Baseball | 4/20/2015 5:51:00 PM
MIDLAND – The ACU Wildcats and Texas Tech Red Raiders close out their three-game, three-city series Tuesday night when they meet in a neutral-site game in Midland at Security Bank Ballpark.
First pitch is set to be delivered at 6:30 p.m., and the game can be heard locally on 98.1 FM The Ticket or at
http://portal.stretchinternet.com/abilene/.
The Wildcats arte 9-28 overall entering the contest, but coming off a rousing 3-2 win over Sam Houston State in Southland Conference play Sunday at Crutcher Scott Field. The Wildcats trailed 2-0 before pinch-hitter
Taylor Fajardo tied it with a towering two-out, two-run blast to left-centerfield in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game against the Bearkats.
Leading off the bottom of the 10th inning, shortstop
Kyle Carroll took the first pitch of the inning over the wall in left for a game-winning home run, a blast that snapped ACU's eight-game losing streak, which is the longest of ACU head coach
Britt Bonneau's 19-year tenure.
The Red Raiders, meanwhile, enter the game at 25-15 overall and ranked No. 24 in the country after taking two of three games last weekend in a Big 12 series at Kansas State.
Texas Tech has won a pair of one-run games against ACU this season: 6-5 in 16 innings in Lubbock on March 3 and 7-6 in Abilene on April 15. The Wildcats have lost nine straight games to the Red Raiders in a 47-game series that dates back to 1926. ACU's last win over Texas Tech was a 4-3 decision in the first game of a doubleheader on April 20, 1976, in Abilene.
ACU is 3-10 this season in one-run games and 4-16 in games decided by one or two runs. Since April 16, the Wildcats have lost three one-run games to nationally ranked opponents: 4-3 to No. 2 TCU in Abilene on April 6, 7-6 to No. 19 Texas Tech in Abilene on April 14 and 3-2 against No. 1 Texas A&M in College Station on April 15.
Senior right-hander
Nate Cole will get the start on the mound for ACU. Cole, who is 0-0 on the season with a 3.54 ERA, got the start last Wednesday night in ACU's 3-2 loss at No. 1 Texas A&M. In five innings against the Aggies, Cole gave up just five hits and two runs while walking four and striking out nine Aggies.
The Wildcats continue to be paced offensively by senior first baseman
Tyler Eager, who is gritting .286 with one home run and 21 RBI, and sophomore infielder
Aaron Draper is hitting .272 with 10 RBI.
