ABILENE – Justin Sinibaldi and
Thomas Altimont hooked up in a classic pitcher's duel Saturday evening at Crutcher Scott Field in the final game of a three-game Southland Conference baseball series. Unfortunately for ACU, like most things in the early part of the 2015 season, that pitcher's duel didn't go their way as Nicholls completed a doubleheader sweep to win the first conference series of the season for both teams.
After winning Saturday's first game, 5-4, the Colonels completed the sweep with a 2-0 win in the nightcap of the twinbill. The two losses drop the Wildcats to 1-9 overall and 1-2 in Southland play, while the Colonels improve to 9-5-1 and 2-1.
ACU will be back in action Tuesday and Wednesday against Texas-Arlington. The Mavericks will be in Abilene for a 2 p.m. game Tuesday, followed by a 6:30 p.m. game Wednesday between ACU and UTA in Arlington. Following those two games, the Wildcats will be in Hammond, La., next weekend for a three-game series against Southeastern Louisiana.
The two teams combined to score just 16 runs in the series as two of the best pitching staffs hooked up in Abilene and pitched the way one would expect those two staffs to pitch. The two teams combined to collect just 34 hits (19 for Nicholls and 15 for ACU) and the pitching staffs combined for 51 strikeouts (29 for Nicholls and 22 for ACU against just 12 walks (three walks allowed by Nicholls and nine allowed by ACU).
In the series-deciding game Saturday evening, Nicholls touched Altimont for a run on an RBI groundout and an unearned run in the second when Alex Shermer reached on an error by ACU shortstop
Kyle Carroll and later scored on an Altimont wild pitch.
That would be all the offense for the Colonels, who managed seven hits against Altimont, but couldn't string anything together. Altimont threw 124 pitches in the complete-game loss, striking out six Colonels while walking just one. He was the hard-luck loser, falling to 0-3 on the season.
Sinibaldi, meanwhile, made those two early runs stand up as he matched Altimont pitch-for-pitch. He threw 100 pitches and only gave up three hits and no walks while striking out eight Wildcats. He faced just 30 men – only three over the minimum – in a complete-game win that pushed him to 3-1 on the season. Sinibaldi was at his best in the late innings as he retired the last 13 men to go to the plate for ACU, including four via strikeout.
In the opener, Nicholls scored a run in the fifth and another in the sixth to break open a 3-3 game on the way to the victory. Nicholls starter Grant Borne went six innings to get the win, while
Aaron Mason had a solid outing, allowing five runs (only two earned) in 5 2/3 innings, but ultimately took the loss to fall to 0-2.
A key defensive lapse by the Wildcats in the second inning opened the floodgates for Nicholls, and the runs scored turned out to the difference in the game. Mason retired the first two batters in the inning before allowing a walk to Kyle Reese. But then he coaxed a ground ball to third from David Zorn for what should have been an inning-ending groundout.
But freshman Bradyen Gomez bounced his throw to first base for an error, allowing the inning to continue. Tanner Vandevere then made the Wildcats pay with a two-RBI triple to center field to make it a 2-0 game. Vandevere scored shortly after the triple on a passed ball by catcher
Mason Spracklen.
ACU got those three runs back in the bottom of the third with both of their runs coming with two outs. Srpracklen got it started with a two-out single and then went third on an
Aaron Draper single to center.
Marcelle Carter then singled to left field to drive in Spracklen to make it 3-1.
Tyler Eager then doubled down the left field line to drive in Draper and Carter to tie the game at 3-3.
ACU left two runners on base in the fourth and left the bases loaded in the fifth on its way to leaving 10 runners on base in the game. Nicholls came up with the go-ahead run in the fifth on a triple by Justin Holt and an RBI double by Shermer. The Colonels added another run in the sixth when Reese scored on a balk by ACU reliever
Joe Gawrieh.
ACU got a run back in the seventh when Draper scored on an RBI single by
Russell Crippen, but the Wildcats would leave two runners on in the inning. The Wildcats went down in order in the eighth, but put up a battle against Nicholls closer Stuart Holmes in the ninth.
With one out, Carter singled before Eager struck out for the second out of the frame. Crippen then singled through the left side to send Carter to second representing the game-tying run. But Holmes got Gomez to ground out to first to secure the win and earn his sixth save of the season.
