KANSAS CITY, Mo. – For the first time in program history, the MACU Baseball team had two players selected to the NAIA All-America Team as junior starting pitcher Ibrahim Gonzalez was tabbed to the First Team while junior third baseman Nick Hill earned Second Team honors.
Not only is it the first time the Evangels had two players selected to the NAIA All-America Team, but it is also the first time MACU had any players selected to higher than the Third Team. Officially, Gonzalez and Hill are the second and third NAIA All-Americans since program joined the organization in 2008 as Isaac Baez earned Third Team acclaim in 2024. In 2008, Keisy Portorreal just missed breaking onto the list as he received an Honorable Mention.
In concluding the 2026 campaign, not only did Gonzalez shatter MACU's single season wins record with 12 on the year, he finished second in the entire NAIA while posting the ninth-best ERA in the country as well. With 99 strikeouts, the Vieques, Puerto Rico product punched out the 17th-most batters.
Gonzalez also ended up in MACU's record book with six complete games, tying the third-most of any pitcher while logging the third-most innings pitched with 92.
Becoming the first position player to receive NAIA All-America accolades, Hill mashed from the plate for MACU during the 2026 campaign, shattering the program's single season home runs record with 24, tying for the fourth-most in the country. Hill also broke the team's season RBIs record with 75, finishing with the 13th-most in the NAIA while also smashing the team's total bases record with 163. The Lakewood, Calif. product narrowly missed tying the team's single season doubles record with 20 and as well as logging the second-highest slugging percentage (.787) and the fifth-best OPS (1.220).
The pair racked up the awards during the 2026 season as both were selected as NCCAA First Team All-Americans while Gonzalez garnered the NCCAA Player of the Year award. Both players were selected as All-Sooner Athletic Conference First Team honorees with Gonzalez earning the Pitcher of the Year acclaim and Hill heralding the Newcomer of the Year accolade.
Overall, Mid-America Christian completed a historic 2026 campaign that not only saw the team make its first ever appearance to the NAIA World Series, but also tallied its first World Series win with a 7-3 victory over No. 10 Doane (Neb.). The Evangels broke the team's single season wins record after closing out with a 43-15 overall record, capturing the program's first ever NAIA Opening Round Championship on-top of its second SAC Tournament title.
