OKLAHOMA CITY – In the second year of the new Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament Presented by Netting Pros/STADIONIC, the second-seeded No. 18 MACU Baseball team has once again advanced to the final site, this year being played at Joe Becker Ballpark in Joplin, Mo. from May 1-3.

The Evangels will face off against third-seeded Oklahoma City in their first game at 2:30 p.m. on Friday. If MACU loses, it would face the loser of top-seeded No. 15 Texas Wesleyan and fifth-seed Nelson at 6 p.m. If the Evangels win, they'd face the winner of that game at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
 
SEASON REPORT

• Record: 35-12 (20-7 SAC)
• Last Game: Won vs. (7) Science & Arts – 12-4 – Apr. 25, 2026 – MACU Baseball Field
• Top Performers (Hitting):
  • Nick Hill – JR – 3B
    • .344 BA (56-163), 15 2B, 19 HR, 61 RBI, 50 R, 26 BB, 4 HBP, 12 SB, .434 OB%, .785 SLG%, 1.219 OPS
  • Jalen King – JR – OF
    • .398 BA (66-166), 15 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 35 RBI, 53 R, 31 BB, 4 HBP, 27 SB, .502 OB%, .518 SLG%, 1.020 OPS
  • Sammy Hallada – JR – OF
    • .371 BA (63-170), 8 2B, 3 3B, 6 HR, 25 RBI, 52 R, 20 BB, 13 HBP, 20 SB, .471 OB%, .559 SLG%, 1.030 OPS
• Top Performers (Pitching):
  • Ibrahim Gonzalez – JR – LHP
    • 9-2 W-L, 1.55 ERA, 12 APP, 11 GS, 5 CG, 1 SHO, 69.2 IP, 53 H, 21 R, 12 ER, 22 BB, 74 SO, .210 OBA, 1.08 WHIP
  • Fabian Hernandez – SR – LHP
    • 3-2 W-L, 4.62 ERA, 12 APP, 12 GS, 2 CG, 1 SHO, 62.1 IP, 54 H, 35 R, 32 ER, 21 BB, 82 SO, .233 OBA, 1.20 WHIP
  • Liam Taft – JR – RHP
    • 0-2 W-L, 2.37 ERA, 18 APP, 12 SV, 19.0 IP, 14 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 7 BB, 19 SO, .197 OBA, 1.11 WHIP
• Team Notes:
  • Mid-America Christian advanced to the final site after taking two out of three games against No. 7 seed Science & Arts in the SAC Tournament Opening Round. The Evangels opened that three-game slate with an 8-5 win before the Drovers rallied by scoring four runs in the top of the eighth to come away with an 8-7 victory and force a game three. MACU's bats came alive in the elimination game, running away with the 12-4 victory on Saturday.
  • The Evangels enter the final four as the top-rated pitching team in the SAC and seventh in the NAIA with a 3.90 team ERA, headlined by ace Ibrahim Gonzalez. The junior lefty leads all of the NAIA with a 1.55 ERA and a 9-2 record on the mound, which ranks as the second-most single season wins by a MACU pitcher in program history.
  • MACU is also one of the best hitting teams in the league this season, entering the tourney leading the way in slugging percentage (.526) and ranked second in batting average (.324) as well as second in on-base percentage (.434).
  • Junior third baseman Nick Hill has been the team's biggest slugger this season, leading the SAC in home runs (19) to go with the second-most RBIs (61) and third-most doubles (15) in the conference. Junior outfielder Jalen King has been the most proficient at getting on-base for MACU, owning the league's second-highest batting average (.398) and second-base on-base percentage (.502).

SCOUTING REPORT
Oklahoma City

• Record: 22-25 (15-12 SAC)
• Last Game: Won vs. (6) Wayland Baptist (Texas) – 4-3 – Apr. 24, 2026 – Oklahoma City
• Series vs MACU (2008-): OCU leads 47-15
• Last Game vs MACU: MACU won 6-4 – Mar. 14, 2026 – Oklahoma City
• Series Streak: MACU won 5
• Players to Watch (Hitting):
  • Trent Baker – SR – OF
    • .380 BA (65-171), 13 2B, 7 HR, 38 RBI, 41 R, 20 BB, 2 HBP, 31 SB, .446 OB%, .579 SLG%, 1.025 OPS
  • Aiden Van Rensum – SR – INF
    • .365 BA (57-156), 13 2B, 15 HR, 62 RBI, 44 R, 19 BB, 10 HBP, 4 SB, .455 OB%, .763 SLG%, 1.218 OPS
  • Aiden Alexander – SR – OF
    • .345 BA (50-145), 15 2B, 2 HR, 19 RBI, 37 R, 15 BB, 3 HBP, 16 SB, .415 OB%, .490 SLG%, .905 OPS
• Players to Watch (Pitching):
  • Bauer Brittain – SR – RHP
    • 4-3 W-L, 4.85 ERA, 14 APP, 12 GS, 2 CG, 72.1 IP, 79 H, 49 R, 39 ER, 35 BB, 57 SO, .276 OBA, 1.58 WHIP
  • Cayden Maxwell – JR – RHP
    • 3-8 W-L, 5.48 ERA, 14 APP, 14 GS, 3 CG, 67.1 IP, 63 H, 60 R, 41 ER, 60 BB, 63 SO, .247 OBA, 1.83 WHIP
  • Nick Anaya – GR – RHP
    • 4-1 W-L, 3.33 ERA, 20 APP, 6 SV, 24.1 IP, 17 H, 9 R, 9 ER, 21 BB, 23 SO, .215 OBA, 1.56 WHIP
• Team Notes:
  • Oklahoma City rallied in both of their SAC Tournament Opening Round games against Wayland Baptist to win each in walk-off fashion. In the first game of the series, the Stars came back from four runs down to force extras before winning 5-4 in 11 innings on Aiden Alexander's walk-off RBI single. In the second game, OCU gave up two runs in the top of the ninth to concede the lead before rallying back with two runs in the bottom of the ninth as Wyatt Pace's walk-off RBI single propelled the Stars to a 4-3 victory.
  • The Stars earned the No. 3 seed in the SAC Tournament with a 15-12 record in league play, owning the tiebreaker over Central Christian for the spot. It was a tightly-contested race in the middle of the pack this year in the conference as five teams finished within two games from the No. 3 to No. 7 spots in the tourney.
  • Offensively, OCU ranked in the middle of the pack in the conference by posting the fourth-highest slugging percentage (.479), the fifth-best batting average (.295), and the eighth-highest on-base percentage (.390). When the Stars got runners on, Aiden Van Rensum was the best in the conference at bringing runners in, just barely sitting ahead of MACU's Nick Hill for the league RBI lead at 62 while mashing the second-most home runs (15).
  • On the mound, the trio of Brittain Bauer, Cayden Maxwell, and Trent Baker started the bulk load of the Stars games with Bauer owning the team's best ERA at 4.85 amongst those starters. Closing things out for OCU on the year has been Nick Anaya, who has been a stellar reliever with a 3.33 ERA and the second-most saves in the SAC with six.
  • Even though OCU leads the all-time series, Mid-America Christian has fared very well against the Stars since the 2023 season, winning the regular season series in each of the last four years with an 11-3 record against OCU in that time frame, which includes a current five-game win streak. MACU swept the regular season series at Oklahoma City this year from Mar. 13-14 with 8-3, 12-3, and 6-4 wins.