ABILENE – ACU reached the 20 win mark as they split a Lone Star Conference South Division double-header with Incarnate Word on Friday night taking game one 6-3 before dropping game two, 9-3, at Wells Field.
The Wildcats reach 20 wins the eighth consecutive season and are just one win shy of last year's season total 21 wins. ACU moved to 20-15 and 6-2 in LSC play with the split while Incarnate Word stands at 17-14 overall and 4-4 in league play. The two teams meet on Saturday for the rubber game at Wells Field with first pitch set for 1 p.m.
In game one ACU fell behind as a both pitchers were outstanding on the night. Incarnate Word's Briana Sanchez was nearly unhittable allowing only three hits through the first five innings of the Wildcats order. However, the Wildcats bat came alive in the sixth as they scored six runs on six hits to take a 6-3 lead.
Shelby Hall threw a complete game picking up the win and after falling behind 2-0 after the first two innings settled in allowing only one run over the final five innings. Hall scattered eight hits in the complete game win and also struck out one.
Candice Miller singled to lead off the sixth inning, but was forced out on a fielder's choice allowing
Brianna Fowlkes to reach. After a strike out from
Kara Stutesman, the Wildcats would score all six runs with two outs in the inning to take a 6-3 lead.
Ashley Calles would start off the scoring blasting a two-run homer to right field to put ACU on the board for the first time. A Missy Mendoza double would keep things going followed by a single from Tiana Tuieni and a
Sarah Martinez single which scored Mendoza to tie the game at 3-3.
Martinez and Tuieni would both score when Valentina Nabayan blasted her team leading eighth home run of the season putting ACU on top and the eventual game winning score, 6-3.
The night cap would not be so friendly to the Wildcats as Whitney Waltrip tamed the Wildcats bats the entire seven innings to pick up a, 9-3 win.
Brittany Rexroat was dealt the loss her first back-to-back loss of the season.
After Incarnate Word broke a scoreless tie in the third inning with a single run, ACU would take the lead in the bottom half of the inning scoring three runs on three hits and taking advantage of three Cardinals errors. Tuieni and Martinez recorded the only RBIs of the game as Martinez would later score on an error after a Nabayan single to center.
UIW would jump back on top in the fifth on a Monica Acuna grand slam put the Cardinals on top 5-3. It proved to be all Incarnate Word would need as they went on to score a run in the sixth and three more in the seventh while Waltrip held ACU scoreless through the final four innings.
Mendoza and Martinez each had a pair of hits in game two as both went 4-for-8 on the day respectively. Martinez added two RBIs, one in each game, while Mendoza scored a run in each game as well.
