Wildcats ride strong pitching to twinbill sweep of Vaqueros

ABILENE – The ACU Wildcats rode two more solid pitching performances Saturday afternoon to a doubleheader sweep of Texas Rio Grande Valley at Crutcher Scott Field.
 
ACU blew open a close game in the first game of the twinbill with four two-out runs in the bottom of the eighth for a 7-2 win, and then used six innings from Aaron Mason and three double plays from the defense to a 3-1 win in the nightcap.
 
The two wins pushed ACU to 3-0 on the season, while the Vaqueros fall to 0-3. The final game of the four-game set will be played Sunday at 1 p.m.
 
Here's a recap of each game of Saturday's doubleheader:
 
GAME 1
Abilene Christian 7, UT Rio Grande Valley 2
For six innings on a brilliant Saturday afternoon, it was Garrett deMeyere who dominated the Vaqueros. For one inning, it was the ACU offense that finished off UTRGV.
 
deMeyere (1-0) pitched six spectacular innings – scattering four hits against no walks and two strikeouts – and left the game in favor ACU's bullpen after six innings armed with a 3-1 lead. ACU's bullpen pitched an effective final three innings with Joseph Goetze and Nick Palacios combining to allow two hits and one run over the final three innings, but the game wasn't secured until ACU's offense final got going in the bottom of the eighth.
 
With two outs and a pair of runners on base, UTRGV's bullpen duo of Luis Larrinanga and Andew Padron allowed three straight RBI singles to Chris Altimont, Willie Harris and Alex Copeland before Aaron Draper's RBI double drove in the final run in a four-run inning. That was more than enough for Palacios, who cleaned up the top of the ninth with an easy 1-2-3 inning to finish off the win.
 
GAME 2
Abilene Christian 3, UT Rio Grande Valley 1
Aaron Mason and three ACU relievers combined to stifle the Vaqueros' offense in the Wildcats' 3-1 win in the nightcap of Saturday's twinbill.
 
Mason threw six innings of four-hit, one-run baseball before turning it over to a bullpen that has been lights out in the first weekend of the season. Mason only walked one batter and struck out two while facing just four batters over the minimum for six innings of work.
 
Freshman David Ruot – who played first base in the first two games of the series – threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings before giving way to Zach Kornely for 2/3 of an inning of scoreless relief. ACU led 2-1 in the top of the eighth when Correy Davis walked and went to second on a sacrifice bunt before Kornely came on in relief of Ruot. Kornely coaxed a foul out from Cole Loncar as Willie Harris came up with a great sliding catch in foul territory, and then got Caden Rosholt to ground out to Mark Pearson at shortstop to end the threat.
 
ACU tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the inning when Alex Check doubled down the left field line to plate Pearson, pushing the Wildcats' lead to 3-1. ACU got on the board first with two runs in the bottom of the first on an RBI single by Russell Crippen and an RBI single by Pearson.
 
Pearson had three hits and Heath Beasley added two hits for the Wildcats, who had nine hits against three Vaquero pitchers.