ABILENE --
Aaron Oliver has been the ACU Wildcats' offensive catalyst all season, and he was back at it again Saturday night as he propelled his team to a 10-3 win over Tarleton State in the Lone Star Conference Post-Season Baseball Championship at Crutcher Scott Field.
Oliver was 2 for 4 with three runs scored and three RBI as the Wildcats won their fifth straight tournament game dating back to last year's 4-0 run to the championship.
With the win, the Wildcats improve to 43-13 overall and move into a 3 p.m. game Sunday against Texas A&M-Kingsville, a 7-6 loser to Cameron earlier Saturday. Tarleton State, meanwhile, will play a loser's bracket game at 11 a.m. Sunday against Southeastern Oklahoma State.
Tarleton State took three of four games from ACU last weekend, and the Texans picked up right where they left off Saturday night, jumping on ACU starting pitcher
Cameron Aspaas for three runs in the first three innings. Chris Casazza had a solo home run to lead off the second inning, and then the Texans tacked on two more runs in the third to make it 3-0.
But that's when Oliver stepped in and changed the complexion of the game. With one out and one on, he drilled a ball deep to right field that clanged off the scoreboard for a two-run home run that cut the Texans' lead to 3-2.
ACU would go on to score two runs in the fourth, two in the fifth, two in the sixth and two in the eighth as the Wildcats scored 10 unanswered runs.
Ian Tomkins got the game tied in the fourth with a sacrifice fly that scored Willie Uechi, and Bret Bochsler scored a couple of pitches later on a wild pitch to gave ACU a 4-3 lead.
Bochsler had a clutch two-out, two-run single in the fifth to make it 6-3 and the Wildcats tacked on two more int he sixth on an RBI triple by Oliver and an RBI single by Will Calhoun. ACU scored its final two runs in the eighth when Bowker scored on a double steal and Oliver scored on a wild pitch.
Aspaas went seven strong innings, scattering seven hits and not allowing a walk as he picked up the win to improve to 6-4.
Josh Crockett pitched a scoreless eighth and
Brad Rutherford a dominant ninth to wrap it up for the Wildcats.
