Mid-America Christian University

LEWISTON, Idaho – The No. 18 MACU Baseball team dropped a downright heartbreaker to No. 19 William Carey in its second game of the Avista NAIA World Series at Harris Field on Monday afternoon as the Crusaders rallied from two runs down in the bottom of the ninth to hand MACU a tough 6-5 defeat on Taylor Walters' walk-off, bases-clearing triple.
 
SCORE

• William Carey 6, Mid-America Christian 5
  • Mid-America Christian (43-14)
  • William Carey (40-18)

PITCHING DECISIONS

• Win: Jimmie Johnson (8-2)
• Loss: Angel Miranda (1-1)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Fabian Hernandez – 8 IP, 3 R, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 5 SO
• Nick Hill – 2-5, RBI, R, SB
• Tuane Cope – 2-5, RBI, R
• Jahzeel Groetelaers – 2-4, RBI
• Frankie Giacalone – 1-3, 2B, R, 2 BB

SCORING SUMMARY

• TOP 1^st – MACU – Nick Hill singled thru left side, RBI; Sammy Hallada scored – MACU 1, WCU 0
• BTM 1^st – WCU – Taylor Walters doubled to left-center, RBI; DeeJay Booth score – MACU 1, WCU 1
• BTM 1^st – WCU – Hays Carley fouled out to rf, sac fly, RBI; Taylor Walters scored – WCU 2, MACU 1
• TOP 2^nd – MACU – Sammy Hallada grounded into a fielder's choice to ss, RBI; Tuane Cope scored – MACU 2, WCU 2
• TOP 4^th – MACU – Jahzeel Groetelaers singled thru left side, RBI; Frankie Giacalone scored – MACU 3, WCU 2
• BTM 5^th – WCU – Taylor Walters hit sac fly to cf, RBI; Alan McClean scored – MACU 3, WCU 3
• TOP 7^th – MACU – Cole Krepcik fouled out to rf, sac fly, RBI; Jalen King scored – MACU 4, WCU 3
• TOP 7^th – MACU – Tuane Cope singled thru right side, RBI; Nick Hill scored – MACU 5, WCU 3
• BTM 9^th – WCU – Taylor Walters tripled to left-center, 3 RBI; Tanner Ladner scored; Alan McClean scored; Gage Hinnant scored – WCU 6, MACU 5

GAME SUMMARY

• Mid-America Christian jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Sammy Hallada started off the frame by reaching on a hit-by-pitch and got down to second on Jalen King's slow chopper back to the mound. Two pitches later, Nick Hill slapped an RBI single through the left side to bring in Hallada.
• The Evangels had the chance to add more when they loaded the bases on Adam Hanan getting hit by a pitch and Cole Krepcik reaching on a slow chopper single down the third base line. However, MACU was unable to bring any more across as Frankie Giacalone hit a sharp liner right back to the shortstop that allowed the Crusaders to double off Hanan at first to end it.
• William Carey answered right back with two runs in the bottom of the first. Following DeeJay Booth's leadoff walk, Taylor Walters lined a double into the left-center field gap to score the tying run before getting down to third on an errant throw back into the infield. While Fabian Hernandez hit the next batter to put runners at the corners, he retired the next three batters in-order while Hays Carley's sacrifice fly in right field in foul territory allowed the go-ahead run to cross to make it a 2-1 game.
• The Evangels answered right back in their half of the second. Tuane Cope opened the frame by slapping a leadoff single right back up the middle before Jahzeel Groetelaers smashed a single into left. After Elijah Lee executed a perfect sac bunt down the third base line to move both runners over, the tying run came across on Sammy Hallada's fielder's choice groundout to short, setting the score to 2-2.
• MACU captured the lead back in the top of the fourth. Giacalone started the scoring opportunity by hammering a leadoff double into the left-center field gap before Cope's deep flyball to right allowed him to tag up to get to third. Moments later, Groetelaers smoked a groundball single through the left side to make it a 3-2 Evangels advantage.
• The Evangels put together a mild threat in the top of the fifth when King reached on an error and stole second before Krepcik drew a four-pitch walk with two outs. However, WCU pitcher Dylan Wallace induced a routine flyout to center to end the inning.
• The Crusaders took advantage of a crucial MACU miscue to tie the game up in the bottom of the fifth. After Alan McClean hit a one-out single through the left side, it looked as though the Evangels might end it on a ground ball hit toward the right side. Unfortunately, the ball went under the glove of Krepcik at second to get into the outfield, allowing runners to get to second and third on the error. Walters came up with his second RBI of the game when he hit a sac fly to center field to make it a 3-3 contest.
• The Evangels had an opportunity to get the lead back in the top of the sixth when Lee drew a two-out walk and stole second. However, Hallada's sharp liner was snared by the left fielder to keep it a 3-3 game.
• Despite coming up empty in the sixth, MACU took advantage of its opportunities in the top of the seventh. To lead off the frame, King lined a double off the center field wall before Hill's sharp liner single to right put runners at the corners. Two batters later, Krepcik hit a flyball into foul territory down the right field line that was just deep enough to score King on the tag up as the sac fly gave MACU the 4-3 advantage.
• Moments later, Cope came up huge once again by slapping an RBI single through the right side to plate Hill, extending the edge to 5-3.
• MACU once again threatened in the top of the eighth as Lee drew a leadoff walk and stole second before Hallada reached on a hit-by-pitch, but the Crusaders got out of the jam by getting a flyout to right and a 6-4-3 double play to keep it a 5-3 game.
• The Evangels carried their two-run lead over William Carey heading into the bottom of the ninth. While Angel Miranda retired two of the first three batters he faced, putting MACU just one out away from advancing in the winner's bracket, it all came undone. McClean dropped a single down the right field line to put runners at the corners before Booth drew a walk to load the bases. Down to their final strike, Walters came up as the hero for WCU as he launched a deep flyball that hit off the top of the left-center field fence for a walk-off bases-clearing triple to seal the 6-5 result.

GAME NOTES

• William Carey scored its six runs on six hits and committed an error while the Evangels scored their five runs on 10 hits and made a pair of defensive miscues.
• Fabian Hernandez put together an outstanding outing in his start, allowing only three runs, just one earned on three hits with two walks and five strikeouts over eight innings of work.
• Nick Hill, Tuane Cope, and Jahzeel Groetelaers each led the MACU batting efforts with two hits apiece while each notched an RBI. Cope and Hill also added a run scored to their stat lines as well as Hill notching a stolen base.
• Frankie Giacalone notched one of MACU's two extra-base hits with his double to finish 1-for-3 with a run scored and a pair of walks drawn.
• Cole Krepcik added an RBI to his stat line to finish the day 1-for-3 while Sammy Hallada notched an RBI after going 0-for-3 while also reaching on a pair of hit-by-pitches.
• Jalen King tied MACU's single season hits record with his leadoff double in the top of the seventh as he also recorded a stolen base and a run scored to finish 1-for-5 on the afternoon. His 79^th hit matched the record mark set by James Frederick back in 2010 while his 29^th stolen base moved him alone into third on the season stolen bases list.
• Elijah Lee also added a pair of stolen bags to his line after going 0-for-1 with a pair of walks. With his 20 stolen bases, he moves into a tie for eighth no the season record book.
• Angel Miranda suffered his first loss of the season with the blown save in relief, allowing three earned runs on three hits with a walk.
• With the loss, MACU will now have to fight its way back through the loser's bracket in the World Series.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will seek to stave off elimination on Tuesday, but will have to do it against No. 1 Taylor with the first pitch slated for 3 p.m. (5 p.m. CST).