Moore, Oklahoma- March 19, 2016- The Southwestern Assemblies of God University (SAGU) baseball team picked up their first their first pair of Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC) victories against Mid-America Christian University. The Lions went 2-1 in the series against the Evangels.
Game One (L 16-6)
Going into the fifth inning of Friday night’s game, the score was tied 2-2. In the top of the fifth, SAGU was able to take a four run lead. That lead didn’t last long. MACU went on to score seven runs in the bottom of the fifth and then scored seven more runs in the sixth and seventh innings combined.
SAGU started with Colton Glover on the mound. Glover pitched one inning. Collin Gifford pitched three and one/third innings. Gifford had two strike-outs and nine hits. Anthony Montalvo pitched one and two/third innings, finished up by Jake Clary .
Tallon Ralstin went three for four with one RBI. Griffin Glenn went two for four with two runs scored.
Game Two (W 8-5)
Jacob Keltner pitched six innings for the Lions. During his time on the mound, he had four strike-outs and allowed seven hits. Carson Conarty came in relief and pitched the final inning.
“Offensively we hit the ball extremely well today with 14 hits in game one and 11 hits in game two,” says head coach Sam Blackmon .
MACU was quick to score two runs in the first inning. SAGU was forced to play catch-up and in the top of the second, Maverick Keffer stepped up to the plate as the lead-off hitter and on a zero-zero count, he hit a home run to left center field. By the fourth inning, SAGU was in the lead 3-2.
As Coach Blackmon said, the Lions bats were swinging. Game one (of the day) was a game of home runs. In the top of the third, Raul Castro hit a two run home run over the fence on a 2-1 count.
SAGU’s big inning came in the top of the fourth when the Lions scored four runs. Griffin Glenn popped up, but was able to reach base on a MACU error. Chris Wallace was able to score. Raul Castro doubled to left field, scoring Eric Hagstrom and Jake Killion . Finally, Jake Payonk grounded out but scored Glenn in the process.
Elijah Young hit SAGU’s final homer of the game in the top of the fifth.
Castro went three for four with four RBI’s and one run scored. He also hit one double and one home run.
Game Three (W 4-2)
“I’m really proud of our guys and the way they played today,” explains Blackmon, “Defensively we were solid and got good starts on the mound from Jacob Keltner and then Brandon Ventura . Carson Conarty came in to get the save in game one and then the win in game two.”
In the top of the fifth, SAGU’s Eric Hagstrom singled to left, scoring Jesse Chelette . Next, Jake Killion singled to left, scoring Chris Wallace .
In the top of the sixth, SAGU’s Keffer hit a double scoring Jake Payonk . At the end of seventh inning, the score was tied at three-all.
In the eighth, SAGU’s Elijah Young struck again and hit a home run to left field on a one-one count. This was SAGU’s game-winning run. In the bottom of the eighth, it was three up/three down for the Evangels.
Young went two for three with one RBI, one run scored and one home run.
SAGU is currently 11-21 for the season and 2-7 in the Sooner Athletic Conference. Up next, the Lions will host University of the Southwest (5-16) on Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Game one of the doubleheader begins at noon.
Southwestern Assemblies of God University is a private, Christian university located 30 minutes south of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex in Waxahachie, Texas. The university was established in 1927, and now offers more than 70 associate, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees on campus or online. More information is available at www.sagu.edu or by calling 1-888-YES-SAGU.
Contact: Natalie Tristan, SAGU SID, [email protected]
