SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Evangel Baseball opens their 60th year of competition on Friday and Saturday (Jan. 24/25), traveling south to Texarkana to take on the Eagles of Texas A&M-Texarkana.
SERIES HISTORY
Evangel is 6-13 all-time against the Eagles, having most recently faced off with the southern team back in 2021, where EU was swept, 6-7 and 4-15.
OPENING STORYLINES
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Evangel is coming off a 24-26 campaign in the 2024 season, the first year with Evangel in the conference tournament since the 2018 season.
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Sam Jones enters his first season at the helm for the Valor, after several years in the high school ranks in Colorado, where Coach Jones earned back-to-back state championships while at Denver Christian.
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Taking a look at Evangel's 2025 infield, the Valor return Matthew Olson, who will patrol shortstop after batting .291 last season. Rhett Hayward will earn the nod at third base, after playing in seven games last season and swinging a .500 bat. Shane Poe, a graduate transfer from Arkansas Tech, and Quentin Edwards, a junior transfer from Labette CC round out starters in the infield.
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In the outfield for EU, junior Jeremiah Leaming will start in right field after competing in 31 games last season and swinging .389 with five RBIs. Transfers Heath Perry (Augustana Col.) and Evan Baptiste (Univ. of Wis-Milwaukee) will also start in the outfield on Friday.
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The battery of Wyatt Keplar, who finished last season with a 4.11 ERA, allowing just a .204 batting average to opponents, and Brendan Coffindaffer, a graduate catcher transfer from Upper Iowa University, will round out the starting lineup alongside designated hitter, Clay Palen, a transfer from Missouri Baptist on Friday.
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Evangel has not started a season 0-1 since 2022, when they lost their season opener at Kansas Wesleyan, 2-14.
LOOKING AHEAD
Evangel Baseball hosts their first series of the year on February 7th, taking on longtime rival College of the Ozarks in a home doubleheader at noon.
For the latest information on Evangel Athletics, visit Facebook at Facebook.com/EvangelValor, Twitter (@EvangelValor), or EvangelAthletics.com. Fans can also receive updates on their favorite EU teams by downloading the Evangel Athletics Gameday App through the App Store or Google Play.
