HOUSTON – Center fielder
Derek Scott went 3-for-5 with a third inning solo home run that pushed ACU out to a 3-0 lead, but that would be the last of the Wildcats' runs as Houston Baptist responded with 10 unanswered runs in a 10-3 victory Saturday at Husky Field.
Scott's home run was his fourth of the spring and came with one out off starter Daniel Endsley, who also allowed a pair of unearned runs to score in the second inning.
Russell Crippen and
Bradley Lewis each were on base that frame with two outs when the Huskies' second baseman Jack Fitzgerald dropped an infield pop fly off the bat of
Aaron Draper. Crippen scored from second base on that error, and Lewis came home on
Mark Pearson's RBI single through the left side.
ACU would continue to put runners on base through the remainder of the game, totaling 10 base hits, but couldn't cash in on any of those opportunities as Endsley and reliever JT Newton finished the game with 6.0 scoreless innings. Six of the nine Wildcats left on base were in scoring position, including two on third base in the fourth and sixth innings.
There wasn't a quiet inning either for Wildcat pitching as the Huskies cracked 11 base hits, drew 10 walks and advanced on four wild pitches. Two of their batters were hit by pitches in the ninth inning, where catcher Blake Thomas drilled a three-run home run down the left-field line off reliever
Ryan Kotulek.
Thomas went 2-for-3 today with three RBI and four runs, and No. 2 hitter Brandon Brintz went 4-for-4 with two runs and two RBI. Brintz scored his team's first run on a wild pitch by starter
Austin Lambright, and in the fourth the Huskies took the lead for good by scoring four times on three hits, three walks and an error.
Brintz then singled home a run in the fifth to make it a 6-3 game, and a two-out error in the seventh pushed the home team's lead to 7-3. Thomas' round-tripper in the ninth inning was his first of the season.
The Wildcats return to action Monday for a 6:30 p.m. home game vs. UT Permian Basin.
