Baseball | 5/17/2016 10:49:00 PM
Box Score DALLAS – Not quite two months after celebrating a walk-off win at home over Dallas Baptist, the ACU Wildcats watched this time as the 29
th-ranked Patriots did the same to them.
On March 29 at ACU's Crutcher Scott Field, it was
Aaron Draper's perfectly executed squeeze bunt single to give ACU a 3-2 win over the Patriots. But Tuesday night at Horner Ballpark, it the Patriots who walked it off on Daniel Sweet's bases-loaded walk, giving DBU a 3-2 win over the hard-luck Wildcats.
The loss drops ACU to 16-32 overall, while the Patriots improve to 35-16. ACU will finish off Southland Conference play this weekend with a three-game series against Northwestern State in Natchitoches, La., before heading to Tucson, Ariz., next week for a two-game season-ending set against the Arizona Wildcats.
Tuesday's game against DBU was tied 1-1 before the Patriots pushed across the go-ahead run in the bottom of the seventh when Matt Duce singled to open the inning, went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Camden Cuzenack and scored on a single to center field by Tim Millard to make it 2-1.
But the Wildcats got the game tied in the top of the eighth when pinch-runner
Willie Harris went from second to third and third to the plate on back-to-back passed balls by Duce.
In the bottom of the ninth,
Zach Kornely came on in relief of
Brandon Lambright and immediately walked leadoff hitter Trooper Reynolds and gave up an infield hit to Duce. Duzenack reached on a fielder's choice as his bunt went back to Kornely, who gunned down Reynolds at third for the first out of the inning.
But Kornely then gave up a single to center to Millard to load the bases and then walked Sweet on a 3-1 pitch to drive in pinch-runner Logan Sepanek scored to give the Patriots the 3-2 victory and the Wildcats' ninth one-run loss of the season.
ACU starting pitcher
Kyle Carroll had one of his best outings of the season as he went seven innings, allowing just six hits and two runs (both earned) while walking two and striking out two Patriots. Dalton Higgins pitched the last three innings for the Patriots, allowing one run (unearned) on one hit to get the win and improve to 7-3 on the season.
