OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – The Southwestern College baseball team played another non-conference doubleheader on Saturday, this time on the road in Oklahoma City, against the Evangels of Mid America Christian University. Though the Moundbuilders received good starting pitching, outhit the Evangels 16-9 across two games and played serviceable defense, they dropped a pair of tilts to the home team by final tallies of 8-5 and 4-1.

Very little was happening in the opening few frames of game one, as the starting hurlers for each team were tossing beautifully. Through three-and-a-half innings, there was no score, but MACU made that history by picking up a couple of runs in the bottom of the fourth. An RBI single and a wild pitch with a runner at third base put the first two runs of the game on the board.

The following inning, after keeping SC off the scoreboard, the Evangels added another tally with a run-scoring single through the left side. Then, the Moundbuilders finally broke through with a massive top of the sixth inning. They scored four times in the frame, starting with an RBI infield single by Tyler Seboldt, which scored London Penland. After that, Andrew Brown provided a run-scoring single for the squad that brought home Josh Crabtree. Finally, Chris Weatherford provided the biggest blow with a two-run single into left field. Both Trevor Abitia and Seboldt came in to score on the play, giving the Builders a 4-3 lead with just an inning-and-a-half to play.

An unfortunate turn of events took place in the bottom of the sixth inning, as five runs came in to score for Mid America Christian. The Builder relievers could not hold on to the lead, giving up a RBI walk, a passed ball which allowed a runner to score, a sacrifice fly, a run-scoring groundout, and an RBI double. With an 8-3 deficit in the top of the seventh, Jo. Crabtree singled home Marcus Burton to make it 8-4, but that would not be enough, as SC fell by that tally in the first of two tilts.

Southwestern led early in game two, as they received a solo round-tripper from Burton in the top of the second inning. The Builders would hold that 1-0 lead until the bottom of the third inning, when the Evangels took the lead 2-1 with an RBI double and a fielder's choice which brought home a run. Still, plenty of time remained for the Moundbuilders to get back into the game, but unfortunately, the only two remaining runs of the game came in the bottom of the fifth for MACU on a wild pitch and subsequent error on the throw to the plate that allowed two runs to score and extended the Evangel lead to 4-1.

The game would end with that score, as the Builders dropped both battles on Saturday in Oklahoma City.

Offensively, Southwestern outhit MACU 16-9 over the course of the day, holding 9-5 and 7-4 advantages in each game. Unfortunately, they could not take advantage of multiple opportunities to drive in runs. Penland (2-for-4, R, SB), Burton (2-for-4, 2B, R, SB) and Jo. Crabtree (2-for-4, RBI, R) were the multi-hit performers in the Builders' first game of the day, while Weatherford led the squad in run production with a pair of RBIs on a single. Both Seboldt and Brown also picked up one run-batted-in and a base hit in the first tilt. Though Brown and Joseph Finder had a pir of hits each in game two, Burton's homer was the lone run scored in the affair. Seboldt and Waetherford also added hits in the bout.

Jacob Crabtree (5 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 8 K, BB) started the opening game of the day and was tabbed with a no-decision. It was another impressive outing for the Moundbuilder ace, as he handed the ball off to his relievers with just a three-run deficit. After taking the lead, Southwestern went to their late-inning arms, but they could not hang onto the lead. The combination of Dylan Navarrette, Braden Ash and Jacob Woodburn allowed five runs on just a single hit. Three hit-by-pitches and three walks added to the difficult final two innings on the bump.

Another decent start from the Builder starter, Gannon Dow (4.2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 2 ER, K, 4 BB), kept the Builders within striking distance in the latter battle of the afternoon. It just was not in the cards, as the Moundbuilder offense could not string together a rally, as Jared Stoffel added 1.1 innings of shutout ball on the bump to close the tilt for Southwestern.

Two more matchups with the Evangels will be coming again tomorrow for the Builders (5-9), as they look to split the four-game series with MACU. The first of the two seven-inning battles will be played at 1 p.m., as the final non-conference series of the 2023 campaign will come to an end on Sunday.

--buildersports.com--