BETHANY, Okla. — Down by as many as nine in the 6th, Southern Nazarene was shot by Mid-America Christian's hot hitting afternoon. The Storm (9-28, 5-19 GAC) whipped out a huge comeback the rest of the way through, ending it in walk-off fashion as Cole Embrey smacked one straight down the middle and over the fence to end it with a two-run win over the Evangels (27-11, 10-5 SAC)
Continuing his tear at the plate, Colby Entwistle started the Storm off with a huge blast to the left field with EJ Taylor and Brian Brown on base, giving the Storm an early three-run edge over the Evangels.
MACU closed the gap in the 3rd, putting up a pair of runs to trail the Storm 2-3. The Storm returned the favor, after Oliver Wilson singled to first, advancing Ellis to third and Brown home after the pitcher couldn't hold on to the ball, putting the Storm up by two.
Tyler Broyles smacked one down to right field in the next at-bat, advancing Wilson to third, leaving DJ Van Atten to race his way home just before the catcher could return for the tag and SNU moved to an eight-run lead. Drake Irby wanted a piece of the action singling in Broyles for SNU's 8-2 advantage.
MACU'S offense exploded in the 5th, starting off with a solo homerun and a two-run bomb to send their trail to 5-8. The Evangels tacked on a couple of more after three consecutive walks and a huge single with the bases loaded gave MACU their first lead of the game at 10-8.
SNU fell further behind in the same inning, after the Evangels blasted one to the back for a grand slam, extending their lead to 14-8. Finally retiring the side, MACU was able to squeeze in two more runs, ending the 5th up 16-8 over the Storm.
MACU kept going in the 6th, bumping their lead to 19-10 after a three-run homer to left. Van Atten put up one of his own, earning his 8th on the year, putting the Storm behind 11-19.
The 8th inning started to look like a MACU victory after they reached a 20-11 lead. SNU made things interesting, starting with Van Atten's solo shot to left field to bring the Storm within eight. Embrey's ground out and Taylor's single to left would plate two, cutting the Evangel's lead to 20-14.
SNU continued to pack on the runs after Brown and Entwistle each sent two shots to the back, combining for three RBI's to end the 8th behind 17-20.
Embrey kept the the home run derby alive with a lead off homer in the 9th. Entwistle tied the game at 20 a piece after his triple plated Jonathan Crist and Landon Hamm.
MACU lucked out with a single that earned them one more run to put them up 21-20, giving SNU one more shot to call game.
With Mason Daly on base, Drake Irby's bunt moved him to third with Embrey on deck.
Given the chance to sent MACU packing, Embrey did just that, blasting a three run walk-off homer to seal the 23-21 win.
Embrey's game winner gave him two homeruns that afternoon for five RBI's and 2-6 finish.
Entwistle also put up two huge homer to finish 3-6 with seven RBI's, his most on the season. Van Atten secured another two homerun game, finishing 3-6 that game.
Brown had a perfect 3-3 at-bat with two RBI's and a homerun. Broyles showed out at the plate as well, finishing 2-6 with three RBI's.
Triston Graves secured the win over MACU, pitching through the lats four innings allowing only two runs and recording two strikeouts.
SNU heads back to conference play, hosting Arkansas-Monticello April 15th for a 2 p.m. single game followed by a noon doubleheader on Saturday, April 16th.
