Box Score
ABILENE -- The ACU Wildcats made a little bit of history Saturday afternoon with a 10-1 victory over New Jersey Tech in the Al Scott Memorial Classic at Crutcher Scott Field.
The win for the Wildcats was their first as an NCAA Division I team against an NCAA Division I opponent.
The Highlanders lost a pair of games on Saturday, dropping a 17-7 decision earlier in the day to Central Arkansas before being handled fairly easily by the Wildcats in the nightcap of their doubleheader.
Sunday's schedule will be the same as Saturday's schedule as New Jersey Tech will take on Central Arkansas at 11 a.m., followed by ACU and New Jersey Tech playing again at 4 p.m.
After giving up a solo home run to lead off the game, ACU starting pitcher Garrett Demeyere dominated the Highlanders, limiting them to four hits and that one run over six innings to pick up the win and improve to 2-0 on the season. In two starts this season, Demeyere has pitched 12 innings, given up just eight hits, one run, and struck out eight batters compared to just three walks. His ERA is a sparkling 0.75 going into next weekend's home series against Grand Canyon (Ariz.).
The Highlanders, in fact, managed just five hits against four ACU pitchers, putting just three runners on base from the fifth through the eighth innings and not advancing a runner past second base.
Ty Walker,
Brandon Lambright and
Nick Palacios combined to throw three innings of one-hit relief while striking out four batters.
After falling behind 1-0, ACU's offense -- hitting a combined .357 with 60 runs scored through the season's first five games -- went to work, putting up three runs in the first inning and four more in the fourth to seize control of the contest.
Tyler Eager got the game tied in the bottom of the first with an RBI groundout, and then with two outs and the bases empty,
Kyle Giusti singled and stole second in front of a
Russell Crippen walk. Both runners advaned ona wild pitch, and
Brandon Grudzielanek delivered in the cluth with a two-run single to right field that plated both runners and gave ACU a lead it would not relinquish.
The Wildcats then put up four unearned runs in the second inning, thanks to a throwing error by third baseman Nick Swim that cost the Highlanders all four runs. Swim's two-out error on a ball hit by Eager scored both
Gunnar Buhner and
Seth Spivey, and Giusti followed that with a walk. Crippen made the Highlanders pay for the error with a two-run double to centerfield to drove in Eager and Giusti to make it a 7-1 game.
ACU scored three more runs in the fifth inning (two unearned) after
Connor Messman reached to lead off the inning when New Jersey Tech centerfielder Jesse Uttendorfer dropped a can of corn. Buhner then singled and Spivey singled in a run to make it 8-1. Draper then singled in a run, and after Eager reached on a fielder's choice, Giusit brought an end to the scoring when his sacrifice fly to right field scored Draper to make it a 10-1 game.
Grudzielanek had three hits and drove in two runs, while Crippen had two hits and two RBI for the Wildcats. Each of the top six batters in the Wildcats' lineup had an RBI, and each of the top five scored at least one run.
