OKLAHOMA CITY – The No. 19 MACU Baseball team is set to begin its 2026 campaign down in Louisiana this weekend as the Evangels will face off against Louisiana Christian at Billy Allgood Field on Thursday afternoon. The midweek twin bill is slated for a 3 p.m. start.
The Evangels were supposed to take on the Wildcats on Saturday and LSU Alexandria on Friday, but due to the threat of inclement weather, the LCU series has been moved to Thursday while the LSUA doubleheader has been canceled.
LAST SEASON AT A GLANCE
- 2024 Record: 41-17 (20-7 SAC)
- Last Game: Lost vs. No. 1 LSU Shreveport – 9-6 – May 14, 2025 – Shreveport, La. (NAIA Tournament Opening Round – Championship)
- All-Americans
- All-Sooner Athletic Conference
- Recap
- Last season, Mid-America Christian put together its deepest NAIA Tournament postseason run in program history.
- After suffering a tournament-opening 13-6 loss to No. 21 Johnson (Tenn.) in the first game of the Opening Round, the Evangels picked up a 16-7 win over Southern-New Orleans, a 7-6 victory over Ottawa (Kan.), and a 16-4 bounce-back victory over Johnson to match up against undefeated No. 1 ranked LSU Shreveport. The Evangels hung in there before falling to the eventual undefeated NAIA National Champion by a score of 9-6.
- As a result, the Evangels wrapped up the season with a 41-17 overall record and finished second in the Sooner Athletic Conference with a 20-7 league mark. MACU has won 41 games in back-to-back season, tying the 2024 season for the most victories in a year.
- Last fall, the Evangels were selected to finish second in the SAC Preseason Poll while also being tabbed No. 19 in the NAIA Top 25 Preseason Poll released in the fall as well.
2026 SEASON PREVIEW
- Top Returners
- Fabian Hernandez – SR – LHP
- 8-1 W-L, 4.20 ERA, 15 GP, 13 GS, 2 CG, 1 SHO, 1 SV, 79.1 IP, 83 H, 44 R, 37 ER, 30 BB, 84 SO, .273 OBA, 1.42 WHIP
- Gabriel Dixon – SR – RHP
- 6-3 W-L, 5.15 ERA, 19 GP, 12 GS, 1 CG, 4 SV, 64.2 IP, 73 H, 43 R, 37 ER, 26 BB, 59 SO, .283 OBA, 1.53 WHIP
- Andrws Acosta – SR – RHP
- 2-6 W-L, 6.94 ERA, 24 GP, 5 GS, 5 SV, 46.2 IP, 62 H, 40 R, 36 ER, 27 BB, 43 SO, .313 OBA, 1.91 WHIP
- Top Newcomers (Hitting)
- Jahzeel Groetelaers – JR – C – Previous School: Western Oklahoma State, Arizona Western
- Notable: Played for Netherlands in 2022 WBC World Cup, 2024 Curacao National Team
- Frank Giacalone – JR – 1B – Previous School: San Diego Mesa
- 2025 Stats: .347 BA, 44 GP, 43 GS, 59 H, 170 AB, 32 R, 37 RBI, 14 2B, 6 HR, .535 SLG%, 18 BB, 11 HBP, .431 OB%, 7 SB
- Nick Hill – R-JR – 3B – Previous School: Southeastern Oklahoma State
- 2024 Stats: .348 BA, 28 GP, 23 GS, 32 H, 92 AB, 21 R, 28 RBI, 5 2B, 6 HR, 28 RBI, .598 SLG%, 7 BB, 1 HBP, .392 OB%, 2 SB
- Sammy Hallada – JR – UTL – Previous School: Olney Central (Ill.)
- 2025 Stats: .339 BA, 51 GP, 50 GS, 59 H, 174 AB, 42 R, 31 RBI, 8 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, .431 SLG%, 34 BB, 15 HBP, .480 OB%, 32 SB
- Top Newcomers (Pitching)
- Josh Sterba – JR – RHP – Previous School: Spokane Falls (Wash.)
- 2025 Stats: 7-2 W-L, 2.58 ERA, 13 GP, 12 GS, 76.2 IP, 67 H, 26 R, 22 ER, 14 BB, 43 SO, .231 OBA, 1.06 WHIP
- Byron Madero – JR – RHP – Previous School: Western Oklahoma State
- 2025 Stats: 4-3 W-L, 5.13 ERA, 16 GP, 2 GS, 1 CG, 2 SV, 40.1 IP, 42 H, 25 R, 23 ER, 13 BB, 33 SO, 1.36 WHIP
- Ibrahim Gonzalez – JR – LHP – Previous School: Western Oklahoma State
- 2025 Stats: 2-2 W-L, 5.08 ERA, 14 GP, 6 GS, 44.1 IP, 44 H, 41 R, 25 ER, 26 BB, 41 SO, 1.73 WHIP
- Jayce Moore – JR – LHP – Previous School: Bakersfield (Calif.)
- 2025 Stats: 0-5 W-L, 6.98 ERA, 14 APP, 5 GS, 29.2 IP, 35 H, 28 R, 23 ER, 39 BB, 31 SO, .285 OBA, 2.49 WHIP
- Overview (Hitting):
- Overall, Mid-America Christian is going through a reloading phase on the offensive end after graduating most of its hitting talent, losing some of the best bats in program history, including: Noel McGarry-Doyle, Cristopher Munoz, D'Andre Gaines, Carlos Medina, Taiga Sakuma, Jacob Police, Brett Justice, Zachary Star, Payton Matthews, and Jonluke Hobdy, only to name a few.
- To replace these departures, the Evangels are bringing in some strong offensive and defensive talents. Junior catcher Jahzeel Groetelaers bring in immense talent, a player that has competed at the International level with the Netherlands and Curacao while playing two years of JUCO ball between Western Oklahoma State and Arizona Western.
- Junior Frank Giacalone looks to bring a strong bat while playing first base for the Evangels, putting up some monster numbers at San Diego Mesa last season. Even though he was with the Evangels last season, Southeastern Oklahoma State transfer Nick Hill will be looking to make his MACU debut in 2026. During the 2024 campaign at SEOSU, Hill was extremely productive, slashing .348/.392/.598, which included ripping five doubles and six homers in only 92 at-bats.
- Junior Sammy Hallada is a utility player that has incredible speed and skill. Last season at Olney Central College, he was the team's top hitter with a .339 batting average while scoring 42 runs and hit 31 RBIs. Hallada is a massive threat, drawing an impressive .480 on-base percentage after leading the team with 34 walks and was hit by 15 pitches, which allowed him to steal 32 bases.
- Even though MACU did graduate most of its offensive talent, the Evangels return an experience catcher in senior Conner Thompson, who started nearly half of MACU's games at catcher, posting a .258 batting average with four doubles and four homers with 17 RBIs in 62 at-bats. Senior infielder Elijah Lee also saw some action last season, appearing in 41 games and making 15 starts primarily as a defensive specialist at second and third.
- Overview (Pitching):
- One area of major strength for MACU is how much of its core pitching is returning from last season's squad. The Evangels return their ace in senior lefty Fabian Hernandez, who earned All-SAC First Team honors a year ago after posting an 8-1 record in 15 games with a 4.20 ERA and a sensational 1.42 WHIP while leading team in strikeouts (84) and innings pitched (79.1).
- The duo of Gabriel Dixon and Andrws Acosta also make their returns as the pairing both saw action in the starting rotation and the closer's role for the Evangels. Acosta posted five saves and tossed a team-leading 24 games while Dixon notched a 6-3 record with four saves to go along with a solid 5.15 ERA.
- Senior Ryan Smith is going to be a strong option out of the pen for MACU after he posted a respectable 5.00 ERA in 18 innings of relief last year while junior Angel Miranda will be looking to add some depth later in the season when he returns from injury. Last year, Miranda was sensational in his seven games, allowing only a 4.09 ERA with an unbelievable 0.91 WHIP over 33 innings before he suffered a season-ending injury following his start against Science & Arts on Mar. 22.
- While MACU has a lot of great returning pitchers, the Evangels are looking forward to their incoming arms. Josh Sterba headlines a bumper crop of pitching after he put together an incredible year as the ace at Spokane Falls. Last year, he recorded a 2.58 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP over 76.2 innings of work.
- Junior lefty Jayce Moore will be looking to add some strong pitching depth to MACU's rotation after transferring in Bakersfield College.
- On-top of bringing in their catchers, the Evangels also added two sensational arms in Byron Madero and Ibrahim Gonzalez, a pair of arms that made a massive impact in Western Oklahoma State's pen and starting rotation a year ago.
SCOUTING REPORT
Louisiana Christian
- 2025 Record: 29-26 (16-14 RRAC)
- Last Game: Lost vs. No. 2 Cumberland (Tenn.) – 10-0 – May 13, 2025 – Kingsport, Tenn. (NAIA Opening Round)
- Series vs MACU (2003-): MACU leads 2-1
- Last Game vs MACU: MACU won 5-1 – Jan. 24, 2025 – Pineville, La.
- Series Streak: MACU won 1
- Players to Watch (Hitting):
- Brady Huffman – SO – INF/RHP
- 2025 Stats: .341 BA, 46 GP, 41 GS, 42 H, 123 AB, 27 R, 28 RBI, 10 BB, 1 HR, .447 SLG%, 16 BB, 7 HBP, .436 OB%, 9 SB
- Harrison Waxley – JR – INF
- 2025 Stats: .327 BA, 52 GP, 48 GS, 51 H, 156 AB, 24 R, 38 RBI, 11 2B, 2 HR, .436 SLG%, 17 BB, 1 HBP, .388 OB%
- Braden McLinn – SR – OF/RHP
- 2025 Stats: .333 BA, 43 GP, 31 GS, 35 H, 105 OB, 22 R, 17 RBI, 6 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, .495 SLG%, 6 BB, 2 HBP, .377 OB%, 8 SB
- Players to Watch (Pitching):
- Jacob Bareswill – SR – LHP
- 2025 Stats: 6-3 W-L, 3.41 ERA, 17 APP, 16 GS, 1 CG, 74.0 IP, 72 H, 33 R, 28 ER, 27 BB, 58 SO, .259 OBA, 1.34 WHIP
- Kade Linn – GR – RHP
- 2025 Stats: 3-6 W-L, 5.62 ERA, 24 APP, 2 GS, 2 SV, 41.2 IP, 51 H, 35 R, 26 ER, 20 BB, 54 SO, .297 OBA, 1.41 WHIP
- Team Notes:
- Louisiana Christian made a late postseason run to advance all the way to the Red River Athletic Conference Championship game, falling to No. 1 LSU Shreveport 11-1 in the title tilt. The Wildcats as a result got a bid to compete in the NAIA Tournament Opening Round where it dropped a pair to Indiana Tech and No. 8 Cumberland to finish the year with a 29-26 overall record.
- LCU returns some of its top hitting talent from a year ago, including its batting average leader in sophomore infielder Brady Huffman, who slashed for a .341 batting average while junior infielder Harrison Waxley returns as the team's best run producer, recording 38 RBIs while also hitting a respectable .327 clip.
- The Wildcats return their best pitcher from a season ago in senior lefty Jacob Bareswill. A year ago, he went 6-3 on the bump with an excellent 3.41 ERA and 1.34 WHIP. Kade Linn is another solid returning arm out of the pen from last year, tossing 24 games with a 5.62 ERA and notched a pair of saves.
- Thursday marks the second-straight year where the Evangels will make the trip to Pineville as the Evangels opened the 2025 campaign at LCU last year. After suffering a 5-1 defeat in the opening game of the twin bill, MACU managed to split the series by bouncing back with a 5-1 win of its own in game two.
