Mid-America Christian University

LEWISTON, Idaho – The No. 18 MACU Baseball team kept the momentum rolling in its first ever Avista NAIA World Series game at Harris Field on the campus of Lewis-Clark State College on Friday morning as the Evangels cruised to a 7-3 victory over fourth-seeded No. 10 Doane for their first World Series win.
 
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 7, Doane 3
  • Mid-America Christian (43-13)
  • Doane (47-10)

PITCHING DECISIONS

• Win: Ibrahim Gonzalez (12-2)
• Loss: Broc Songster (5-1)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Cole Krepcik – 5-5, HR, 2 R, RBI
• Elijah Lee – 1-3, 3 RBI
• Frankie Giacalone – 2-5, HR, RBI, R
• Ibrahim Gonzalez – W, 5 IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 3 SO
• Byron Madero – 2 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 2 SO
• Gabriel Dixon – 2 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 2 SO

SCORING SUMMARY

• BTM 3^rd – DU – Carter Roth doubled to right-center, RBI; Max Harris scored – DU 1, MACU 0
• TOP 4^th – MACU – Cole Krepcik homered to left, RBI – MACU 1, DU 1
• TOP 4^th – MACU – Frankie Giacalone homered to right, RBI – MACU 2, DU 1
• TOP 4^th – MACU – Elijah Lee hit a sac bunt to 1b, RBI; Tuane Cope scored – MACU 3, DU 1
• TOP 4^th – MACU – Sammy Hallada singled to short; Dyson Kinnaman scored on a throwing error by ss – MACU 4, DU 1
• BTM 5^th – DU – Tanner Nelson singled down rf line, RBI; Carter Roth scored – MACU 4, DU 2
• BTM 5^th – DU – Jett Grossart singled to third, RBI; Grant Sommers scored – MACU 4, DU 3
• TOP 7^th – MACU – Elijah Lee singled to right-center, 2 RBI; Cole Krepcik scored; Adam Hanan scored – MACU 6, DU 3
• TOP 7^th – MACU – Sammy Hallada reached on a fielding error by ss; Dyson Kinnaman scored – MACU 7, DU 3

GAME SUMMARY

• Mid-America Christian managed to put a runner in scoring position early when Sammy Hallada drew a leadoff walk and was moved down to second on Jalen King's slow grounder to the right side of the infield. However, Doane left fielder Johnny Volcano saved a run by snaring Nick Hill's sharp liner for the second out before Adam Hanan went down on strikes to end the frame.
• The Evangels had a golden opportunity to put up a big inning in the second when they loaded the bases on Cole Krepcik's leadoff single before Tuane Cope was hit by a pitch and Jahzeel Groetelaers drew a one-out walk. However, DU pitcher Broc Songster got out of the jam by notching back-to-back strikeouts.
• Doane broke through with the first score of the game in the bottom of the third. After Max Harris battled of several 0-2 pitches to reach on a bloop single into left-center field, Carter Roth gave the Tigers the advantage by ripping a one-out RBI double to right-center to make it 1-0. However, Ibrahim Gonzalez limited it to just one score by inducing a flyout to center and a groundout to second.
• The Evangels answered right back with a huge top of the fourth. Krepcik started it off by tying it on a solo shot over the left field wall before Frankie Giacalone put MACU in-front with his solo shot to right to make it 2-1. After Cope was hit by a pitch, stole second, and moved down to third on Groetelaers' bunt single to third, Elijah Lee laid down a safety squeeze sac bunt to first to plate Cope. Moments later, Hallada added the fourth run by legging out an infield single to first before courtesy runner Dyson Kinnaman scored on the shortstop's errant throw to first to make it a 4-1 game.
• Doane put together a scoring threat in the bottom of the first when Jett Gossart dropped a leadoff single down the right field line and got down to second on a wild pitch, but Gonzalez retired the next three batters in-order to keep the three-run lead intact.
• The Evangels had another great chance to add some insurance runs in the top of the fifth, loading the bases on three-straight singles off the bats of Hanan, Krepcik, and Giacalone with no outs. However, Tigers reliever Cade Bridges got out of the jam unscathed by striking out Cope and getting Groetelaers to ground into an inning-ending 6-3 double play.
• It looked as though MACU was going to hold Doane down in the bottom of the fifth after Gonzalez struck out the first two batters, but Roth just barely legged out an infield single before Grant Sommers drew a walk to put a runner in scoring position. Tanner Nelson then dropped an RBI single down the right field line before Grossart hit a slow chopper infield single to third to plate another run, closing the gap to 4-3.
• After missing out on some bases-loaded scoring chances earlier in the game, the Evangels finally capitalized on it in the top of the seventh. MACU opened it with Hanan drawing a leadoff walk and Krepcik lining a single to center before being moved over to second and third on Giacalone's slow chopper up the middle. While Bridges managed to strike Cope out for the second out, Jesse Ortega drew a pinch-hit walk to load them up before Lee dropped a two-RBI single into right to extend the edge to 6-3. MACU added one more by taking advantage of a fielding error by the shortstop on Hallada's grounder, allowing Kinnaman to score to make it a 7-3 game.
• The MACU bullpen was cruising until it ran into a little bit of trouble with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. After Harris slapped a single back up the middle, Roth reached on a fielding error at short to put a pair of runners on. However, MACU reliever Gabriel Dixon closed the door on Doane by striking out Sommers to seal the 7-3 victory.

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian scored its seven runs on 11 hits and committed an error while the Tigers notched their three runs on nine hits and made three miscues.
• Cole Krepcik put together one of his best performances of the season from the plate, tallying nearly half of MACU's knocks by slashing 5-for-5 with a homer, a pair of runs scored, and an RBI. His five knocks put him in MACU's NAIA Era (2008-present) single season record book, tying the second-most recorded in a game in that time frame.
• Elijah Lee ended up being MACU's top run producer batting out of the nine-hole, slashing 1-for-3 with three RBIs.
• Frankie Giacalone went yard for the 15^th time this season with his go-ahead solo shot in the fourth, ending the day batting 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored. With his long ball, Giacanlone matched D'Andre Gaines (2025) for the third-most homers hit in a season in the NAIA Era.
• Dyson Kinnaman ended his day with a pair of runs scored as the team's courtesy runner.
• Even though it wasn't the best start for Ibrahim Gonzalez, MACU's ace still managed to battle through five innings and allowed only three earned runs on seven hits with two walks and three strikeouts to get his 12^th win of the season on the mound, moving him into a tie for the most victories for a pitcher in the NAIA.
• The Evangels bullpen came up huge as Byron Madero and Gabriel Dixon posted identical stat lines to close out the game. Each pitcher tossed two innings and allowed no runs on one hit with no walks and a pair of strikeouts apiece.
• MACU handed the red-hot Tigers their first postseason loss this season, entering the NAIA World Series as one of the hottest teams in the country by winning 19 of its last 20 games. The Evangels also improved to 6-2 against teams ranked in the NAIA Top 25 at the time of competition.
• The Evangels improved to 2-0 all-time against Doane in just the second ever meeting between the two programs. The last time they played each other, the Evangels came away with a 15-5 win at UCO in Edmond, Okla. on Mar. 9, 2020.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will play 10^th-seeded No. 19 William Carey (Miss.) at 3 pm (5 pm CST) at Harris Field on Monday.