Chickasha, OK
May 9, 2019 | Blake Cochran
The Southwestern Assemblies of God University (SAGU) baseball team lost in the championship game of the Sooner Athletic Conference tournament to University of Science and Arts . The SAC tournament was a double-elimination format. SAGU’s first game was against USAO were they were placed in the loser’s bracket after losing 6-16. Game two they would face Wayland Baptist as they eliminated WBU in an 8-1 victory. With a chance to advance the championship game the Lions would need to defeat Southwestern Christian University Monday as they did in walk-off fashion, 10-8. Their run would later end as USAO advances to the NAIA National Tournament defeating SAGU 3-22.
SAGU went 2-2 during the SAC tournament when their win against the Pioneers from WBU sparked their run. AJ Munoz went two for three with two runs and one RBI, Joseph Vazquez contributed three RBI’s after hitting two doubles. Ben Bills, Kyle Coolidge, Ryan Cole, Sonny Boyd, James Yarbrough, and Tanner Lindle each had one hit during the victory as Andrew Diaz , Coolidge, and Lindle had the other RBI’s. Ben Bills pitched seven innings striking out six batters allowing one earned run from eight innings and Logan Mann finished the last two innings not allowing a run from the seven batters he faced.
Game three against SCU, SAGU was down 5-6 in the 8th inning when the bats came back alive. Vazquez started the inning off with a home run to tie the game, 6-6 then Contreras gave the Lions a 7-6 lead from homering over left-field. The Eagles retook the lead in the top of the 9th from Manny Lopez’s two-run home run, 7-8 SCU. Jared Anderson pinch-hit to start the Lions potential last inning of the season but Anderson tied the game back up after hitting a solo shot on a 3-2 count. Next up to bat was Diaz who singled to shallow left, Munoz recorded the first out after striking out that would put Bills up to bat. With one on and one out Bills hit a two-run walk-off home run to advance the Lions the championship game for a rematch against the Drovers.
SAGU’s run and season ended after USAO scored three in the first inning and 10 in the third which would be too big of a defeat to come back from. SAGU ends their season with a 24-30 record which is an upgrade of over 10 wins from last season’s 13 win season. This is also the most wins for a Lions baseball team in over 15 years. SAGU ends the season ranked in the top 40 nationally for total doubles with 104, 28th in doubles per game (1.93), and 38th in total triples (13).
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
