Box Score ARLINGTON – The ACU Wildcats went on the road Wednesday night for the first time in 2017 and they walked out of Clay Gould Ballpark with an impressive 9-1 win over the Mavericks of Texas-Arlington.
ACU freshman left-hander
Nick Skeffington was terrific for the Wildcats, going 5 2/3 innings en route to picking up his first collegiate victory. It was also a nice rebound start for the freshman, whose only other appearance this season was a one-inning stint against Michigan State on Feb. 18 when he gave up six hits and six runs.
UTA entered the game coming off an impressive 5-1 win Tuesday night over No. 4 Texas Tech at Globe Life Ballpark in Arlington, but the Mavs were no match Wednesday night for the Wildcats. ACU hammered out a season-high 17 hits en route to the win over the Mavs on their home field.
ACU is now 9-7 overall on the season, and is 9-3 after an 0-4 start to the season against Michigan State. The Mavericks, meanwhile, fall to 9-9 with the loss. The Wildcats are 1-2 in Southland Conference play and will be in New Orleans, La., this weekend for a three-game set against the Privateers.
KEY INNING
The Wildcats effectively put this game in the "W" column with a five-run second inning against UTA starting pitcher Matt Michalski. The five-run outburst tied their five-run eighth inning outburst against North Dakota State on Feb. 25 for the most runs ACU has scored in an inning this season.
With one out,
Anthony Dominguez singled and went to second on a single by
Mark Pearson.
Cole Solomon then reached on a bunt single to load the bases before
Aaron Draper walked to force in a run and give his team a 1-0 lead.
Dalon Farkas then provided what would turn out to be the game-winning hit when he singled through the box to drive in a pair of runs and make it 3-0.
Derek Scott followed with a double down the right field line to drive in a run, and
Luis Trevino capped the scoring with a single up the middle to drive in Farkas to push the lead to 5-0.
AT THE PLATE
• Every ACU starter in the lineup had a hit, including four from Trevino, who drove in three runs in the game: one in the second and two more in the fourth with a double.
• Farkas was 3 for 5 with two runs scored and two RBI from the leadoff spot, while Scott was 1 for 4 with one run scored and one RBI in the second spot.
• Dominguez hit his first collegiate home run when he hammered a solo shot to right field in the top of the seventh to make it a 9-1 game.
ON THE MOUND
• Skeffington hadn't seen the mound in almost one month, and he showed a little bit of rust early until he found his changeup. UTA had trouble gauging the pitch throughout Skeffington's stint, and he never really got into much trouble other than the bottom of the second when the Mavericks scored their only run of the game. He got out of a two-on jam in the third, stranded one in the fourth and one in the fifth and left with two outs in the sixth after giving up a walk to put two runners on base. Skeffington (1-1) scattered six hits and gave up three walks while striking out four Mavericks.
•
Blake Bouffard threw 2 1/3 innings of hitless relief for the hold. After taking over for Skeffington, he got out of the sixth when Dominguez made a fine running catch in left-centerfield for the final out of the inning. He then set the Mavericks down in order in the seventh and worked around a leadoff hit by pitch in the eighth, coaxing an inning-ending double play out of Noah Vuahgan.
• Bouffard ran into trouble in the bottom of the ninth when he gave up a walk, hit by pitch and walk to load the bases with no outs. That brought ACU head coach
Britt Bonneau out of the dugout and
Zach Kornely into the game to try and close it down. Kornely did exactly like, striking out leadoff hitter Zac Cook on four pitches, and then coaxing a game-ending 4-6-3 double play out of Easton Johnson on his first pitch to him to finish off the Mavericks.
NOTABLE
• Trevino now has 20 RBI in 16 games this season, which is one more than team RBI leader
Russell Crippen had in 53 games in 2016.
• After being outscored by Michigan State, 51-21, in the first four games of the season, the Wildcats have outscored opponents 71-39 in their last 12 games (average of 5.9-3.3 per game).
• Dominguez hit his first collegiate home run in the seventh inning to give the Wildcats nine home runs in 16 games, the same number they hit in 53 games in 2016.
• The Wildcats won their ninth game of the season Wednesday night, the same date on the calendar (March 15) that they won their ninth game in 2016.
• In their last 12 games of the season – in which they are 9-3 – the Wildcats are hitting .317 and their team ERA is 2.81, while opponents are hitting just .218.
NEXT SERIES
The Wildcats will be back in action this weekend when they return to Southland Conference play with a three-game series in New Orleans, La., against the Privateers at Maestri Field. Friday's game is set for a 6:30 p.m. start, followed by a 2 p.m. start Saturday and a 1 p.m. start Sunday. None of the games will be broadcast locally, but audio and video will be available via unoprivateers.com.
