BSB TXWES Postgame - 5-3-26
6
Texas Wesleyan TEXAS WE 42-9
16
Winner Mid-America Christian MID-AMER 38-13
Texas Wesleyan TEXAS WE
42-9
6
Final
16
Mid-America Christian MID-AMER
38-13
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 R H E
Texas Wesleyan TEXAS WE 1 1 0 3 0 0 0 1 6 13 2
Mid-America Christian MID-AMER 0 1 0 5 1 1 5 3 16 16 2

W: Dixon, Gabriel (4-2) L: Jose Casado (6-1)

22
Winner Mid-America Christian MID-AMER 38-13
4
Texas Wesleyan TEXAS WE 42-9
Winner
Mid-America Christian MID-AMER
38-13
22
Final
4
Texas Wesleyan TEXAS WE
42-9
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Mid-America Christian MID-AMER 0 3 4 5 4 3 3 22 24 1
Texas Wesleyan TEXAS WE 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 4 12 3

W: Reid, Jace (1-0) L: Ty Sansom (4-1)

Game Recap: Baseball | | Adam Stanek - MACU Sports Information

No. 18 Baseball Sweeps No. 15 Texas Wesleyan 16-6, 22-4 to Claim SAC Tournament Championship

JOPLIN, Mo. – The No. 18 MACU Baseball bats came alive at just the right time against top-seeded No. 15 Texas Wesleyan in the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament Championship Presented by Netting Pros/STADIONIC as the Evangels picked up a pair of 16-6, 22-4 victories at Joe Becker Ballpark to capture the team's second tournament title in the last three years.

With the wins, the Evangels earned one of the league's two automatic berths to the NAIA Tournament Opening Round that will take place from May 11-14 at 10 different sites across the country.
 
GAME ONE
SCORE
  • Mid-America Christian 16, Texas Wesleyan 6 (8 Inn)
    • Mid-America Christian (38-13)
    • Texas Wesleyan (42-9)
PITCHING DECISIONS TOP PERFORMERS SCORING SUMMARY
  • TOP 1st – TXWES – Jorge Herrera hit a sac fly to cf, RBI; Brandon Vela scored – TXWES 1, MACU 0
  • TOP 2nd – TXWES – Idelfonso Garcia hit a sac bunt to 1b, RBI; Jonathan Pena scored – TXWES 2, MACU 0
  • BTM 2nd – MACU – Frankie Giacalone homered to right, RBI – TXWES 2, MACU 1
  • TOP 4th – TXWES – Marcos Carrion homered to left, 2 RBI; Giuseppe Buttaci scored – TXWES 4, MACU 1
  • TOP 4th – TXWES – Jorge Herrera singled to left, RBI; Brandon Vela scored – TXWES 5, MACU 1
  • BTM 4th – MACU – Tuane Cope singled up the middle, RBI; Adam Hanan scored – TXWES 5, MACU 2
  • BTM 4th – MACU – Jahzeel Groetelaers walked, RBI; Cole Krepcik scored – TXWES 5, MACU 3
  • BTM 4th – MACU – Elijah Lee singled thru left side, RBI; Tuane Cope scored on error by lf – MACU 5, TXWES 5
  • BTM 4th – MACU – Jalen King hit a sac fly to rf, RBI; Dyson Kinnaman scored – MACU 6, TXWES 5
  • BTM 5th – MACU – Cole Krepcik scored on a wild pitch – MACU 7, TXWES 5
  • BTM 6th – MACU – Adam Hanan doubled to right-center, RBI; Jalen King scored – MACU 8, TXWES 5
  • BTM 7th – MACU – Sammy Hallada singled to center, 2 RBI; Dyson Kinnaman scored; Tuane Cope scored – MACU 10, TXWES 5
  • BTM 7th – MACU – Nick Hill homered to left-center, 3 RBI; Jalen King scored; Elijah Lee scored – MACU 13, TXWES 5
  • TOP 8th – TXWES – Jose Rangel hit a sac fly to cf, RBI; Idelfonso Garcia scored – MACU 13, TXWES 6
  • BTM 8th – MACU – Frankie Giacalone homered to right-center, 2 RBI; Cole Krepcik scored – MACU 15, TXWES 6
  • BTM 8th – MACU – Jesse Ortega singled to left-center, RBI; Tuane Cope scored – MACU 16, TXWES 6
GAME SUMMARY
  • Texas Wesleyan took advantage of a fortuitous bounce and a defensive miscue in the top of the first. With one out, Brandon Vela hit a high-hopper that bounced over the leaping Nick Hill at third for a double down the left field line. After an error was committed a short that allowed runners to go to first and third, Jorje Herrera gave the Rams the lead on his sac fly to right-center field to make it a 1-0 game.
  • The Evangels were primed to tie it back up in the bottom of the first when Jalen King hammered a one-out double to the right-center field gap and then got down to third on a passed ball. However, TXWES pitcher Jose Casado managed to strikeout Nick Hill and Adam Hanan in back-to-back at-bats to leave the runner stranded at third.
  • The Rams utilized another costly MACU mistake in the top of the second when Jonathan Pena's single to center got by Jalen King, allowing the runner to get to third. After Guiseppe Buttaci reached on an infield single to third to put runners at the corners, Idelfonso Garcia laid down a successful sacrifice squeeze bunt to first to score an insurance run, making it a 2-0 contest.
  • Mid-America Christian got on the scoreboard in a big way in its half of the second when Frankie Giacalone launched a solo shot over the right field wall to close the gap to 2-1.
  • The Rams pushed their lead out to four in the top of the fourth. After Buttaci slapped a leadoff single to right and was moved down to second on a sac bunt, Marcos Carrion pushed a two-run shot just barely over the left field wall. Later in the inning, a Vela walk and Jack Erickson single set up Herrera with an RBI single smacked in to left, stretching the advantage to 5-1.
  • MACU answered right back with a massive inning of its own in the fourth, scoring five runs to take the lead. Upon loading the bases on back-to-back singles by Adam Hanan and Cole Krepcik, Giacalone drew a walk to load the bases. The Evangels scored their first run on Tuane Cope's RBI single hit right back up the middle to score a run before Jahzeel Groetelaers drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 5-3.
  • After making a pitching change, Elijah Lee tied the game by ending an extended at-bat with a single through the left side that allowed two runs to score when the left fielder misplayed the grounder, evening the game up at 5-5. Jalen King broke the tie moments later by hitting a deep sacrifice flyout to right to bring in Dyson Kinnaman for the go-ahead run at 6-5.
  • The Evangels took advantage of some TXWES miscues in the bottom of the fifth. On Krepcik's leadoff single to the shortstop, he was awarded second on an errant throw by shortstop before taking third on a passed ball. He then just barely beat the tag of the pitcher when Dylan Krause's wild pitch bounced to the backstop, setting the score to 7-5 on the wild pitch.
  • MACU added one more insurance run in the sixth. Following King's bunt single to the pitcher and Nick Hill's walk to put two runners on, the Rams were successfully able to throw out Hill at second on a double steal attempt. However, Adam Hanan immediately answered with a double to right-center, bringing in King to set the score to 8-5.
  • The Evangels continued to pour on the offense in the seventh. After three consecutive walks on Giacalone, Cope, and Jahzeel Groetelaers and getting a forceout at home on Lee's grounder to second, Sammy Hallada finally broke through on the day with a two-RBI single to center. Two batters later, Nick Hill cranked a three-run shot over the left-center field fence to extend the lead to 13-5.
  • The Rams did end up getting a run back in the top of the eighth when Garcia and Carrion slapped back-to-back singles to put runners at the corners. While Jose Rangel's sac fly brought in the run to make it 13-6, MACU reliver Gabriel Dixon limited the damage by inducing a 3-4-3 double play.
  • The Evangels ended the game early with a three-run frame in the bottom of the fifth as Giacalone launched his second home run of the day over the right-center field fence. After Tuane Cope hammered a ground rule double to center, Jesse Ortega ripped the game-ending single to left-center to bring in Cope, wrapping up the 16-6 final.
GAME NOTES
  • Mid-America Christian scored its 16 runs on 16 hits and committed a pair of errors while Texas Wesleyan tallied its six runs on 13 hits while also notching two errors.
  • Frankie Giacalone mashed in his plate appearances, bashing a pair of homers to finish the day 2-for-3 with three RBIs, a pair of runs, and also drew a pair of walks. By notching his 13th home run of the season, the junior first baseman moved into a tie for seventh with Andrew Enwiya and D'Andre Gaines for the seventh-most homers hit in a year in the NAIA Era (2007-present).
  • Nick Hill added a home run of his own with a three-run shot of his own to finish his day 1-for-3 with three RBIs, and a run with a pair of walks drawn. He officially becomes the first Evangel in the record book to hit 20 home runs in a season.
  • Cole Krepcik turned in a three-hit day from the dish by slashing 3-for-5 and was one of three Evangels to score three runs in the contest. Tuane Cope also scored three runs after going 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI, and a pair of walks.
  • Jalen King, Adam Hanan, and Elijah Lee also swung strong bats for MACU with each notching a pair of hits, combining to score four runs and drive in three with a trio of RBIs.
  • While Byron Madero got the start for MACU, Gabriel Dixon entered in the fourth and locked things down to pick up the victory in relief, wrapping up his day with only one earned run allowed on six hits with no walks and a strikeout over 4.1 innings of work.
  • The victory for the Evangels was their fourth against the Rams this season, avenging a 14-5 loss in Saturday's winner's bracket game in the SAC Tournament. MACU has won nine of the last 11 meetings against TXWES.
GAME TWO
SCORE
  • Mid-America Christian 22, Texas Wesleyan 4 (7 Inn)
    • Mid-America Christian (39-13)
    • Texas Wesleyan (42-10)
PITCHING DECISIONS TOP PERFORMERS SCORING SUMMARY GAME SUMMARY
  • Texas Wesleyan put together a massive threat in the bottom of the first when it loaded the bases with no outs on back-to-back singles by Jose Rangel and Brandon Vela as well as an infield bunt single by Jack Erickson. However, MACU pitcher Angel Miranda got out of the jam in a big way, striking out back-to-back batters before inducing a popout to short to leave all runners stranded.
  • The Evangels came up big with two outs in the top of the second. After Cole Krepcik reached on an infield single and stole second, Tuane Cope laced an RBI single right back up the middle to make it a 1-0 MACU lead. Just moments later, Jahzeel Groetelaers added two more runs when he mauled a two-run shot down the left field line to stretch that advantage to 3-0.
  • Angel Miranda once again danced out of trouble in the bottom of the second. After the Rams got a one-out single from Idelfonso Garcia and a two-out base knock from Jose Rangel to put runners at the corners, Angel Miranda forced one of the best hitters in the NAIA in Brandon Vela to hit a slow chopper right back to Miranda for the easy putout at first to end the frame.
  • MACU once again put together a big inning in the top of the third. Jalen King started it off with a single up the middle before Nick Hill drew a walk, as Adam Hanan moved both runners over on a sac bunt. Krepcik came up big once again, smacking a two-RBI single up the middle before Cope laced an RBI single through the left side. Once again, Groetelaers bashed big by hammering an RBI double to straight center field, setting the score to 7-0.
  • The Evangels continued to pour it on in their half of the fourth, this time scoring five runs. After loading the bases on back-to-back singles from King and Hill and Adam Hanan getting hit by a pitch, Krepcik notched his second 2-run single of the game with another base hit up the middle. MACU added one more by taking advantage of a Rams miscue as the third baseman muffed the catch of the pitcher trying to throw it to third on Frankie Giacalone's sac bunt attempt, allowing Hanan to score. Later in the inning, Groetelaers slapped an RBI single through the left side and Lee bashed an RBI single through the right side to make it a 12-0 ballgame.
  • MACU's bats continued to blast away at the Rams pitching in the top of the fifth, pushing across four more runs on Cope's deep RBI double to center before Conner Thompson blasted a pinch-hit three-run homer over the left field fence to bring it to 16-0.
  • The Rams did get three runs of their own back in their half of the fifth when a Dryon Dixon single and Logan Silvertooth double down the left field line set up Conner DeLeon with a two-out, three-run home run over the left field fence to close it to 16-3.
  • The Evangels immediately got those three runs back in the top of the sixth as Hill opened the frame with a double to left before Krepcik scored him on an RBI single up the middle. Moments later, Giacalone hammered a two-run bomb over the right field fence to set the score to 19-3.
  • TXWES did get a run back in the bottom of the sixth on a leadoff solo shot from Garcia to bring it to 19-4 but MACU reliever Jackson Miller settled in by retiring the next three batters in-order.
  • The Evangels capped off the scoring in the tournament with a four-run seventh, as Hill hammered a solo blast to center before Giacalone smashed an RBI single through the left side and Elijah Lee drew a bases-load walk to seal the scoring at 22-4.
GAME NOTES
  • Mid-America Christian scored its 22 runs on 24 hits and committed an error while the Rams scored their four runs on 12 hits and committed three errors.
  • The Evangels scored the most runs in a SAC Championship game since 2019 when Science & Arts defeated Southwestern Assemblies of God (now Nelson) by a score of 22-3.
  • The 22 runs scored by MACU tied the fifth-most notched by the Evangels in the NAIA Era and the second-most in the SAC Tournament after pushing across 25 against Oklahoma Panhandle State on May 7, 2022.
  • The 24 hits tallied by the Evangels not only notched the most recorded by the team in a SAC Tournament game, but is also tied for the second-most in a game in the NAIA Era, sitting only behind the 26 they recorded against Bacone on Feb. 20, 2020.
  • Overall for the day, the Evangels offense shot straight out of a cannon following the top of the fourth in the first game of the day. After trailing TXWES 4-1 at that time, the Evangels outscored the Rams 37-5 over the next 11.5 innings.
  • It was an all-around balanced offensive effort as 10 different Evangels recorded a hit while six players tallied at least three hits. There were also 10 players that scored in the contest and seven different athletes recorded at least one RBI with five notching at least three RBIs.
  • Cole Krepcik led the batting efforts with an incredible 4-for-5 day at the dish, recording a career-high five RBIs and five runs. Those five runs sit in a six-way tie for the second-most ever scored in a game, placing him only behind teammate Jalen King in the record book.
  • Jahzeel Groetelaers also mashed in the game, batting 3-for-3 with a double, a homer, four RBIs and a run scored.
  • Frankie Giacalone wrapped up a historic day at the plate by batting 3-for-5 with a double, a homer, three RBIs, and scored three runs. Between the two championship games, Giacalone combined to go 5-for-8 with a double, three homers, six RBIs, and scored six runs.
  • Giacalone's 14th long ball of the season also allowed him to climb in to a four-way tie for fourth on MACU's single season record book along with Adrian Bravo-Carmona (2010), Yan Ely Adames (2023), and Noel McGarry-Doyle (2025).
  • Tuane Cope wrapped up a sensational weekend by batting 3-for-6 with a double, three RBIs, and three runs scored. Cope was one of the hottest bats in MACU's lineup over the five-game weekend, slashing .526 (10-for-19) with a team-high 10 runs and five RBIs to go along with five walks to post an insane .625 on-base percentage.
  • Cope wasn't the only one who wrapped up a sensational weekend at the dish as nine-hole hitter Elijah Lee finished as one of the biggest contributors in the tournament. After going 3-for-3 with a pair of RBIs and two walks in the finale, Lee ended the weekend by posting a team-high .667 (10-for-15) batting average with a team-best nine RBIs, also drawing three walks for a .684 on-base percentage and added a .933 slugging percentage for a blistering 1.617 OPS.
  • Nick Hill continued his ascent up MACU's single season record books with his efforts as he wrapped up the final game with a 3-for-5 performance, scoring four runs and tallying an RBI with a double and a homer. The solo shot marked his 21st home run of the season while his 19 doubles moved him alone into second in MACU's single season record book currently two back of Logan Gipson (21, 2018).
  • Hill closed out his afternoon by breaking MACU's single season total bases record, finishing with 146 to blow by the previous record of 137 that was set by D'Andre Gaines last season.
  • Conner Thompson got in on the action with his three-run homer to left to finish 1-for-3 on the afternoon and becoming the fifth Evangel to finish with three RBIs in the game.
  • By recording two hits in the game, King continued to climb up MACU's single season record book as he surpassed Pete Feurtado (74) with his 75th hit, putting him only behind James Frederick (79, 2010) and McGarry-Doyle (78, 2025) on the list.
  • After Angel Miranda tossed two scoreless innings in the start, Jace Reid picked up the win in relief, as he only allowed three runs on one mistake pitch he made in the fifth, giving up only six hits with no walks and three strikeouts. Jackson Miller also tossed two innings, allowing only one run on one hit with no walks and a strikeout.
  • With the victory, Mid-America Christian won five out of the six games it faced against Texas Wesleyan in the regular season and the SAC Tournament. Impressively in those six games, the Evangels outscored the Rams by a 69-33 margin, which includes yesterday's 14-5 defeat.
UP NEXT
  • Mid-America Christian will now await to see where it will play in the NAIA Tournament Opening Round from May 11-14. The selection show is scheduled to air on May 6 at 4 p.m. on the NAIA's YouTube channel.
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