STEPHENVILLE – ACU's
Aaron Oliver had five hits and scored four runs and
Reed Watson drove in four runs Saturday night as the Wildcats earned a doubleheader split with Tarleton State, a split that earned them the win in the Lone Star Conference baseball series between the rivals at Ballow Field.
The Texans (17-7 overall and 12-6 in the LSC) won the first game of Saturday's doubleheader, 15-2, but the Wildcats (14-10 and 7-8) came back to take the second game, 18-6, behind the heroics of Oliver and Watson.
ACU will be back in action Tuesday at 4:05 p.m. when it hosts St. Edward's in a single game at Crutcher Scott Field. The Wildcats will return to LSC action next weekend when they host last-place Northeastern State in an LSC series at Scot Field.
The Wildcats are still in ninth place in the LSC with 15 conference games left to play. Only the top six teams in the league at the end of the season will qualify for the conference tournament, which is May 7-10 at ACU's Crutcher Scott Field. The Wildcats have never failed to qualify for the conference tournament, and since 1999 they have played in the conference championship game in every year except 2004.
After a listless performance in the first game that saw the Texans score 15 runs in their first four at-bats and the Wildcats get just five hits while committing three errors, ACU bounced back big-time in the nightcap.
ACU jumped out to a 4-1 lead before the Texans answered with four runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 5-4 lead. ACU, though, got the game tied in the fifth when
Abe Williams dropped down a squeeze bunt that drove in Oliver with the tying run.
The Wildcats then blew it open in their final four at-bats, beginning with a five-run sixth inning that gave them some separation from the Texans. With one out, Watson doubled in a pair of runs to give ACU a 7-5 lead right before Oliver doubled to right to drive in two more to make it 9-5. Williams then singled to drive in Oliver to make it a 10-5 game.
In the seventh, Watson had another two-run single to give the Wildcats a 12-5 advantage. The Wildcats put it away with three more in the eighth inning. With one out and two on,
Ian Tomkins doubled to right-centerfield to make it 14-5 and then he scored on
Bryce Gerhardt's RBI single.
In the ninth,
J.R. Roland was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to drive in a run before
Cameron Watten drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and Williams scored on a wild pitch to make it 18-6.
Brady Rodriguez got the win in relief and
Zach Sneed – ACU's starter-turned-closer – went the final three innings, giving up just two hits and one run while striking out five Texans.
In the first game, ACU starting pitcher
Jason Harris gave up seven runs and seven hits in one-plus innings of work. Relief pitchers
Brent Bray (four hits and six runs in two innings) and
Chay Lytle (four hits and two runs in three innings) didn't fare much better as the Texans pounded out 15 hits in the victory.
