Wildcats rally from 7-0 deficit to eliminate Falcons, 10-9
5/16/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- Three innings into Friday afternoon's elimination game, the ACU Wildcats looked dead and buried.
Six innings later they were celebrating a gutsy 10-9 win over Texas-Permian Basin in an elimination game of the NCAA Division II South Cengtral Region Tournament at Crane Stadium on the campus of the University of Central Missouri.
After giving up six runs in the first inning and another run in the third, the Wildcats trailed 7-0 and looked for all the world as if they would be heading home Saturday morning. But ACU rallied for four runs in the fourth and tied it at 7-7 with three runs in the fifth.
The teams went back and forth from that point with ACU trailing 9-8 going to the seventh inning. But the Wildcats rallied for a run in the seventh and got the go-ahead run in the eighth.
With a 10-9 lead going to the eighth, ACU head coach Britt Bonneau turned the game over to closer Brad Rutherford for the final two innings. The junior righthander turned out the lights on the UTPB offense, retiring all six men he faced on just 20 pitches to secure the victory.
"We gave up some things early that put us in a hole, but we won the last six innings," Bonneau said. "We kept battling and got some things going our way, and then we were able to turn it over to (Kevin) Justice and Rutherford. They came into the game and did their job in the last four innings, and that allowed us to win the game."
ACU will play Saturday against one of three teams: Angelo State, Nebraska-Omaha or Emporia State. An ASU win over Central Missouri would mean the Rams and Wildcats would play in an elimination game Saturday. A Central Missouri win over ASU would mean ACU would play the UNO-ESU loser at 3:30 p.m.
The ASU-Central Missouri was delayed Friday afternoon by heavy rain, however, with the Rams leading 3-1 in the bottom of the seventh. The game will resume Saturday at 11 a.m. An ASU win would mean ACU would only need to win three games over the next two days to win the regional tournament and move on to the World Series in Cary, N.C. ACU's game Saturday likely won't start until approximately 8 p.m. because of the weather-delayed schedule.
Things certainly appeared bleak for the Wildcats, however, when they found themselves trailing 7-0 after three innings.
ACU's defense, which has been its bedrock throughout the season, failed it again in the two innings in which UTPB scored more than one run. In the first inning Friday, the Wildcats committed two errors behind starter Cameron Aspaas, and they prolonged the inning that was capped by Brantley Miller's grand slam, giving his team a 6-0 advantage.
Before the Wildcats could get on the board, Miller hit a solo shot in the third to give the Falcons a seemingly insurmountable 7-0 lead.
But the Wildcats never gave in.
They finally got to UTPB starting pitcher Kyle Frets in the fourth, touching him for four runs, two coming in on a two-run double by Thomas Bumpass. Cameron Watten drove in a run with a single to right field, and Chris Hall drove in the final run of the inning with a sacrifice fly to right field.
ACU got the game tied in the fifth with three more runs, taking advantage of a throwing error by UTPB centerfielder Chandler Goode. Jordan Schmitt led off the inning with a single and then moved to second on a wild pitch. One out later, Willie Uechi singled to drive in Schmitt to make it a 7-5 game.
With Uechi at second, Bumpass dumped a single into shallow centerfield. Uechi had to hold momentarily to see if the ball would be caught, then took off for third. Sensing that he had a chance to get Uechi at third, Goode fired the ball toward third base. Unfortunately for the Falcons, the ball sailed over the head of third baseman Chris Wagner and into the UTPB dugout, sending Uechi home to make it 7-6 and moving Bumpass to third base. Watten then drove in the game-tying run when he grounded out to shortstop.
Steve Camillucci led off the top of the sixth with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Hall, went to third on a groundout by Davis Page and scored the go-ahead run on a clutch singled to center by Schmitt.
But almost as soon as the Wildcats had taken an 8-7 lead, the Falcons came right back in the bottom of the sixth with two runs, thanks to some more uncharacteristically shoddy ACU defense.
With one out, Aspaas gave up a single to Goode, and that was all for ACU's starting pitcher, who gave way to Justice. The sophomore righthander from San Angelo got a fly ball out against the first man he faced before giving up a single to Logan Forest to give the Falcons runners at first and second. Chris Hook then hit a two-hopper at Hall at second base, but the junior overthrew Bret Bochsler at first base, allowing Goode to score and tie the game. Jake Wortley then struck out swinging, but the ball got past Schmitt and Forest scored on the wild pitch to give the Falcons a 9-8 lead. Justice got Wagner to fly out to left to end the inning, but the Wildcats once again found themselves in a spot where they had to rally for the win.
But a one-run deficit was nothing compared to the seven-run hold they faced earlier in the game.
ACU got the game tied in the top of the seventh with Bonneau employing small-ball tactics. Uechi led off the inning with a single and went to second
after a walk by Bumpass. A sacrifice bunt by Watten moved the runners to second and third, and then Bochsler laid down a perfectly executed squeeze bunt, allowing Uechi to score to knot the game 9-9.
After Justice set the Falcons in order in the bottom of the seventh, the Wildcats went about the business of winning the game in the top of the eighth. Davis Page punched a single to left field to start the inning, but was standing at second two outs later when Uechi came to the plate. On a 1-2 pitch from Jordan Strode, the junior shortstop pulled a ball to left, one-hopping the fence for a double that plated Page with the go-ahead and eventual game-winning run.
Rutherford then entered the game in the bottom of the eighth and didn't let the Falcons have life offensively, retiring all six men he faced in the eighth and ninth to record his 11th save of the season. The 1-2 bullpen duo of Justice and Rutherford, in fact, combined to retire the last 10 Falcons in order.
