SHAWNEE, Okla. – MACU Softball's first year coach Eli Espinosa picked up her first career coaching victory at the FireLake Ball Fields on Friday afternoon as the Evangels picked up an 8-1 win over Embry-Riddle before falling 10-0 to Bellevue to split the first day of the NAIA SB Invitational.
 
GAME ONE / Mid-America Christian vs. Embry-Riddle (Ariz.)
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 8, Embry-Riddle 1
  • Mid-America Christian (1-5)
  • Embry-Riddle (3-5)

PITCHING DECISIONS

• Win: Emmerson Dickinson (1-3)
• Loss: Presley Daniel (1-2)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Emmerson Dickinson – W, CG, 7 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 6 SO
• Serena Rodriguez – 4-4, R
• Kayten Herman – 3-5, 2 RBI, 2 R
• Kiley Flores – 2-4, 2 R, BB, SB
• Jorjanna King – 2-3, 2B, BB, R

SCORING SUMMARY

• TOP 1^st – MACU – Kayten Herman singled thru right side, RBI; Kiley Flores scored – MACU 1, ERAU 0
• TOP 1^st – MACU – Serena Rodriguez singled to third; Kayten Herman scored on the throw – MACU 2, ERAU 0
• BTM 4^th – ERAU – Kealey Myhre reached on a fielding error by ss; Arianna Garcia scored – MACU 2, ERAU 1
• TOP 5^th – MACU – Kayten Herman singled thru the left side; RBI; Kiley Flores scored – MACU 3, ERAU 0
• TOP 7^th – MACU – Kayten Herman scored on a wild pitch; Serena Rodriguez scored on a throwing error by c – MACU 5, ERAU 1
• TOP 7^th – MACU – Macie Johnson walked, RBI; Heidi Noisey scored – MACU 6, ERAU 1
• TOP 7^th – MACU – Dakota Watson singled to short, RBI; Gia Reynosa scored – MACU 7, ERAU 1
• TOP 7^th – MACU – Taylor Martinez walked, RBI; Jorjanna King scored – MACU 8, ERAU 1

GAME SUMMARY

• Mid-America Christian got the wheels in-motion right off the bat in the top of the first. After Kiley Flores opened the contest by drawing a leadoff walk, she stole second and then came around to score when Kayten Herman slipped an RBI single through the right side of the infield to make it a 1-0 play.
• In the very next at-bat, the Evangels took advantage of some heads up baserunning as Serena Rodriguez legged out an infield single to third to move Herman down to third, but then broke to second, drawing a throw to the bag and force a rundown that allowed Herman to break for home and score easily to make it a 2-0 game.
• The Evangels threatened to do more damage in the frame as Rodriguez got down to third on a passed ball and Heidi Noisey was hit by a pitch to put runners at the corners with no outs. Unfortunately, MACU missed out on the chance to capitalize as Rodriguez got caught too far off the third base bag on a missed bunt for the first out.
• MACU did threaten even more two batters later when Jorjanna King reached on an infield bloop single that dropped in-between the pitcher and catcher before wisely taking second when the Eagles tried to throw out Noisey at third, putting two more runners in scoring position. Unfortunately, the Evangels were unable to bring either runner home in the frame.
• The biggest threat the Eagles mustered through first three innings came in the bottom of the third when Dickinson allowed back-to-back runners to reach on a hit-by-pitch and a walk before a deep flyout to center and a stolen base allowed both runners to get to second and third with two outs. However, Dickinson cooly got out of the jam by inducing a weakly hit ground ball to Noisey at first end the inning.
• Embry-Riddle scored its only run of the contest in the bottom of the fourth, taking advantage of two MACU miscues in the frame to cut its deficit to only 2-1.
• However, the Evangels immediately took advantage of an Eagles mistake in the top of the fifth when Flores reached on a dropped popup by the second baseman, getting all the way to second on the miscue and then to third on a wild pitch before Herman drove her in a ground ball single through the hole at short to make it a 3-1 contest.
• The contest held serve until the top of the seventh when the Evangels blew the doors wide open. After loading the bases with only one out, MACU took advantage of a wild pitch with Herman first coming around to score followed by Rodriguez on an errant throw to set the score to 5-1. Following back-to-back walks drawn by Gia Reynosa and Jorjanna King to load the bases once again, MACU scored in three-straight at-bats as Macie Johnson and Taylor Martinez each drew bases-loaded walks to go along with a Dakota Watson infield RBI single to essentially wrap-up the 8-1 victory.

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian finished with a season-high eight runs on a season-best 13 hits and committed three errors while Embry-Riddle scored its lone run on two hits and committed a pair of miscues.
• With the win, MACU's new coach Eli Espinosa collected her first collegiate coaching victory after being named the program's skipper last summer.
• On-top of the Evangels as a team collecting their first win, freshman ace Emmerson Dickinson collected her first win in the circle as well, going the distance as she allowed only one unearned run on two hits while walking only a pair to go with a career-high six strikeouts.
• Sophomore outfielder Serena Rodriguez put together a career day at the dish, collecting a career-best four hits on a 4-for-4 performance while also scoring a run as well.
• Kayten Herman was MACU's best run producer on the day as she finished 3-for-5 with two RBIs and a pair of runs scored.
• Kiley Flores also scored a pair of runs for MACU as well following her 2-for-4 day from the dish, reaching three times with a walk and stole a bag as well.
• While the Evangels notched 13 hits as a team, Jorjanna King registered MACU's only extra-base hit with a screaming double to right-center, finishing 2-for-3 on the day to go along with a run scored.
• On-top of MACU collecting its first win of the season, it also marked its first win over Embry-Riddle in the two team's first meeting.

GAME TWO / Mid-America Christian vs. Bellevue
SCORE

• Bellevue 10, Mid-America Christian 0 (5 Inn)
  • Mid-America Christian (1-6)
  • Bellevue (2-4)

PITCHING DECISIONS

• Win: Lindsey Dressman (1-0)
• Loss: Nyssa Dunn (0-2)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Kayten Herman – 2-2, BB, SB
• Gia Reynosa – 1-1, SB
• Taylor Martinez – 0-0, 2 BB

SCORING SUMMARY

• TOP 1^st – BU – Mariah Unverzagt singled to right, RBI; Leslie Egan scored – BU 1, MACU 0
• TOP 3^rd – BU – Mariah Unverzagt tripled down rf line, RBI; Miranda Garcia scored – BU 2, MACU 0
• TOP 3^rd – BU – Daniela Ramirez doubled to right, RBI; Mariah Unverzagt scored – BU 3, MACU 0
• TOP 3^rd – BU – Savannah Short singled up the middle, RBI; Daniela Ramirez scored – BU 4, MACU 0
• TOP 3^rd – BU – Emma Crisman homered to left-center, 2 RBI; Savannah Short scored – BU 6, MACU 0
• TOP 5^th – BU – Laila Fiscus singled to right-center, 2 RBI; Emma Crisman scored; Daniela Ramirez scored – BU 9, MACU 0
• TOP 5^th – BU – Kaitlyn Fisher doubled to left-center, RBI; Laila Fiscus scored – BU 10, MACU 0

GAME SUMMARY

• It appeared as though MACU starting pitcher Nyssa Dunn was going to navigate around giving up a leadoff single in the top of the first after inducing back-to-back fielder's choice outs to short, but Bellevue remained scrappy by getting back-to-back singles off the bats of Mariah Garcia and Mariah Ungverzagt to make it an early 1-0 Bruins advantage.
• The Evangels mustered a threat of their own in their bottom half of the first when Kiley Flores hit a leadoff single through the right side, stole second, and then two batters later got down to third when Kayten Herman drew a walk and both runners advanced on a wild pitch in that walk to put two runners in scoring position with only one out.
• Unfortunately, MACU was unable to capitalize as Bruins pitcher Lindsey Dressman made a sensational backhanded stab on Dakota Watson's comebacker to the circle before striking out the side to keep it a 1-0 BU edge.
• The Evangels once again tried to muster a two-out rally in the bottom of the second when Taylor Martinez and Macie Johnson each drew a walk and both getting into scoring position on a wild pitch, but on the same play, Johnson got caught trying to break for home with the defense drawing their attention to Johnson going to second, getting caught in a rundown before being tagged out trying to get back to the third base bag.
• It appeared MACU was going to cruise defensively through the top of the third after starting the frame by retiring the first two batters, but unfortunately, the wheels fell off for MACU's pitching and defense as the Bruins went on to score five runs on four hits and a walk, finishing it off on an Emma Crisman two-run homer to left-center to make it a 6-0 contest.
• The Bruins two-hit clutch hitting continued into the top of the fifth. With runners on first and third with two outs, Bellevue notched three-straight hits to push across four more runs, extending their advantage and ultimately sealing the 10-0 win in the five-inning affair.

GAME NOTES

• Bellevue scored its 10 runs on 13 hits with no errors while the Evangels could only muster four hits while not committing an error in their own right.
• Kayten Herman was the only Evangel to finish with multiple hits, reaching base three times on a 2-for-2 day with a walk drawn to go with a stolen base.
• Taylor Martinez also reached twice for MACU with a pair of walks while Kiley Flores and Gia Reynosa each reaching safely on the team's two other hits.
• By getting the win, Bellevue captured the all-time series lead in the first ever meeting between the two sides.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will now prepare for a pair of high-profile matchups on Saturday as the Evangels battle No. 8 Central Methodist at 2:45 pm before taking on No. 21 Hope International at 5 p.m. to close out the tourney.