Jags ride long ball to split opening doubleheader of MACU series

One swing helped the UHV baseball team hone in on Mid-America Christian's pitching on Friday, and it wasn't in a win.

Junior catcher Hal Perez hit a solo home run to left field during a 5-1 loss to the Evangels in Game 1. In Game 2, Perez, Kaden Fikac and Juan Martin each left the yard to power the Jaguars to a 4-2 win and split the opening doubleheader of the four-game series at Riverside Stadium.

It was Perez's 10^th and 11^th home runs of the season. Perez's first home run at UHV was a two-run shot in the fourth to take the lead and preceded Perez's second homer of the day.

"Even though we lost after the home run, we saw they're just like us," Perez said. "They can hit and we can hit. The second game, we came together and started hitting. Fikac went out, then Juan got us the lead. We just came together as a team."

UHV (5-1) fell behind 2-0 after surrendering runs in the first and second innings before Fikac hit his first home run of the year in the bottom of the second.

In total, the Jaguars recorded six hits to the Evangels (2-2) three in Game 2.

"We can be down one second and the next second, we climb and get over the mountain, ride the wave," said head coach Jonathan Stavinoha. "So, I can't say enough about them bouncing back and being able to ride that wave and have some good performances. We're not where we want to be with everybody – some guys are still trying to get there – but I'm confident that we can put it all together tomorrow."

Brady Parker earned his second win of the season after throwing a complete game, striking out four batters while allowing only one earned run against a MACU team which scored 15 runs in two games against LSU Shreveport last week.

Despite suffering the loss in Game 1, Longoria still tossed a complete game – the fifth of his career – and allowed only two earned runs and fanned five, allowing the Jaguars to have a full bullpen for Saturday's doubleheader.

"Our bullpen is set up nicely for the doubleheader and that's what you want," Stavinoha said. "You want your first two guys to give a good performance, go deep and save that bullpen moving forward. Between Mason and Brady, we gave up like four earned runs in 14 innings. As far as I'm concerned, that's pretty good."

The Jaguars and Evangels will close out the series with a noon doubleheader on Saturday. Prior to the game, at 11:40 a.m., the 2023 Red River Athletic Conference Tournament Championship team will be recognized with a championship ring ceremony.