder's choice, MACU executed a perfect hit-and-run as Munoz hit a screaming liner that rolled all the way to the right center field wall for an RBI double to cut the deficit to one.
  • The Evangels tied it in the very next at-bat as McGarry-Doyle slapped a single through the right side. While it appeared Munoz was going to be thrown out at home, the ball popped out of the catcher's glove on the tag, drawing the game even at 4-4. After McGarry-Doyle got down to third on a wild pitch, Medina hit a sac fly to the center fielder to give MACU the 5-4 advantage.
  • MACU continued to add to its lead in the fifth with its fourth run after D'Andre Gaines hit a double to left-center before a pinch-hit single through the right side by Giordany Mendoza brought in the speedy Gaines, setting the score to 6-4.
  • Mid-America Christian found itself in some major trouble to start the bottom of the fifth as the first two Royals batters reached on a bunt single and a walk, forcing the Evangels to go to their pen with Carlos Escobosa. While Escobosa struck out the first batter he faced, a Frank line drive single to center loaded the bases with only one out. There was no panic in the senior righty from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic as he won an extended at-bat against Cade Liefer as he popped out on a full count to second before getting Shown to strike out swinging.
  • The Evangels took advantage of a defensive miscue in the top of the seventh. After Lee drew a walk to start off the frame, an errant pickoff throw to first allowed him to get to third before Sakuma slapped a single up the middle to make it a 7-4 game.
  • Two batters later, MACU made it a five-run lead when McGarry-Doyle continued swinging a powerful bat, launching an opposite field two-run homer that crawled over the left center field wall, setting the score to 9-4.
  • Gaines followed it two batters later with a homer of his own as his solo shot to left center brought it to a 10-4 ballgame.
  • The Evangels continued to pour it on in the top of the seventh with a monstrous six-run frame. After Mendoza snuck a leadoff single up the middle just out of the reach of the shortstop and Guillermo Velasco drew a one-out walk, Sakuma smacked a two-RBI double to the right-center field wall to plate Mendoza and Lee on the re-entry, stretching the edge to 12-4.
  • After Munoz lined a single to center to put runners at the corners, McGarry-Doyle went yard for the second time on the day, heaving a three-run shot over the left field wall to make it 15-4.
  • The Evangels added one more run of insurance following Medina's single and steal of second as Martinez knocked a single to center to plate Medina, closing out the MACU scoring at 16-4.
GAME NOTES
  • Mid-America Christian scored its 16 runs on 16 hits and committed one error while Johnson finished the contest with four runs on eight hits with a pair of errors.
  • Noel McGarry-Doyle continued his torrid home run hitting pace as he led the MACU bats with a pair of dingers with six RBIs after slashing 3-for-4 with three runs scored.
  • With his fifth and sixth home runs of the tournament, McGarry-Doyle pushed his season homer total to 14, moving him into a tie for third in MACU's NAIA Era (2007-present) single season record book with Adrian Bravo-Carmona (2010) and Yan Ely Adames (2023). The Maple, Ontario, Canada native now only sits two homers back of Adames (36, 2019-23) for tying the career record with 34 career dingers.
  • Doyle also continued his climb up the MACU single season record book in hits as his 77th base knock moved him into second, putting him only two away from James Frederick's record mark set in 2010.
  • Cristopher Munoz also turned in an incredible day at the dish, slashing 4-for-5 with two doubles, a homer and three RBIs to go with a pair of runs. The 16th homer of the season for Munoz kept him at the top of MACU's single season record book while also cracking him into the top 10 of the career record book in his first and only year with the Evangels.
  • D'Andre Gaines also continued his ascent up MACU's home run record books as his 28th career dinger moved him alone into third on the career list while his 15th of the season sits him just one away from Munoz in the single season book. By scoring his 69th run of the year, the San Pablo, Calif. native tied his own single season program record from last season. Gaines also made his mark in the doubles record book as his team-leading 18th of the season tied the second-most in a season and 34th in his career moved him alone into third.
  • Taiga Sakuma rounded out the dominant MACU batting efforts, finishing 3-for-5 with a double, three RBIs and four runs. The four scratched across set a career-high for Sakuma while tying the fifth-most runs in a game in MACU's single game records. The Yachiyo, Japan product scored his 60th run of the year, becoming the third Evangel on the team to score 60 or more runs while becoming only the sixth Evangel to score 60 runs in a season.
  • Overall, the top of the MACU order between Sakuma, Munoz and McGarry-Doyle combined to hit 10-of-14 with three doubles, three homers, 12 RBIs and nine runs scored.
  • Carlos Escobosa picked up the win on the mound after tossing three sensational innings of relief. The senior righty from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic tossed three scoreless, allowing only one hit and two walks while tying a season-high six strikeouts.
  • With Escobosa's outing, he put together the distinction of being incredible in the state of Louisiana over his two-year Evangels tenure. In his three Louisiana outings, Escobosa owns a 3-0 record with a 0.00 ERA, allowing no runs on two hits, with four walks and 18 strikeouts with two results coming in the prestigious Cajun Collision.
  • With the victory, MACU improved to 1-1 against Johnson, avenging a loss to the Royals to open the NAIA Opening Round on Monday. The victory also allowed MACU to tie its single season wins record with its 41st, tying last season's mark.
GAME TWO / Mid-America Christian vs. LSU Shreveport
SCORE
  • LSU Shreveport 9, Mid-America Christian 6
    • Mid-America Christian (41-17)
    • LSU Shreveport (54-0)
PITCHING RESULT
  • Win: Isaac Rohde (14-0)
  • Loss: Gabriel Dixon (6-3)
  • Save: Brock Lucas (2)
TOP PERFORMERS SCORING SUMMARY
  • BTM 3rd – LSUS – Ryan Davenport singled thru right side, RBI; Cooper Huspen scored – LSUS 1, MACU 0
  • BTM 3rd – LSUS – Vantrell Reed hit a sac fly to rf, RBI; Ryan Davenport scored – LSUS 2, MACU 0
  • BTM 3rd – LSUS – Ian Montz homered to center, 3 RBI; Jackson Syring scored; Josh Gibson scored – LSUS 5, MACU 0
  • BTM 4th – LSUS – Josh Gibson doubled to right center, RBI; Ryan Davenport scored – LSUS 6, MACU 0
  • BTM 5th – LSUS – Angel Rodriguez walked, RBI; Jackson Syring scored – LSUS 7, MACU 0
  • BTM 5th – LSUS – Diego Aragon reached on a fielding error by 1b; Ian Montz scored – LSUS 8, MACU 0
  • BTM 5th – LSUS – Ryan Davenport walked, RBI; Anthony Swenda scored – LSUS 9, MACU 0
  • TOP 6th – MACU – Giordany Mendoza singled thru right side, 2 RBI; D'Andre Gaines scored; Carlos Medina scored – LSUS 9, MACU 2
  • TOP 6th – MACU – Guillermo Velasco walked, RBI; Julian Martinez scored – LSUS 9, MACU 3
  • TOP 6th – MACU – Taiga Sakuma walked, RBI; Giordany Mendoza scored – LSUS 9, MACU 4
  • TOP 6th – MACU – Cristopher Munoz hit a sac fly to lf, RBI; Payton Matthews scored – LSUS 9, MACU 5
  • TOP 6th – MACU – Noel McGarry-Doyle singled thru left side, RBI; Elijah Lee scored – LSUS 9, MACU 6
GAME SUMMARY
  • LSU Shreveport threatened almost right out of the gate as Ryan Davenport was hit by the first pitch in the bottom of the first and Austin Gomm drew a walk to put runners at first and second with only one down. However, MACU starting pitcher Gabriel Dixon got out of the jam by inducing a 4-6-3 double play.
  • While the Evangels were able to hang with the only undefeated baseball team in the NAIA for two innings, the Pilots broke the game open in the bottom of the third as a Ryan Davenport RBI single to right center gave LSUS the lead and Vantrell Reed's sac fly made it a two-run game before Ian Montz lined a three-run homer that just barely crawled over the center field fence to bring it to a 5-0 game.
  • The Pilots added one more insurance run in the fourth on a Josh Gibson RBI double before the Evangels walked in a pair of runs and another scored with a bases-loaded error, stretching the Pilots' edge to 9-0.
  • In the top of the sixth, the Evangels finally broke through with a massive six-run frame. After a Carlos Medina single through the right side and back-to-back hit-by-pitches to D'Andre Gaines and Julian Martinez, Giordany Mendoza slapped a two-RBI single through the right side to give MACU its first runs of the game at 9-2.
  • The Evangels loaded the bases again on Zachary Stark's swinging bunt single down to third, setting up a back-to-back bases-loaded walks to pinch-hitter Guillermo Velasco and Taiga Sakuma before Cristopher Munoz hit a sac fly to left to score Payton Matthews, making it 9-5.
  • Even though MACU's hottest bat in Noel McGarry-Doyle was held to 0-for-3 through his first three at-bats, the senior outfielder punched an 0-2 groundball through the left side for an RBI base hit, scoring Elijah lee and making it a 9-6 ballgame.
  • LSU Shreveport threated to put score some crucial insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh as an Anthony Swenda leadoff single and a Jose Sallorin walk put the first two aboard before they were moved over two batters later on Davenport's unassisted groundout to first. However, MACU reliever Andrws Acosta got Gibson to line out to Medina at short to end the frame.
  • Mid-America Christian had two more innings to try to chip away at the Pilots lead, but the Evangels were only able to get one runner aboard in each of the final two frames as LSU Shreveport held on for the 9-6 win.
GAME NOTES SEASON RECAP
  • Mid-America Christian wraps up its regular season with a 41-17 overall record, making it back-to-back seasons where the Evangels recorded 41 victories, both of which being the program record.
  • The Evangels NAIA Opening Round Tournament run marked the first time in program history MACU won three games in the prestigious postseason tournament in only its second ever trip.
  • In his fifth year as MACU's skipper, head coach Brett Stanton completed his first half-decade with the Evangels with an astonishing 177-95 record for an incredible .651 winning percentage.
  • Overall, MACU put together its best hitting season in program history. The Evangels wrap up the year with the program records in runs (523), hits (613), home runs (102), RBIs (476), total bases (1053), walks (308) and stolen bases (152) as well as setting the record marks in batting average (.338), on-base percentage (.446) and slugging percentage (.580). The Evangels also tallied the second-most double (110), fourth-most triples (12), and second-most hit-by-pitches (79).
  • On the mound, the Evangels recorded the most innings pitched (440.1) and tossed the most shutouts (6) and saves (11) to go along with the third-most strikeouts (420) and the fourth-lowest opponent batting average (.281).
  • Multiple players finished the 2025 with records or top 10 single season marks.
    • Noel McGarry-Doyle
      • .538 on-base percentage (1st)
      • 72 RBIs (1st)
      • 78 hits (2nd)
      • 41 walks (2nd)
      • 14 home runs (3rd)
      • 131 total bases (3rd)
      • 28 stolen bases (3rd)
      • 1.217 OPS (5th)
      • 16 hit-by-pitch (5th)
      • 193 at-bats (6th)
      • .404 batting average (7th)
      • 56 runs (8th)
    • Cristopher Munoz
      • 16 home runs (1st)
      • .422 batting average (2nd)
      • 134 total bases (2nd)
      • .775 slugging percentage (3rd)
      • 1.291 OPS (3rd)
      • 73 hits (4th)
      • 64 runs (4th)
      • .516 on-base percentage (6th)
      • 54 RBIs (6th)
      • 18 stolen bases (8th)
    • D'Andre Gaines
      • 5 triples (1st)
      • 137 total bases (1st)
      • 70 runs (1st)
      • 18 doubles (2nd)
      • 15 home runs (2nd)
      • 204 at-bats (2nd)
      • 39 walks (3rd)
      • 22 stolen bases (4th)
      • 51 RBIs (9th)
    • Taiga Sakuma
      • .405 batting average (6th)
      • 60 runs (6th)
      • .500 on-base percentage (7th)
      • 3 triples (7th)
      • 19 stolen bases (7th)
    • Carlos Medina
      • 144 assists (1st)
      • 27 double plays turned (1st)
      • 195 at-bats (4th)
      • 66 hits (10th)
    • Payton Matthews
      • 33 stolen bases (2nd)
    • Zachary Stark
      • 10 caught stealing (10th)
      • .722 stolen base allowed percentage (10th)
    • Angel Miranda
      • 0.91 WHIP (1st)
    • Andrws Acosta
      • 24 games pitched (3rd)
      • 5 saves (4th)
    • Fabian Hernandez
      • 8 wins (5th)
      • 84 strikeouts (10th)
      • 13 games started (10th)
    • Andrew Long
      • 21 games pitched (6th)
      • 7 wins (7th)
    • Gabriel Dixon
      • 4 saves (5th)
CAREER RECORDS SET
  • Multiple MACU seniors either broke our set career top 10 marks over the course of the 2025 season while two underclassmen set multiple marks.
    • Noel McGarry-Doyle
      • .510 on-base percentage (1st)
      • 10 triples (1st)
      • 190 RBIs (1st)
      • 169 runs (1st)
      • 95 walks (1st)
      • 42 hit-by-pitch (1st)
      • 54 stolen bases (1st)
      • .394 batting average (2nd)
      • 1.190 OPS (2nd)
      • 214 hits (2nd)
      • 34 home runs (2nd)
      • 369 total bases (2nd)
      • 543 at-bats (3rd)
      • .680 slugging percentage (4th)
      • 33 doubles (4th)
    • D'Andre Gaines
      • 9 triples (2nd)
      • 139 runs (2nd)
      • 71 walks (2nd)
      • .683 slugging percentage (3rd)
      • 34 doubles (3rd)
      • 28 home runs (3rd)
      • 1.131 OPS (4th)
      • 267 total bases (4th)
      • 34 stolen bases (4th)
      • 131 hits (5th)
      • 103 RBIs (6th)
      • 391 at-bats (9th)
      • .448 on-base percentage (10th)
    • Carlos Medina
      • 399 assists (1st)
      • 64 double plays turned (1st)
      • 38 doubles (2nd)
      • 553 at-bats (2nd)
      • 186 hits (3rd)
      • 284 total bases (3rd)
      • 111 RBIs (4th)
      • 24 hit-by-pitch (5th)
      • 87 runs (7th)
      • 20 home runs (8th)
      • .336 batting average (10th)
    • Cristopher Munoz
      • 16 home runs (10th)
    • Payton Matthews            
      • 32 stolen bases (5th)
    • Carlos Escobosa
      • .241 opponent batting average (7th)
    • Ryan Harney
      • 1.58 WHIP (10th)
    • Taiga Sakuma*
      • .373 batting average (3rd)
      • 5 triples (3rd)
      • .469 on-base percentage (4th)
      • 117 runs (4th)
      • 60 walks (4th)
      • 31 stolen bases (6th)
      • 1.022 OPS (7th)
      • 120 hits (7th)
      • 74 RBIs (9th)
      • 178 total bases (9th)
      • .553 slugging percentage (10th)
    • Jacob Police*
      • 28 hit-by-pitch (3rd)
      • .571 slugging percentage (6th)
      • 95 runs (6th)
      • 28 stolen bases (7th)
      • 81 RBIs (8th)
      • .973 OPS (9th)
      • 19 home runs (9th)
      • 3 triples (10th)
      • 176 total bases (10th)
*- denotes returning underclassmen
 
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