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Box Score 2 NACOGDOCHES – Two big innings Saturday led to a Stephen F. Austin doubleheader sweep of the ACU Wildcats in Southland Conference baseball action at Jaycees Field.
In the first game of the day, the Wildcats rallied from a 4-2 deficit to take an 8-4 lead to the bottom of the ninth only to see the Lumberjacks score nine innings and take an 11-8 win on a two-out walk-off grand slam. In the second game, the Wildcats trailed 6-4 before giving up eight runs in the seventh inning in a 14-6 loss.
The Wildcats are now 9-12 overall and 1-7 in the Southland, while the Lumberjacks improve to 12-13 and 2-3. The third and final game of the series will be played Sunday at 1 p.m. with the Wildcats looking to snap a five-game losing streak.
Here's a recap of each game:
Game 1 (Stephen F. Austin 11, ACU 8) – ACU trailed 4-2 before getting a run in the third inning and then took an 8-4 lead going to the bottom of the ninth inning after getting three runs in the eighth and two runs in the ninth.
ACU took advantage of three SFA errors in the eighth to take a 6-4 lead before
Russell Crippen hit a two-run home run in the ninth to make it an 8-4 game.
Brandon Lambright sandwiched a walk around two outs to start the ninth and seemed to have the game under control before Nick Ramos reached on a single.
Conner Fikes then got the comeback started when he doubled in a pair of runs to make it an 8-6 game. Lambright then gave up a walk and an RBI single to make it an 8-7 game before giving up another walk to load the bases. That's when Stephen Stuart stepped to the plate and pulled an 0-1 pitch from Lambright over the wall in right-centerfield for a walk-off grand slam.
Game 2 (Stephen F. Austin 14, ACU 6) – Stephen F. Austin outfielder Zach Michener was 4 for 4 with four RBI in the game with two of those RBI coming in the eight-run seventh inning that put the game away.
Seven Wildcat pitchers gave up 17 hits – four of those going for extra bases – and allowed six walks and only struck out three batters in the second game of the twinbill.
Drew Hanson (2-1) was tagged with the loss after giving up five runs on six hits in 1 2/3 innings of work.
ACU's
Russell Crippen continued his excellent start, pushing his hitting streak to 21 straight games by going 1 for 2 in the first game (2-run home run) and 4 for 4 in the second game with one RBI. Crippen is now hitting .424 on the season with a team-high three home runs to go along with 15 RBI.
