Springfield, Mo. – Evangel opened the Heart of America conference season with a split of a doubleheader at MidAmerica Nazarene losing game one 2-1 but winning game two 19-5.
The Crusaders held MidAmerica Nazarene to just two hits in game one but still fell 2-1. Ryan Bradshaw went 2 for 3 at the plate for Evangel and drove in the Crusaders' lone run with a double in the fifth. The Pioneers responded to take the lead for good with two runs in the bottom half of the inning taking advantage of a dropped fly ball that was Evangel's lone error in the game. Reese Taylor took the loss after going six innings allowing 2 hits, 2 runs and no earned runs with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts.
Evangel won the second game and blew open a 7-5 lead with a 12-run ninth inning to win 19-5. Caleb Kaufman went 3 for 6 for Evangel and had 3 runs scored with 2 runs batted in. Larry Hurt went 2 for 5 with a double and 4 RBI's while Jordan Kirkpatrick went 3 for 5 with 3 runs, 3 RBIs and a double. Evangel 12-run ninth inning came on five hits and two MidAmerica Nazarene errors.
Evangel went to 9-11 and 1-1 in the conference. MidAmerica Nazarene moved their record to 13-6 and 1-1 in the league.
The Crusaders host Peru State Wednesday in a conference doubleheader at 1p.m. at the Evangel Baseball Complex.
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