Game 1: Texas A&M-Texarkana 7, Evangel 6 | Box Score
Game 2: Evangel 8, College of the Ozarks 7 | Box Score
Records: Evangel (3-1); Texas A&M-Texarkana (4-5); College of the Ozarks (0-1)
Location: Bob Smith Field

POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. – The Evangel baseball team earned a split of its two games Monday afternoon at Bob Smith Field, dropping a 7-6 decision to Texas A&M-Texarkana in the opener, before topping host College of the Ozarks in an 8-7 contest in the nightcap.

Patrick Gaul went 2-for-4 with four runs scored and an RBI on the day, while Austin Dill fanned 10 CoO hitters in his 6.0 innings to earn his first mound victory of the season.

Game 1 – Texas A&M-Texarkana 7, Evangel 6
Texas A&M-Texarkana's Jaylan Price homered in the fifth inning, then drove in the go-ahead runs in a critical three-run sixth to lift the Eagles to a come-from-behind victory.

Evangel appeared to be in full command after building a 5-0 lead entering the home half of the fourth inning. But Texas A&M-Texarkana scored seven unanswered runs in its final three turns at-bat to hand the Crusaders their first defeat of the season.

The Crusaders handed starting pitcher Bret Hoffman a five-run cushion after taking advantage of a pair of Eagle errors to plate four two-out runs in the top of the third inning. Jordan Yates put EU on the board with an RBI single to right and Grant Miller made it a 2-0 game by coaxing a bases-loaded walk.

Mason Hansen's ground ball to short was misplayed, allowing both Yates and Jason Jarrell to cross the plate for a 4-0 EU advantage.

Another two-out rally in the fourth extended the Crusader lead, as Gaul drew a walk, and Noah Suiter doubled to center to give EU a five-run margin to work with.

Hoffman cruised through the first three frames, allowing just three total baserunners while holding Texas A&M-Texarkana scoreless. But the Eagle bats came alive in the fourth, touching up the EU right-hander for a pair of runs to set up their late-inning comeback.

Blake Seagraves singled, stole second and scored from third on a Dakota Leopold grounder, before Eric Spencer's two-out base hit plated a second Eagle run.

Prince pulled the Eagles to within a run in the fifth, launching a two-run homer to center off Eli King (1-1), after Chris McGinty singled to start the inning. Prince struck again in the decisive bottom of the sixth, plating the go-ahead runs with a bases-loaded double to right-center.

Carter Coats (1-0) earned the mound victory with 2.0 hitless innings of relief for the Eagles, while Mike Hererra earned the save after allowing only a Jarrell solo shot in the seventh.

Game 2 – Evangel 8, College of the Ozarks 5
EU scored eight unanswered runs to build a seven-run advantage, then held off a late charge by the Bobcats to pull off the split with an 8-7 victory. Dill (1-0) held the Bobcats in check through five innings, and Zach Johnston slammed the door shut in the seventh to earn his first save of the season.

Dill struck out 10 hitters and scattered eight hits in his 6.0 innings to earn the victory, allowing just one Bobcat run through the first five innings. After CofO scored three times in the sixth and three more to open the seventh to slice the EU lead to a single run, Johnston induced a chopper to third for the final out to preserve the victory.

Gaul finished the game 1-for-2 with two more runs scored and an RBI, while Nathan Lamb went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and Yates reached safely in three of his five trips to the plate, and Truett Gardner drove in two crucial runs with a key sixth-inning single.

CofO started its season with a bang, getting a 1-2-3 top of the first from starting pitcher Ryan Daggs, before taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom half on Neco Lopez's leadoff homer.

Evangel mounted its first offensive threat in the third, using a leadoff error by the Bobcats to spark a two-run rally. After Grant Kosanke reached on a wild throw to start the inning, Lamb singled to right and Yates delivered a run-scoring base hit to shallow center field to knot the score at 1-1.

Gaul became the fourth-consecutive Crusader to reach base safely, absorbing a hit by pitch to load the bases. Following a strikeout, Jarrell lofted a sacrifice fly to right field to bring in Lamb with the go-ahead tally.

EU added to its advantage in the fourth, once again capitalizing on a miscue to plate a pair of runs. Back-to-back one-out walks to Yates and Gaul set the stage, before a two-out bobble of Jarrell's ground ball to second brought in both Crusader baserunners for a 4-1 Evangel lead.

The Crusaders broke the game wide open with their four-run sixth, using a pair of walks and singles by Lamb and Gaul to plate the first run of the inning. A Suiter sac fly, followed by a two-run single from Gardner extended the lead to 8-1.

CofO would strike for three runs off Dill in the home half of the sixth, however. A Dawson Nimmo single and a Lincoln Rasmussen walk set the table for Chandler Tidwell, who belted a three-run blast over the right-field wall to pull the Bobcats to within 8-4.

The Bobcats trimmed the margin to just one run in the seventh, using a Lopez double and a Max Pulley sac fly to make it a three-run affair, before Spencer Greene went deep with one man aboard and two out.

But Johnston coolly escaped the inning without further damage, getting Rasmussen to ground to third for the final out of the contest.

Lopez led the Bobcats with a homer, double and two runs scored, while Tidwell and Ford added two-hit games for CofO as well.

Up Next
Evangel will square off against Texas A&M-Texarkana and CofO again Tuesday (Feb. 23) in Point Lookout, beginning with an 11 a.m., game against the Eagles, followed by a 3 p.m., contest vs. the host Bobcats.

For the latest information on Evangel Athletics, follow the Crusaders on Facebook at Facebook.com/EUAthletics, Twitter (@EUAthletics), or visit EvangelAthletics.com. Fans can also receive updates on the team by downloading the new Evangel Crusaders GamedayApp through Google Play. 

—EvangelAthletics.com—