Game 1: Evangel 11, Missouri Valley 6 | Box Score
Game 2: Missouri Valley 11, Evangel 10 | Box Score
Records: Evangel (11-12, 4-7); Missouri Valley (10-16, 3-9)
Location: Crusader Field

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Evangel rode the combination of an early offensive outburst and solid starting pitching to an 11-6 victory over Missouri Valley Saturday in the opening game of the two clubs' Heart of America Athletic Conference doubleheader.

The Vikings, who swept both ends of Friday's series-opening twin bill, responded with a late rally in game two, erasing a four-run Evangel lead to pull out an 11-10 decision to wrap up the series win.

Jordan Yates powered the Evangel attack, finishing the day a combined 4-for-5 with a home run, six RBIs and three runs scored. The senior first baseman reached base safely in seven consecutive plate appearances and in eight of his nine trips to the dish for the day.

Game 1 – Evangel 11, MVC 6
Evangel jumped on top of MVC with three first-inning runs and never looked back. Yates belted a three-run homer in the bottom of the first, then drove in two additional runs late in the game to help the home club put the Vikings away.

Levi Loughridge (2-1) blanked MVC through the first five frames, striking out seven batters over his 5 2/3 total innings to earn the mound victory.

EU registered just four hits in the contest, but took advantage of six hit batsmen and seven walks handed out by MVC pitchers. Vikings starter Mike Castillo (0-2) struggled from the onset, plunking the first two Evangel hitters of the game, before Yates blasted the first pitch he saw over the left-field wall for his third round-tripper of the season and a 3-0 EU lead.

Evangel tacked on a second-inning run via a Patrick Gaul sacrifice fly, then plated two more in the fourth without the benefit of a hit. EU coaxed four walks and a hit batsman from MVC hurlers, including bases-loaded free passes to Stephen Belcher and Yates, to extend its lead to 6-0.

MVC finally broke through against Loughridge in the sixth, using back-to-back singles by Ivory Daniels and Steve Reinig to start the rally. Cameron Duke put the Vikings on the board with a two-run single, and Spencer Rankin added a run-scoring hit to slice the EU advantage to 6-3.

But Evangel responded with its biggest inning of the game, sending 11 men to the plate as part of a five-run outburst that stretched the margin to eight runs. Following two more hit batsmen and a walk, Yates produced his fifth run of the contest with another bases-loaded walk, before Noah Suiter drove in two more with a double off the left-field fence.

Mason Hansen capped the scoring with a two-run single to give EU an 11-3 cushion.

MVC scratched out three more runs in the top of the seventh, but Kale Hynes recorded the final two outs to finish off the victory.

Game 2 – MVC 11, Evangel 10
Missouri Valley emerged victorious in a back-and-forth contest that saw each squad crank its respective offense into high gear. The Vikings overcame a five-run EU lead, scoring nine runs over the final four innings to clinch the series.

Each team yielded three unearned runs in a contest that featured 10 total errors, including the Vikings game-winner in the top of the seventh. Kameron Armstrong reached on a two-base error to lead off the decisive rally, and Reinig brought him home with a sac fly to center.

Josias Mogollon (2-3) earned the victory by shutting EU down over his 1 2/3 innings to close out the game.

EU built a 7-2 lead through three innings, answering the Vikings' two-run first with five runs in the home half of the inning, then adding single runs in the second and third, before plating three more in the fourth. The first three EU hitters of the contest reached via walks, and Suiter brought home the first run with a sacrifice fly.

A pair of MVC errors led to a second run, and Jason Jarrell made it a 4-2 game with a two-run single. Grant Kosanke followed suit with a run-scoring hit to complete the first-inning surge.

Yates added to the lead in the second with the first of his three hits that scored Belcher, who had singled and swiped second to open the inning. Nathan Lamb's one-out single accounted for the third-inning tally, after Kosanke singled again to spark the rally.

MVC mounted a four-run rally in the fourth, taking advantage of a pair of walks, a throwing error and RBI singles from Eliott Wilk and Armstrong to pull to within a single run.

EU's three-run rally in the home half was highlighted by run-scoring hits by Kosanke and Tyler Coffelt, as well as a two-out throwing error that allowed a third run to come home.

But the Vikings struck back for two runs in the fifth, then knotted the score in the sixth when Rankin drove home Garrett Siebert with a base hit, and Joshua Simon brought in the equalizing run with a sacrifice fly.

Coffelt (0-1) shouldered the loss for EU, despite permitting just one unearned run on one hit over his 2.0 innings of relief.

Kosanke and Yates each finished with three hits for Evangel, while Lamb and Coffelt added two hits apiece.

Up Next
Evangel opens a four-game Heart Conference road series against MidAmerica Nazarene with a 1 p.m. doubleheader next Friday (April 2) in Olathe, Kan.

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—EvangelAthletics.com—