STERLING, Kan. – No. 19 MACU baseball headed home with a 5-3-win defeating Sterling on the road on Tuesday afternoon. Liam Taft escaped a bases loaded hole in the bottom of the ninth by striking out the final batter to secure the MACU win.
 
GAME ONE

SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 5, Sterling 3
  • No. 19 Mid-America Christian (3-4)
  • Sterling (Kan.) (3-6)

PITCHING DECISION

• Win: Gabriel Dixon (1-0)
• Loss: C. Fisk (0-1)
• Save: Liam Taft (1)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Nick Hill: 3-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI
• Jalen King: 1-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 3 SB
• Jahzeel Groetelaers: 1-1, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 BB

SCORING SUMMARY

• TOP 1^st – MACU – Nick Hill Homered; RBI – MACU 1, SC 0
• BTM 2^nd – SC – E. Cardenas scored on throwing error, unearned – MACU 1, SC 1
• TOP 3^rd – MACU – Jalen King stole home – MACU 2, SC 1
• BTM 3^rd – SC – J. Harding singled to left field, RBI; M. Garcia scored – MACU 2, SC 2
• TOP 4^th – MACU – Jahzeel Groetelaers homered; RBI– MACU 3, SC 2
• TOP 6^th – MACU – Jalen King walked, RBI; Tuane Cope scored – MACU 4, SC 2
• TOP 6^th – MACU – Nick Hill sacrifice fly to center field, RBI; Dyson Kinnaman scored – MACU 5, SC 2
• BTM 9^th – SC – M. Castro singled to second base, RBI; E Campos scored – MACU 5, SC 3

GAME SUMMARY

• MACU hit the board right away as Nick Hill sent a deep left field solo home run in the top of the first inning with two outs. However, Sterling responded quickly in the bottom of the second with a run from a fielding error.
• The Evangels snatched the lead right back as Hill looked to steal second and forced an errant throw that allowed Jalen King to steal home coming from third base to reclaim the lead at 2-1 in the top of the third.
• Once again, the Warriors had the answer in the bottom of the third as an RBI single brought in the runner from second to square it up again at 2-2.
• MACU broke the deadlock once again in the top of the fourth with a solo shot from Jahzeel Groetelaers to make it 3-2.
• The scoring action returned in the top of the sixth as Tuane Cope got on base first after getting hit by the pitch. Groetelaers walked and Elijah Lee singled to load the bases. King walked to bring in Cope to go up 4-2. Followed by Hill flying out to center field to bring in Dyson Kinnaman who pinch ran for Groetelaers and gave the Evangels a 5-2 advantage.
• Sterling looked for a quick answer with two runners on base in the bottom of the sixth. However, the Evangels excellent fielding got out of the inning without conceding a run.
• The Warriors looked to leave it late loading the bases in the bottom of the ninth. A single brought in one run to trim the lead to 5-3. However, Liam Taft closed the door on a late comeback by striking out the final batter, leaving three Warriors on the bases.

GAME NOTES

• The Evangels out-hit the Warriors, turning in their five runs off eight hits to Sterling's six hits. However, both teams committed three errors apiece.  
• Gabriel Dixon pitched 2.2 innings and was credited with the win conceding three hits but giving up no runs and striking out two batters. Liam Taft got the save by entering in the ninth and striking out the final batter with the bases loaded.
• Nick Hill and Jahzeel Groetelaers both hit solo home runs. Hill finished with three hits and two RBIs. Jalen King stole a game high three bases. MACU dominated as a team in the base running department by an 8-0 margin.
• MACU took the lead with an all-time record at 4-3, winning two consecutive against Sterling both away.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian plays its first series at home next as the Evangels host Peru State for a four-game series starting on Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m.