LINDSBORG, Kan. – Evangel ran its early-season win streak to three games Friday afternoon, sweeping a doubleheader from Bethany with an 8-6 game-one victory, before pulling out an 11-10 win in eight innings in the nightcap at Anderson Field.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Led by a trio of Kale Hynes two-out RBIs, EU plated five of its eight runs in game one with two outs.
• Nathan Lamb drove in three runs with a 2-for-3 performance in the nightcap, before Parker Dinwiddie's sacrifice fly in the top of the eighth plated the go-ahead run after Bethany scored four times in the bottom of the seventh to force the extra inning.
• Dinwiddie finished the day a combined 4-for-5, while Lamb and Athanie Leeviraphan added three hits in the twin bill.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• After the Swedes (6-4) plated a run in the home half of the first off of Valor starter Zach Johnston (1-0) to take an early game one lead, Evangel erupted for two runs in the second and four more in the third to seize a 6-1 advantage.
• Noah Suiter singled and swiped second to set up Dinwiddie's RBI double to left that knotted the score at 1-1; with two out, Hynes added a run-scoring double to hand the Valor a 2-1 lead.
• Walks to Stephen Belcher and Mason Hansen, followed by a Leeviraphan bunt single loaded the bases to start the critical third-inning rally; Suiter drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly to right, before Grant Kosanke drew a bases-loaded walk and Hynes came through again with a two-out, two-run single to cap the rally.
• Bethany answered with a David Espinal RBI single in the bottom of the third, then plated two runs in the fifth to trim the deficit to 6-4.
• EU tallied another two-out run—its fifth of the game—in the sixth, as Belcher lined a run-scoring single through the right side.
• Bethany added a run in the bottom of the sixth off of Suiter, before Leeviraphan tripled home the eighth EU run in the top of the seventh.
• The Swedes threatened in the bottom of the seventh, scoring an unearned run on Luis Ramos's two-out single, before Suiter closed out the victory by striking out Randy Good to earn the save.
• The Valor rallied from a pair of deficits to take a 10-6 lead into the home half of the seventh, only to see the Swedes take advantage of two EU fielding errors to plate four runs and send the game to extra frames
• Trailing 3-1 in the fourth inning, the Valor turned the tables on Bethany with a four-run rally keyed by a Lamb RBI single and a two-run double by Leeviraphan.
• Bethany scratched out three runs in the sixth to reclaim the lead, using RBI singles by Espinal and Joseph Rivera to take a 6-5 advantage into the seventh.
• EU (3-1) mounted a five-run rally to take a seemingly-commanding lead in the seventh; Lamb delivered another key blow with his two-run single, before Gage Harris drove in a run with a base hit, then scored on a Bethany error for the final run of the inning.
• But the Swedes nearly matched EU's seventh-inning surge with a four-run rally of their own, taking advantage of two Valor errors to push home the equalizing runs on Luis Gorritz's one-out, two-run homer.
• The Valor mounted the go-ahead rally in the top of the eighth after Suiter singled to open the inning, then moved over to third on a pair of wild pitches; Dinwiddie then delivered a one-out sac fly, and Dylan Blehm pitched a 1-2-3 home half to secure the victory and the sweep.

NOTABLE

• Evangel is off to a 3-1 start for the third time in the last four seasons.
• Leeviraphan recorded his second consecutive two-hit game in the opener and has at least one hit in each of the Valor's four games this season.
• Hynes drove in a career-high three runs in the opener and now has four RBIs on the season.
• Johnston picked up the game one win for his sixth career mound victory at EU, while Suiter notched the first save of his career.
• Dinwiddie recorded a pair of two-hit games and scored two runs in the opener, both marking new single-game career highs for the sophomore.
• Harris registered the first two-hit game of his Evangel career in the nightcap.
• Lamb turned in his first multi-hit game of the season in the second contest, finishing 2-for-3 with three RBIs.
• In his first collegiate start, left-hander Wyatt Keplar struck out four and scattered three runs on six hits over 4.0 innings, before fellow freshman Blehm earned his first save.

QUOTABLE
"Our guys competed well for 15 innings today," Evangel head coach Tyler Henry said. "Johnston set the tone for the day on the mound in game one, and we played well in all facets. Keplar pitched well in the second game and we were able to overcome adversity throughout the day. I'm proud of our guys for hanging together and battling all day."

UP NEXT
Evangel will wrap up its series with Bethany Saturday (Feb. 12) with a Noon doubleheader at Anderson Field.

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