ABILENE – Two more late-inning meltdowns by the ACU Wildcats helped Angelo State walk out of Crutcher Scott Field on Saturday with a three-game sweep of their Lone Star Conference baseball series.
The Wildcats lost seventh-inning leads in both an 8-4 loss in Saturday's first and in a 16-8 loss in the series finale. The three losses drop the Wildcats 12-8 overall and 5-7 in the LSC, while the Rams improve to 14-7 and 11-7.
ACU will be back in action Tuesday with a non-conference game at Texas-Permian Basin and then next weekend with a three-game LSC series at Tarleton State.
The three losses mark the first time since 2004 that ACU has been swept in a series of at least three games at home, and marks the first time in head coach
Britt Bonneau's 15-year tenure that the Wildcats have been swept in a conference home series. The three loses mark just the eighth time since 1997 that the Wildcats have lost three straight games.
The Wildcats – who have given up a big multiple-run inning in each of their eight losses this season that has cost them the game – gave up a five-run seventh inning rally in the first game as the Rams put up five runs in the top of the seventh to turn a 4-3 deficit into an 8-4 victory.
In the nightcap, the Wildcats lost leads of 5-0, 6-3 and 8-6 as the Rams again rallied to finish off the sweep. Angelo State scored three runs in the top of the seventh to take a 10-8 lead and then tacked on six more runs in the top of the eighth to finish it off.
ACU has given up a multiple-run inning in each of its eight losses that has led directly to a loss.
In the first game, the Wildcats led 4-3 going to the top of the seventh before the first eight Rams of the inning reached base. Zak Leonhardt and Garrett Harris each had two-run singles through a drawn-in infield to key the inning.
In the second game, the Wildcats' bullpen blew up in the seventh and eighth innings, allowing nine runs on seven hits, turning an 8-6 lead into a 16-8 deficit.
