NEW ORLEANS – The ACU Wildcats had the third game of their Southland Conference series against New Orleans in their back pocket Sunday afternoon at Maestri Field.
Until they didn't.
ACU jumped out lead leads of 7-0 and 8-2 before the Privateers scored seven unanswered runs – including six in the bottom of the seventh inning – to pull out a 9-8 win over ACU and complete the three-game series sweep. ACU had leads in the first and third games of the series, but couldn't hold them as it lost Sunday for the third straight time.
Sunday's loss drops ACU to 9-10 overall and 1-5 in the league, while the Privateers improve to 13-7 and 3-3. ACU will be back in action Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. when it hosts No. 3 TCU in a non-conference tilt at Crutcher Scott Field.
ACU cruised to a 7-0 leads through 3 ½ innings with a single run in the first, three in the second and three more in the fourth. And with starting pitcher
Drew Hanson cruising through the first four innings, things appeared to be going the Wildcats' way.
But Hanson ran into a spot of trouble in the fifth, giving up a pair of runs to cut ACU's lead to 7-2. The Wildcats, however, answered with a run in the sixth on an RBI groundout by
Luis Trevino to push the lead back to 8-2.
Freshman
Ryan Kotulek came to the mound in the bottom of the sixth and gave up one run before the wheels fell off in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Privateers sent 10 men to the plate and scored six runs on five hits, including a three-run triple by Omar Magee that tied the game at 8-8. Magee then scored the eventual game-winning run on a sacrifice fly to center field by Chase Crump.
The Wildcats had a couple of chances to get the game tied in their final two at-bats, but couldn't get a key hit in either frame. In the ninth,
Mark Pearson singled with one out, but pinch-hitter
Myles Paschall and
Dalon Farkas grounded into back-to-back fielder's choices to end the game.
Derek Scott was 3 for 4 with one run scored and one RBI, while Pearson was 3 for 5 with one run scored and one RBI. The top four hitters in ACU's lineup – Farkas, Scott, Trevino and
Anthony Dominguez – each had one RBI, while Pearson had the other.
