OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – Day two of the Southwestern College baseball team's weekend trip to Oklahoma City concluded on Sunday afternoon with a pair of tilts against the Mid America Christian University Evangels. After suffering a nail-biting loss in the opener of the day, 4-3, the squad played another tight battle in the finale of the four-game set, but pulled away with four runs over the last two innings of play to salvage a 7-3 win to end the weekend.

In the opener on Sunday, the Moundbuilders had chances to jump in front with a bases-loaded situation with two outs on offense in the top of the second inning. Unfortunately, they could not cash in, and the Evangels made them pay in the bottom of the frame. An RBI single by MACU, followed by a sacrifice fly to bring in their second run, put SC down 2-0 after two full.

After a three-up-three-down top of the third, Southwestern afforded the Evangels another run with another sac fly. The 3-0 Mid America Christian lead would not stand for long, as the Builders finally found their way onto the scoreboard in the top of the fourth. Josh Crabtree led off the frame with a double to left field, and ended up scoring with two outs from third base on a passed ball. It would stay a 3-1 Builder deficit until the top of the sixth.

In said top of the sixth inning, the Moundbuilders received a leadoff single from Marcus Burton. He was then able to swipe second base, and advanced to third on the errant throw into center field. Tyler Seboldt would take advantage of a pitch up in the zone and fly it to center for a sacrifice fly and an RBI. The 3-2 score put SC within one in the sixth. The Evangels quickly erased that progress in the bottom of the stanza, as the inning began with a walk and a double. The batter who was walked was thrown out trying to score between third and home, but it allowed the hitter to advance to third on his double. A subsequent single drove him in to make it 4-2.

In the top of the seventh, the Builder squad would have to score twice to tie the game. They were able to tally one run, after a leadoff double by David Morales was followed by a run-scoring double by Chris Weatherford. With one out in the inning, SC had the tying run at second base, but a mistake on the base paths on a lineout to center resulted in a double play to end the tilt. The Builders fell 4-3 in the first battle on the day.

Roles were reversed in the latter game on Sunday, as Southwestern jumped in front 3-0 in the top of the second inning. Burton led the frame off with a double, and was advanced to third on a groundout. Then, Seboldt drove him in with a single to center field, and Will Johannsen sent him to third base on a double to follow. With runners at second and third, Seboldt would score on a wild pitch, and Johannsen scampered to third. After a lineout to record out number two in the stanza, Andrew Brown came through with a run-scoring single into right field to drive in the Builders' third run of the second inning.

Mid America Christian would get one of those three runs back in the bottom of the second, as they benefitted from a leadoff solo homerun to right field. That would be the gist of the production from either side until the bottom of the fourth inning.

With the 3-1 score, the Evangels managed to tie the game in the fourth inning. Two hit-by-pitches, followed by a single, loaded the bases for MACU with no outs yet recorded. A wild play allowed a run on the following at-bat, as an errant throw toward the plate by the third baseman pulled the Builder catcher off the dish, allowing a run. A station-to-station single by the next hitter tied the game with still no outs. Then, two straight strikeouts and a fly out to left field stranded the bases juiced and kept the game tied at 3-3.

Southwestern leapt back in front in the top of the sixth inning, as they grabbed a leadoff double from Burton to get things going. Then, the MACU hurler's accuracy betrayed him, as he walked three hitters in arrow, including Jo. Crabtree, Seboldt and Johannsen. The last of those three free passes forced home Burton to give SC a 4-3 lead. Then, Morales pinch hit for Southwestern and provided an RBI fielder's choice for the squad. While attempting to pick off Travis Popenhagen, who had entered as a pinch runner for Morales, the Evangel pitcher threw wildly past the first baseman and allowed Seboldt to come in to score from third. Popenhagen was thrown out at third base attempting to take two bases, but the Builders maintained a 6-3 lead heading into the final three half-innings.

After keeping MACU off the board in the bottom of the sixth, Southwestern provided their pitching staff with a little more cushion. After a single by Burton and a walk to Jo. Crabtree, Seboldt drilled an RBI single into center to send Burton across the plate. That would be the final run scored in the game by the Moundbuilder offense.

A simple bottom half of the seventh would seal the Builders' victory in the series finale, as they pulled out a 7-3 win over the Evangels to send them into conference play with a triumph.

Morales (2-for-3, 2B) had a nice game one in the batter's box, as he was the only Moundbuilder to tally multiple hits in the loss. Seven of the squad's starting nine had at least one hit, as Weatherford, Jo. Crabtree, Seboldt and Brown also had two-base hits. The squad had five doubles as a team in the first battle.

In the second bout, Burton had a whale of a game. He had a 3-for-4 batting line and scored three runs in the game. Additionally, he tallied two doubles in the win. Seboldt's 2-for-3 line in the second tilt included two RBIs, as he hit a pair of singles. The other Builder with multiple hits in the victory was Brown, who went 2-for-2 and was also hit by a pitch. He stole a base in the game, as well, while driving home a run on his single to right. Johannsen and Morales were responsible for the squad's other runs driven in in the battle.

Nathan Simmons started the day-two opener for SC, as he was effective in the bout, going the distance. He had a line of 6 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 2 K, 2 BB in a losing effort.

The Builder bullpen was not taxed on this day, as Jaxon Burns went four innings and allowed just three runs on four hits and struck out a trio of MACU hitters. Then, Reyden Rull (IP, H, 2 K, BB) and Jo. Crabtree (2 IP, H, 3 K) shut the door on the Evangels to end the weekend in style.

The bouts in Oklahoma City concluded the Moundbuilders' (6-10) non-conference series slate for 2023 on a winning note, as they will jump into the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) schedule against the (RV) McPherson College Bulldogs on the road in McPherson, Kan. with a doubleheader on Saturday, March 4 starting at 12 p.m., and a single tilt at 1 p.m. on Sunday, March 5.

--buildersports.com--