Saturday, April 9
Abilene
6 p.m.
Abilene Christian
11-18, 3-8
9
vs
0
Houston Baptist
15-15, 6-5
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston Baptist | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| Abilene Christian | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | X | 9 | 15 | 2 |
Photo by: Tim Nelson
Mason, offense power Wildcats to 9-0 win
4/9/2016 11:46:00 PM | Baseball
ABILENE – On the surface, there was nothing remarkable about ACU's 9-0 win Saturday night over Houston Baptist in Southland Conference baseball action at Crutcher Scott Field.
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The Wildcats collected 15 hits (14 singles) against four HBU pitchers and rode the left arm of senior Aaron Mason to their third shutout victory of the season.
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Beyond the surface numbers, though, were these facts about Saturday evening's win:
• The Wildcats collected 15 hits, their highest total of the season against an NCAA Division I opponents and the second-highest total for the program in a game against an NCAA Division I opponent behind the 19 hits they had in a 13-12 win over Alabama A&M on March 22, 2014;
• The 9-0 win is the largest margin of shutout victory against an NCAA Division I opponent since ACU began its transition from NCAA Division II to NCAA Division I in 2013-14;
• The nine-run margin of victory is tied for the largest margin of victory over an NCAA Division I opponent, along with a 10-1 win over New Jersey Tech on Feb. 22, 2014
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But a deeper look reveals it's one of the most dominant victories of the Wildcats' short tenure at the NCAA Division I level. The most important thing for the Wildcats, obviously, was that they bounced back from a 3-2 loss in Friday's series-opener and came up with a conference victory.
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Senior lefthander Aaron Mason led the way by tossing the first complete-game shutout of his career. Mason delivered 113 pitches and worked out of a pair of early jams to keep the Huskies off the board. He gave up just four hits – including a leadoff triple in the third and a leadoff double in the fourth – en route to becoming the fourth ACU pitcher in the last three seasons to deliver a complete-game shutout against a Southland Conference opponent.
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Mason's current teammate, Garrett deMeyere, was the first Wildcat to throw a complete-game shutout as an NCAA Division I program when he did so on April 19, 2014, in a 3-0 win over Stephen F. Austin. Brady Rodriguez did it later that season when he blanked Oral Roberts, 7-0, on just three hits. And last year, Thomas Altimont went the distance in a 3-0 shutout win over McNeese State.
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ACU took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on an RBI single by freshman shortstop Mark Pearson and added three more runs in the fifth inning with two runs coming in on a two-run single by Braxton Wilks. The Wildcats pushed their lead to 7-0 in the sixth without the benefit of an RBI hit.
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Pearson scored on a wild pitch by reliever Brody Toal, and then Hunter Markwardt and Willie Harris scored on a throwing error by shortstop Louie Payetta on a ground ball hit by Russell Crippen that should have ended the inning.
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ACU tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the seventh on a two-run triple by Markwardt, who was 3 for 4 with two RBI Saturday night after a 3 for 4 night in Friday's series-opener.
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The Wildcats (11-18 overall and 3-8 in the Southland) will conclude their three-game series against HBU (15-15 and 6-5) at 1 p.m. Sunday before heading to College Station Tuesday evening to take on No. 1 Texas A&M at Blue Bell Park.
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The Wildcats collected 15 hits (14 singles) against four HBU pitchers and rode the left arm of senior Aaron Mason to their third shutout victory of the season.
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Beyond the surface numbers, though, were these facts about Saturday evening's win:
• The Wildcats collected 15 hits, their highest total of the season against an NCAA Division I opponents and the second-highest total for the program in a game against an NCAA Division I opponent behind the 19 hits they had in a 13-12 win over Alabama A&M on March 22, 2014;
• The 9-0 win is the largest margin of shutout victory against an NCAA Division I opponent since ACU began its transition from NCAA Division II to NCAA Division I in 2013-14;
• The nine-run margin of victory is tied for the largest margin of victory over an NCAA Division I opponent, along with a 10-1 win over New Jersey Tech on Feb. 22, 2014
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But a deeper look reveals it's one of the most dominant victories of the Wildcats' short tenure at the NCAA Division I level. The most important thing for the Wildcats, obviously, was that they bounced back from a 3-2 loss in Friday's series-opener and came up with a conference victory.
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Senior lefthander Aaron Mason led the way by tossing the first complete-game shutout of his career. Mason delivered 113 pitches and worked out of a pair of early jams to keep the Huskies off the board. He gave up just four hits – including a leadoff triple in the third and a leadoff double in the fourth – en route to becoming the fourth ACU pitcher in the last three seasons to deliver a complete-game shutout against a Southland Conference opponent.
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Mason's current teammate, Garrett deMeyere, was the first Wildcat to throw a complete-game shutout as an NCAA Division I program when he did so on April 19, 2014, in a 3-0 win over Stephen F. Austin. Brady Rodriguez did it later that season when he blanked Oral Roberts, 7-0, on just three hits. And last year, Thomas Altimont went the distance in a 3-0 shutout win over McNeese State.
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ACU took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on an RBI single by freshman shortstop Mark Pearson and added three more runs in the fifth inning with two runs coming in on a two-run single by Braxton Wilks. The Wildcats pushed their lead to 7-0 in the sixth without the benefit of an RBI hit.
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Pearson scored on a wild pitch by reliever Brody Toal, and then Hunter Markwardt and Willie Harris scored on a throwing error by shortstop Louie Payetta on a ground ball hit by Russell Crippen that should have ended the inning.
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ACU tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the seventh on a two-run triple by Markwardt, who was 3 for 4 with two RBI Saturday night after a 3 for 4 night in Friday's series-opener.
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The Wildcats (11-18 overall and 3-8 in the Southland) will conclude their three-game series against HBU (15-15 and 6-5) at 1 p.m. Sunday before heading to College Station Tuesday evening to take on No. 1 Texas A&M at Blue Bell Park.
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Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Baseball
IF / OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
IF / RHP
/ Baseball
OF / LHP
/ BaseballTeam Stats
Pitching:
W: Mason, Aaron (4-2)
L: Griego, Julian (3-3)
Batting:
2B: Espinosa, Greg 1
3B: Monsour, Justin 1
Base Running:
SB: Otten, Zane 2
Batting:
2B: Pearson, Mark 1
3B: Markwardt, Hunter 1
RBI: Wilks, Braxton 2 ; Pearson, Mark 1 ; Markwardt, Hunter 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Draper, Aaron 1 ; Scott, Derek 1 ; Crippen, Russell 1 ; Copeland, Alex 1 ; Check, Alex 1 ; Pearson, Mark 2 ; Markwardt, Hunter 1 ; Harris, Willie 1
SB: Pearson, Mark 1 ; Harris, Willie 1
HBP: Check, Alex 1
PO: Hays, Hunter 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
2
H
3
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
3
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
Tuesday, October 20
Sunday, October 18
Tuesday, October 13
Monday, October 12
