Barker leads ACU to series win at TSU
Junior shortstop belts two home runs as knocks off Texans twice
STEPHENVILLE -- ACU junior shortstop Ryan Barker had a big weekend at the plate, and ACU won two nail-biters as the Wildcats improved to 4-2 in the Lone Star Conference South Division with a series win over Tarleton State at Cecil Ballow Field.
The Wildcats won both ends of Friday's doubleheader, taking the first game 11-10 in 10 innings, and then coming back to win the nightcap, 6-5, in 10 innings. Tarleton State avoided being swept by the resurgent Wildcats with a 7-4 win Saturday.
Barker finished the weekend 5 for 12 (.417) with five runs scored, four RBI and two home runs as the Wildcats improved to 10-9 overall and 4-2 in the LSC South Division. The Wildcats are in second place in the LSC South Division, one game behind division-leading Texas A&M-Kingsville, which swept West Texas A&M over the weekend to improve to 5-1 in the LSC South.
ACU will return to action Tuesday at 1 p.m. when it takes on Cameron in a non-conference doubleheader in Lawton, Okla. The Wildcats will return home next weekend (March 5-6) to take on St. Edward's in a four-game series. ACU and the Hilltoppers will play a doubleheader Friday at 4 p.m., followed by a doubleheader Saturday at noon.
Here's a brief recap of the weekend action at Tarleton State:
Game 1 (ACU 11, Tarleton State 10; 10 innings): This one was wild throughout as the teams combined for 21 hits, 27 hits and eight pitchers in a game that lasted three hours, 12 minutes before the Wildcats finally prevailed.
ACU led 6-4 going to the bottom of the sixth inning in a game scheduled for seven innings before the Texans rallied for four runs to take an 8-6 lead and move to within three outs of the win. But ACU posted three runs of its own in the top of the seventh to take a 9-8 lead. After a Cody Cure sacrifice fly pulled the Wildcats to within 8-7, Matt Callahand ripped a two-run single to give the Wildcats the lead.
Tarleton State scored in the bottom of the seventh to tie it and send the game to extra innings where each team scored once in the ninth to force a 10th inning. ACU finally prevailed when Brian Johnson scored on an error by shortstop Chad Nixon, and Coy Polk set the Texans down in order in the bottom of the 10th to get the win.
Game 2 (ACU 6, Tarleton State 5; 10 innings): The Wildcats and Texans again battled into extra innings before ACU was able to pull the game out in dramatic fashion.
ACU starting pitcher Ben Brockman was dominant for most of the game, allowing just two runs, four hits and no walks over 7 1/3 innings before finally tiring with 12 strikeouts in the game. Brockman left with a 5-2 lead, but he was charged withthe three runs in the bottom of the eighth that tied the game at 5-5.
But in the 10th inning of a game scheduled for nine innings, the Wildcats were able to post the game-winning run when Alec Sowards doubled, moved to third on a single and scored when Johnson grounded into a double play. Freshman Ben Maynard set the Texans down in order in the bottom of the 10th and got the win with 2 2/3 innings of fine relief work.
Game 3 (Tarleton State 7, ACU 4): Tarleton State starting pitcher Tito Alaniz handcuffed the Wildcats for most of the afternoon, taking a two-hit shutout into the ninth inning before tiring.
The Texan offense was led by Jeremy Grimm, who drove in a pair of runs, while Tony Leblang and Nixon each had three of the Texans' 14 hits off three ACU pitchers. Tarleton led 7-0 going to the ninth before the Wildcats were finally able to scratch against Alaniz.
Sowards led off the ninth with a single and then scored on a Chris Gaw double to break up the shutout. Gaw later scored on a wild pitch, and Barker hit a one-out, two-run home run to make it a 7-4 game. Ernie Rae came in to pitch for Alaniz, but he sandwiched a pair of walks around a strikeout before exiting in favor of Michael Pennington, who struck out the potential game-tying run -- Dan Gubbels -- to end the game.
