Baseball Adam Stanek - MACU Sports Information

No. 18 Mid-America Christian to Open Avista NAIA World Series Play against No. 10 Doane on Friday

OKLAHOMA CITY – Making its first ever appearance in the Avista NAIA World Series, the No. 18 Mid-America Christian baseball team will open the event on Friday morning as it will face off against No. 10 Doane in the first game of the tourney at 10:30 am (8:30 am PST) at Harris Field in Lewiston, Idaho.
 
SEASON REPORT
  • Record: 42-13
  • Last Game: Won vs. No. 12 LSU Shreveport (La.) – 7-4 – May 13, 2026 – Shreveport, La. (NAIA Opening Round)
  • Stat Leaders (Hitting):
    • Nick Hill – R-JR – 3B
      • .359 BA (69-192), 20 2B, 24 HR, 74 RBI, 61 R, 34 BB, 4 HBP, 12 SB, .451 OB%, .839 SLG%, 1.290 OPS
    • Jalen King – JR – OF
      • .390 BA (78-200), 17 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 38 RBI, 62 R, 32 BB, 6 HBP, 28 SB, .485 OB%, .500 SLG%, .985 OPS
    • Sammy Hallada – JR – OF
      • .365 BA (74-203), 10 2B, 4 3B, 6 HR, 30 RBI, 59 R, 21 BB, 16 HBP, 21 SB, .461 OB%, .542 SLG%, 1.003 OPS
    • Frankie Giacalone – JR – 1B
      • .318 BA (57-179), 10 2B, 14 HR, 47 RBI, 42 R, 32 BB, 13 HBP, 13 SB, .453 OB%, .609 SLG%, 1.062 OPS
  • Stat Leaders (Pitching):
    • Ibrahim Gonzalez – JR – LHP
      • 11-2 W-L, 1.81 ERA, 14 APP, 13 GS, 6 CG, 1 SHO, 84.2 IP, 65 H, 26 R, 17 ER, 27 BB, 92 SO, .212 OBA, 1.09 WHIP
    • Fabian Hernandez – SR – LHP
      • 5-2 W-L, 4.02 ERA, 14 APP, 14 GS, 3 CG, 1 SHO, 78.1 IP, 68 H, 39 R, 35 ER, 24 BB, 103 SO, .232 OBA, 1.17 WHIP
    • Byron Madero – JR – RHP
      • 7-0 W-L, 4.60 ERA, 16 APP, 4 GS, 1 SV, 47.0 IP, 49 H, 27 R, 24 ER, 19 BB, 47 SO, .268 OBA, 1.45 WHIP
    • Liam Taft – JR – RHP
      • 0-2 W-L, 2.79 ERA, 19 APP, 13 SV, 19.1 IP, 15 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 8 BB, 19 SO, .205 OBA, 1.19 WHIP
TEAM NOTES
  • NAIA Opening Round Recap
    • Mid-America Christian punched its ticket to Lewiston by going through a murder's row of highly experienced teams in the NAIA Opening Round in the Shreveport bracket from May 11-13. The Evangels opened the tourney by grinding out a hard-fought 3-2 win over a Loyola (La.) squad that advanced to the NAIA World Series last year.
    • The Evangels then faced off against last year's undefeated NAIA National Champion No. 12 LSU Shreveport as the Evangels handed the Pilots their first NAIA Tournament loss since 2024 with an 8-2 victory to advance to the Opening Round Championship game.
    • After the Pilots fought their way back for a rematch in the title tilt, the Evangels rallied from a one-run deficit in the sixth inning, scoring four runs in the frame to ultimately seal the 7-4 victory and capture the program's first NAIA Opening Round title.
  • King of the Hill
    • The SAC Newcomer of the Year Nick Hill made his presence known in the NAIA Opening Round. Despite playing in conditions that weren't conducive for the long ball, the junior third baseman wrapped up the three-game slate by batting .556 (5-for-9) with three homers, a double, seven RBIs, and scored five runs while also drawing four walks for a .643 on-base percentage and a 1.667 slugging percentage.
    • Hill enters NAIA World Series play as one of the best hitters in the nation, ranking tied for fifth in the NAIA in home runs (24) and notching the 11th-most RBIs (74), which both sit at the top of MACU's NAIA Era (2008-present) single season record book.
  • MACU's Hot Bats Entering World Series Play
    • Tuane Cope and Sammy Hallada also put together an excellent Opening Round as well, as Cope hit .545 (6-for-11) with double, a triple, two RBIs, and scored a run to go with a pair of stolen bases while Hallada slashed .429 (6-for-14) with a pair of doubles, an RBI, and scored four runs.
    • Despite only hitting 3-for-11 (.273), junior designated hitter Adam Hanan's hits came at clutch times for the Evangels. His RBI single in the eighth inning was the game-deciding run against Loyola while he came up with the clutch go-ahead three-RBI double in the bottom of the sixth in the Opening Round Championship game against LSU Shreveport. Overall, Hanan tallied six RBIs over the three games.
  • Premium Pitching
    • On the whole, MACU's pitching was downright phenomenal in those three games, posting a team ERA of 2.67 while allowing only eight earned runs while striking out 23 batters. Impressively, all three of MACU's starting pitchers (Ibrahim Gonzalez, Fabian Hernandez, Carlos Uribe) all pitched at least six innings and each earned a win for their efforts.
    • The trio of Angel Miranda, Gabriel Dixon, and Byron Madero each turned in outstanding extended bullpen outings, combining to not allow a single run on five hits with four walks and four strikeouts over 7.2 innings of relief while Madero got a three-inning save in the NAIA Opening Round Championship game.
    • Entering World Series play, owns the fourth-lowest qualifying ERA (1.91), including the lowest of all of the teams remaining in postseason play while his 11 wins ranks as the third-most in the nation, breaking MACU's single season wins record against Loyola last week.
    • Hernandez has also been huge for the Evangels since mid-March. Over his last nine starts, the senior lefty has posted a 5-0 record with a 2.43 ERA with a team-high 76 strikeouts to only 15 walks over 55.2 innings of work. Overall, Hernandez owns the 10th-most strikeouts in the NAIA with 103 on the season, making him only the fourth Evangels pitcher in the NAIA Era to eclipse 100 strikeouts in a season.
SCOUTING REPORT
Doane (Neb.)
  • Record: 47-9
  • Last Game: Won vs. Madonna (Mich.) – 7-4 – May 13, 2026 – Lincoln, Neb. (NAIA Opening Round)
  • Series vs MACU (2020-): MACU leads 1-0
  • Last Game vs MACU: MACU won 15-5 – Mar. 9, 2020 – Edmond, Okla.
  • Series Streak: MACU won 1
  • Players to Watch (Hitting):
    • Carter Roth – R-SR – 2B
      • .449 BA (105-234), 20 2B, 3 3B, 12 HR, 73 RBI, 74 R, 17 BB, 6 HBP, 17 SB, .492 OB%, .714 SLG%, 1.206 OPS
    • Tanner Nelson – JR – C
      • .441 BA (78-177), 13 2B, 2 HR, 56 RBI, 7 R, 30 BB, 2 HBP, 1 SB, .519 OB%, .548 SLG%, 1.067 OPS
    • Grant Sommers – JR – SS
      • .394 BA (78-177), 20 2B, 1 3B, 15 HR, 62 RBI, 64 R, 23 BB, 7 HBP, 20 SB, .462 OB%, .702 SLG%, 1.164 OPS
  • Players to Watch (Pitching):
    • Gabe Rodriguez – SR – P
      • 8-1 W-L, 4.05 ERA, 14 APP, 14 GS, 1 CG, 1 SHO, 73.1 IP, 62 H, 38 R, 33 ER, 31 BB, 52 SO, .229 OBA, 1.26 WHIP
    • Kaden Crawford – SR – P
      • 9-2 W-L, 6.19 ERA, 15 APP, 14 GS, 3 CG, 1 SHO, 77.0 IP, 93 H, 59 R, 53 ER, 23 BB, 76 SO, .301 OBA, 1.51 WHIP
    • Ethan Merk – JR – P
      • 4-3 W-L, 3.43 ERA, 18 APP, 5 SV, 39.1 IP, 29 H, 19 R, 15 ER, 21 BB, 35 SO, .201 OBA, 1.27 WHIP
  • Team Notes:
    • Much like the Evangels, Doane is also making its first ever appearance to the NAIA World Series. Hosting one of the 10 Opening Round sites, the Tigers also took care of business in all three of their games, opening with an 11-8 victory over Oakland City before picking up a pair of 10-9, 7-4 wins over Madonna (Mich.) to punch their ticket to Lewiston.
    • Doane enters World Series as one of the best hitting teams in the NAIA, coming in with the nation's fifth-highest team batting average (.351) to go along with the ninth-highest on-base percentage (.445) and ninth-best slugging percentage (.553). DU has also scored the 14th-most runs (505) this season.
    • Even with its high-octane offense, the Tigers are also a very strong pitching team as well, posting the 24th-lowest team ERA (4.63) in the NAIA along with the 25th-best WHIP (1.44). Doane also has a very good defense behind its pitching as it ranks ninth in the nation in team fielding percentage (.971).
    • With the bats, the Tigers have a trio of All-Great Plains Athletic Conference infielders that have mashed, including First Team second baseman Carter Roth, First Team shortstop Grant Sommers, and Second Team catcher Tanner Nelson. Roth enters the World Series with the NAIA's third-highest batting average (.449) with the 12th-most runs (74) and the 13th-most RBIs (73) this season. Nelson also owns the fifth-best batting average in the NAIA this season at .441 while Sommers has eclipsed 60 runs and 60 RBIs while hitting a stellar .394.
    • On the mound, even though Doane has been without its All-GPAC First Team ace Nicolas Yard since mid-April, the Tigers have been able to navigate around him by winning 19 of their last 20 games since Apr. 11. Gabe Rodriguez and Kaden Crawford have seen a bulk load of the starts for DU this season, with Rodriguez posting an 8-1 record with a 4.05 ERA over his 14 starts while Crawford owning a 9-2 mark and a 6.19 ERA in his 15 appearances.
    • Friday morning's matchup will mark only the second ever meeting between the Evangels and Tigers. The first time the two teams met came on Mar. 9, 2020 as MACU cruised to a 15-5 victory at the game played at Wendell Simmons Field on the campus of Central Oklahoma. Pedro Reyes picked up the win after throwing 3.2 innings of scoreless relief while Edgar Martinez led a prolific batting order by slashing 3-for-4 with three RBIs and a run.