SAN ANGELO – The ACU Wildcats are back in the Lone Star Conference Post-Season Baseball Tournament after a year's absence, but they didn't exactly storm through the front door and into the tournament.
Instead, they quietly snuck in through the back door, using the misfortune of the Cameron Aggies to their advantage to claim the sixth and final spot for the tournament.
While the Wildcats were in the process of closing their regular season on Sunday with a 12-3 loss at Angelo State, the Cameron Aggies were losing to Tarleton State as the Texans finished off a four-game sweep in Lawton, Okla. ACU finished 11-17 in conference play, one game ahead of Cameron, which finished at 10-18.
ACU – which finished below .500 (24-26) in the regular season for the first time since a 17-36 record in 1995 – has lost seven of its last eight LSC games entering the conference tournament after losing three of four at home last weekend against Tarleton State and then losing all four games against Angelo State at Foster Field.
The Wildcats will likely play No. 1 seed Angelo State next Saturday at 7 p.m. at Foster Field in San Angelo, the first time the conference baseball tournament has ever been played in San Angelo.
Sunday's game was close for the first five innings as the teams went to the sixth inning tied 3-3. ACU pushed ahead 4-3 with a single run in the top of the sixth when
Kyle Conwell doubled, went to third on a passed ball and then scored on wild pitch.
But the Rams wasted little time re-establishing control of the contest with a three-run sixth inning. With no outs and two on, Ryan Greer hit a three-run home run to right field to put the Rams in front, 6-4.
The Rams pushed across two more runs in the seventh on a two-run home run by Brett Parsons, and then they put it away with four more runs in the eighth. Quaid McKinnon put an end to the scoring with a two-run home run in the eighth to make it 12-3.
Aaron Lambrix was saddled with the loss after going five innings and allowed seven hits and six runs.
