OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU Softball team put up a tough fight against No. 7 Science & Arts in the regular season finale against No. 7 Science & Arts at Bill Smith Ballpark on Saturday afternoon, but after dropping the opening game of the twin bill 7-0, the Evangels fell 3-1 in the last game of the day.

However, with No. 2 Oklahoma City sweeping Southwestern Christian, the Evangels locked up the No. 4 seed in next week's Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament Presented by Netting Pros/STADIONIC.
 
GAME ONE
SCORE

• Science & Arts 7, Mid-America Christian 0
  • Mid-America Christian (21-23, 19-16 SAC)
  • Science & Arts (43-8, 32-3 SAC)

PITCHING DECISIONS

• Win: Aubree Ferguson (22-2)
• Loss: Emmerson Dickinson (10-11)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Serena Rodriguez – 0-1, 2 HBP, SB
• Kiley Flores – 0-1, BB
• Emmerson Dickinson – L, 4.2 IP, 7 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 SO
• Nyssa Dunn – 1.1 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 3 SO

SCORING SUMMARY

• BTM 1^st – USAO – Leighanne Eaton singled up the middle, RBI; Kinzie Williams scored – USAO 1, MACU 0
• BTM 5^th – USAO – Malea McMurtrey tripled to left, RBI; Jordan Ramsey scored – USAO 2, MACU 0
• BTM 5^th – USAO – Lilyana Portillo singled to center, RBI; Malea McMurtrey scored – USAO 3, MACU 0
• BTM 5^th – USAO – Maddy Baber reached on error by 3b, RBI; Jaylee Willis scored – USAO 4, MACU 0
• BTM 5^th – USAO – Maveryck Lightfoot singled to right, RBI; Kamryn James scored – USAO 5, MACU 0
• BTM 5^th – USAO – Taylor Cronic singled to left, 2 RBI; Maveryck Lightfoot scored; Maddy Baber scored – USAO 7, MACU 0

GAME SUMMARY

• Mid-America Christian put a runner in scoring position early when Serena Rodriguez reached on a hit-by-pitch and stole a base, but she was unfortunately left stranded at second on back-to-back strikeouts.
• The Drovers threatened to put up a big inning in their half of the first as three of the first four batters reached on singles with Leighanne Eaton's RBI single giving USAO a 1-0 lead and Maddy Baber's groundball out putting two in scoring position with two outs. However, MACU starting pitcher Emmerson Dickinson limited the damage by inducing a groundout to third.
• MACU once again got a runner on early in the second with Heidi Noisey reaching on a leadoff hit-by-pitch, but USAO starting pitcher Aubree Ferguson retired the next three to leave her there.
• The Drovers once again threatened in the second with a Taylor Cronic double and Kinzie Williams single and stolen base between a pair of strikeouts put runners at second and third, but Dickinson once again induced a groundout to second to keep it a 1-0 game.
• While both teams were held in-check over the next few innings, the Drovers blew the game wide open in the fifth, as they scored six runs on four hits, a walk, a batter reaching safely on a fielder's choice and a pair of costly MACU errors made it a 7-0 USAO advantage.
• Kiley Flores drew a leadoff walk in the top of the sixth, but Ferguson retired the next six MACU batters as the Drovers secured the 7-0 win.

GAME NOTES

• Science & Arts scored its seven runs on nine hits and committed an error while the Evangels were held hitless and made two miscues.
• The contest marked the first time MACU was held to without a hit since facing Trinity Christian in the NCCAA World Series in 2023, but was due in large part to facing the NAIA's ERA leader (0.55) in Aubree Ferguson.
• Serena Rodriguez was the only Evangel to reach base safely twice on a pair of hit-by-pitches as she also came up with the team's only stolen base.
• Heidi Noisey and Kiley Flores also managed to reach base once apiece on a hit-by-pitch and a walk.
• Despite suffering the loss and allowing seven runs in 4.2 innings of work, Emmerson Dickinson only allowed one earned run on nine hits with no walks and six strikeouts.
• Nyssa Dunn threw 1.1 innings of strong relief, allowing only a walk and notched three strikeouts.

GAME TWO
SCORE

• Science & Arts 3, Mid-America Christian 1
  • Mid-America Christian (21-24, 19-17 SAC)
  • Science & Arts (44-8, 33-3 SAC)

PITCHING DECISIONS

• Win: Jayden Anderson (11-1)
• Loss: Gia Reynosa (7-5)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Kiley Flores – 1-3, RBI
• Heidi Noisey – 1-3, R
• Serena Rodriguez – 1-3
• Jorjanna King – 1-3
• Gia Reynosa – L, 4 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO

SCORING SUMMARY

• BTM 1^st – USAO – Malea McMurtrey tripled to right field, scored on error by c – USAO 1, MACU 0
• TOP 3^rd – MACU – Kiley Flores singled to center, RBI; Heidi Noisey scored – MACU 1, USAO 1
• BTM 3^rd – USAO – Maddy Baber singled to left, RBI; Malea McMurtrey scored – USAO 2, MACU 1
• BTM 5^th – USAO – Lilyana Portillo singled up the middle, RBI; Malea McMurtrey scored – USAO 3, MACU 1

GAME SUMMARY

• Science & Arts scored the first run in the bottom of the first as Malea McMurtrey hit a one-out triple to right and after getting in a rundown between third and home, she ended up scoring on an errant throw to third.
• The Drovers once again threatened in the second as a one-out single and error allowed a pair to reach before both runners moved to second and third on a wild pitch, but Gia Reynosa got out of the jam by striking out the next two batters to keep it a 1-0 game.
• The Evangels took advantage of a pair of Drovers errors in the top of the third before Taylor Martinez drew a walk to load the bases. With two outs, Kiley Flores dropped a single into center to score Heidi Noisey, but unfortunately Reynosa was thrown out at the plate to hold the score to a tie game at 1-1.
• USAO got the run back in their half of the third, following a pair of one-out singles and a strikeout, Maddy Baber slapped a single into left to bring in Malea McMurtrey for what would ultimately be the game-winning run.
• The Drovers added one more insurance run for good measure in the fifth, notching three hits in the frame as Lilyana Portillo's RBI base knock up the middle scored McMurtrey to settle the score in at 3-1.
• Mid-America Christian put up a tough fight in the top of the seventh as Jorjanna King smacked a one-out single to center and then tried to advance to third on Noisey's base hit to left, but was thrown out before USAO left fielder Taylor Cronic made a sensational leaping grab on Mia Macias' line drive down the left field line to secure the 3-1 result.

GAME NOTES

• Science & Arts scored its three runs on nine hits with a pair of errors while the Evangels scored their run on four hits and committed three errors.
• Serena Rodriguez, Jorjanna King, Kiley Flores, and Heidi Noisey notched MACU's hits in the contest while Flores tallied the lone RBI and Noisey scoring the only run.
• Gia Reynosa threw four innings, allowing three runs, two earned on six hits, no walks and three strikeouts.
• Emmerson Dickinson and Nyssa Dunn each threw a scoreless inning of relief, allowing only three hits over those two frames.
• With the loss, Science & Arts secured the series victory 3-1 as well as locked up the SAC regular season title.

UP NEXT

• With the conclusion of the regular season, Mid-America Christian will be back in Chickasha next week as the Evangels earned the No. 4 seed in the SAC Tournament. MACU will face off against Southwestern Christian in its first tourney game on Thursday at 3 p.m. at Bill Smith Ballpark.