CHICKASHA, Okla. – The No. 19 MACU Baseball bounced back from a 11-5 loss to Science & Arts with a 7-5 win in game two over Oklahoma City to advance to the final three of the SAC Tournament.
 
GAME ONE
SCORE

• Science & Arts 11, Mid-America Christian 5
  • Mid-America Christian (37-14)
  • Science & Arts (32-17)

PITCHING DECISIONS

• Win: Tyson Noel (5-4)
• Loss: Brock Cordes (6-1)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Carlos Medina – 3-5, R
• Noel McGarry-Doyle – 2-4, BB
• Cristopher Munoz – 1-5, 2 RBI
• Taiga Sakuma – 2-5, R, 2 SB
• Jason Thurman – 1-2, 2B, R

SCORING SUMMARY

• TOP 3^rd – USAO – Ian Ortiz grounded out to ss, RBI; Ricky Requejo scored – USAO 1, MACU 0
• TOP 3^rd – USAO – Christopher Martinez singled to center field, RBI; Devin Alvarez scored – USAO 2, MACU 0
• TOP 4^TH – USAO – Jaden Wiley singled to right field, advanced to second, RBI; Payton McDowall scored – USAO 3, MACU 0
• TOP 4^TH – USAO – Ricky Requejo grounded out to 3b, SAC, RBI; Corey Morro scored – USAO 4, MACU 0
• TOP 4^TH – USAO – Gage Ninness flied out to rf, SAC, RBI; Jaden Wiley scored – USAO 5, MACU 0
• BTM 4^TH – MACU –Jonluke Hobdy singled through the left side, RBI; D'Andre Gaines scored – USAO 5, MACU 1
• TOP 5^TH – USAO – Gunnar Hansen singled through the left side, RBI; Ian Ortiz scored – USAO 6, MACU 1
• TOP 5^TH – USAO – Corey Morro flied out to lf, SAC, RBI; Christopher Martinez scored – USAO 7, MACU 1
• BTM 6^TH – MACU –Cristopher Munoz singled to right field, 2 RBI; Elijah Lee scored; Payton Matthews scored – USAO 7, MACU 3
• TOP 8^TH – USAO – Gage Ninness reached on a fielder's choice, RBI; Corey Morro scored – USAO 8, MACU 3
• TOP 8^TH – USAO – Ian Ortiz flied out to cf, SAC, RBI; Nolan Herchock scored – USAO 9, MACU 3
• TOP 9^TH – USAO – Gage Ninness singled up the middle, 2 RBI; Corey Morro scored; Boone Lasater scored – USAO 11, MACU 3

GAME SUMMARY

• Things were scoreless on both sides through the first two frames after Mid-America Christian starter Brock Cordes worked two shutdown innings. In the top of the third Science & Arts connected for a pair of runs behind a couple of singles as well as an RBI groundout by Ian Ortiz.
• USAO tacked on three more in the next inning after cashing in one two singles with a safety squeeze and a sac fly, as well as an RBI single from Jaden Wiley, pushing the Drovers lead to 5-0.
• The Evangels fought for a run in the bottom half of the fourth after a leadoff walk and single to left by Carlos Medina allowed Jonluke Hobdy to single through the left side to score Gaines and put MACU on the board.
• In the fifth the Drovers stayed hot on offense, adding two more behind three consecutive hits to start the frame and Corey Morro added a sac fly to left, extending the lead to 7-1.
• Jason Thurman banged a double down the left field line starting off the sixth and Zachary Stark followed up with a single through the left side. Elijah Lee then dropped a bunt down the third base line and reached via a fielder's choice, which later set up Cristopher Munoz to single home two, cutting the Drovers lead to 7-3.
• Two hits and a couple of hit-by-pitches created two more runs for USAO as they brought the lead up to 9-3 in the eighth.
• Gage Ninness singled home two more in the ninth to make it an 11-3 game.
• The Evangels threatened in the ninth by adding two on RBI singles from Stark and Dyson Kinnaman, but it was far from enough as Sakuma popped up to short to end it with an 11-5 final.

GAME NOTES

• Science & Arts laced 14 hits while giving up 13 hits to Mid-America Christian. Both sides committed an error and left a lot of action on the basepaths.
• Despite 11 runs, USAO had the opportunity to score plenty of more with nine left on base. MACU on the other hand struggled to generate runs although reaching base a lot. The Evangels stranded 14 in traffic and struck out eight times.
• Carlos Medina connected for three hits for the third time this season, he finished 3-for-5 with a run scored.
• Taiga Sakuma remained a beast in the box, he slashed 2-for-4 with a pair of stolen bags.
• Noel McGarry-Doyle also finished with a multi-hit game; he went 2-for-4 with a walk.
• Zachary Stark was the only other Evangel to record more than one hit, he drilled a pair of singles and went 2-for-4.
• Jason Thurman connected for the only extra-base hit of the contest for MACU, he made a great impact off the bench as he also reached on a walk and scored a run.
• Dyson Kinnaman added an RBI single in his lone plate appearance.
• Brock Cordes received his first loss of the season, pushing his record to 6-1 after he went five innings, allowing nine hits for seven runs with three walks and three strikeouts.

GAME TWO
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 7, Oklahoma City 5
  • Mid-America Christian (38-14)
  • Oklahoma City (19-25)

PITCHING DECISIONS

• Win: Fabian Hernandez (8-1)
• Loss: Tanner Ellis (5-5)
• Save: Gabriel Dixon (4)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Carlos Medina – 2-4, 4 RBI
• Taiga Sakuma – 2-3, 2B, 3 R
• Fabian Hernandez – W, 7 IP, 5 R, 5 ER, 8 H, 0 BB, 4 SO
• Cristopher Munoz – 3-3, 3 R, RBI, BB

SCORING SUMMARY

• TOP 1^st – MACU – Cristopher Munoz stole second; Taiga Sakuma scored on an error by c – MACU 1, OCU 0
• TOP 1^st – MACU – D'Andre Gaines reached first on an error by 2b, RBI; Cristopher Munoz scored – MACU 2, OCU 0
• BTM 1^st – OCU – Trent Kiraly homered to right field, 3 RBI; Nic Bennett scored; Hunter Lenochan scored – OCU 3, MACU 2
• TOP 3^rd – MACU – Carlos Medina grounded out to ss, RBI; Taiga Sakuma scored – MACU 3, OCU 3
• TOP 5^th – MACU – Carlos Medina singled through the left side, RBI; Taiga Sakuma scored; Cristopher Munoz scored – MACU 5, OCU 3
• TOP 7^th – MACU – Carlos Medina singled through the right side, RBI; Cristopher Munoz scored – MACU 6, OCU 3
• TOP 7^th – MACU – Cristopher Munoz singled to left field, RBI; Payton Matthews scored – MACU 7, OCU 3
• BTM 8^th – OCU – Trent Kiraly scored on a wild pitch – MACU 7, OCU 4
• BTM 8^th – OCU – Aiden Van Rensum singled to left field, RBI; Bo Daniel scored – MACU 7, OCU 5

GAME SUMMARY

• Mid-America Christian got on the scoreboard first in the first inning due to a leadoff double to left-center by Taiga Sakuma. Sakuma moved to third on a single to left by Cristopher Munoz and scored when the throw to second on Munoz's stolen base sailed into centerfield. Noel McGarry-Doyle shifted Munoz to third on a grounder to second and Munoz scored after second basemen Hunter Lenochan made an errant throw to first, allowing MACU to take the early 2-0 lead.
• Oklahoma City gained the lead in the back half of the frame on a couple of base hits leading up to an eventual three-run blast to right by Trent Kiraly.
• The Evangels knotted it up at 3-3 in the third on back-to-back singles to right from Sakuma and Munoz, Noel McGarry-Doyle advanced the pair into scoring position on a grounder to second and Carlos Medina brought home Sakuma on an RBI groundout to short.
• OCU attempted to regain the lead by putting two on in the third, but Evangels starter Fabian Hernandez stranded a pair by getting Hunter Brown to fly out to left.
• Sakuma and Munoz were plunked to begin the fifth and McGarry-Doyle worked a free-pass to load the bases. Carlos Medina then singled through the left side scoring Sakuma and Munoz while putting MACU ahead 5-3.
• Hernandez continued to shove following a rough first inning, he worked a 1-2-3 sixth, picking up his fifth straight scoreless inning to keep the Evangels up 5-3.
• MACU added an insurance run in the seventh due to a walk to Munoz, Munoz got to second on a groundout by McGarry-Doyle and with two outs Medina worked a 10-plus pitch at bat before finding a hole in the right side of the Stars infield, singling home Munoz and making it 6-3 in favor of the Evangels.
• Stark started the eighth with a single to right, Payton Matthews then was inserted as a pinch runner and got into scoring position off a sac bunt by Elijah Lee. Matthews got to third on a balk and scored on an RBI single through the left side by Munoz, extending the lead to 7-3.
• OCU rallied for a pair of runs in the bottom half on in result of back-to-back singles, the two runners ending up scoring on a wild pitch and RBI single from Aiden Van Rensum. The Stars threatened to add on more, but closer Gabriel Dixon came in and shut the door by getting a double play to escape the jam, with MACU still leading by a 7-5 score.
• Dixon worked around a leadoff single in the ninth and retired the next three Stars to run away with a 7-5 victory.

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian narrowly outhit Oklahoma City 11-10 while the Evangels made one error compared to two by the Stars. Both sides stranded a decent amount of runners with nine on MACU's side and eight for OCU.
• The heart of the order showed up at the right time for the Evangels, leadoff hitter Taiga Sakuma, two-hole Cristopher Munoz and cleanup man Carlos Medina combined for six of the seven runs on eight hits and five RBI's. Medina fell one-shy of his career RBIs with four, making it the fifth time he has recorded four or more RBIs as an Evangel.
• Munoz drilled three singles to finish 3-for-5 with three runs scored. It marked the seventh time this season he has connected for at least three hits in a game.
• Designated hitter Taiga Sakuma remained red-hot at the dish; he scored three times after slashing 2-for-4 with a hit-by-pitch.
• Jonluke Hobdy also had a multi-hit game, he reached base safely three times as he added a walk.
• Fabian Hernandez moved his win-loss record to 8-1, it marked the tenth consecutive start Hernandez has made without receiving the loss. Hernandez became the fifth Evangel during the NAIA-era (2007-present) to achieve eight or more wins in a season, joining teammate Ryan Harney who won eight in 2023. The southpaw lasted seven-plus innings, giving up five runs on eight hits, no walks and four punchouts.
• Gabriel Dixon recorded his fourth save of the season, since making the move to the closer role Dixon has retired 26 of the 31 batters he has faced, opponents during that stretch are hitting just .115 during that stretch.
• With the win MACU moves to 3-1 on the season against the Stars and 7-3 in the last 10 matchups dating back to 2023.

UP NEXT

• MACU aims to takedown the SAC Tournament Championship tomorrow, they first will face off against Wayland Baptist at 1:00 p.m. and with a win will rematch Science & Arts.