ABILENE – Seniors
Derek Scott and
Dalton Dunn each collected three base hits, and relievers
Bryant Jordan and
Drew Hanson held Texas Permian Basin hitless over the final five innings in the Wildcats' 6-5 win Tuesday night at Crutcher Scott Field.
The victory evened Abilene Christian's overall record at 14-14, while the Falcons fell to 12-18.
UTPB led for most of the game after scoring five unearned runs between the second and third innings, but the Wildcats, who produced four runs through their first two turns at the plate, completed the comeback after scratching out runs in the seventh and eighth off a pair of Falcon relievers.
ACU tied the score at 5-5 in the seventh vs. Krisjon Segleski on a two-out double steal.
Colton Eager broke for second base, and after the middle infielder flubbed the catch in front of the bag,
Ryne Randle coasted easily into home. One inning later Dunn led off with a bunt single, advanced to second base on
Dalon Farkas' sacrifice bunt, and scored on Scott's RBI single back up the middle off Cale Thornton (2-2).
The Wildcats' late-inning heroics made a winner out of senior closer
Brennan Lewis, who faced the minimum six batters in scoring his first victory of the spring to go along with seven saves. He hit the first batter he faced in the eighth, but got a 6-4-3 double play followed by a fly ball to center field, and in the ninth he retired the side in order, getting a strikeout of Pemron Burrows in between a pair of ground outs.
Lewis, who only tossed 22 pitches in lowering his season ERA to 1.44, was preceded on the mound by
Bryant Jordan. The native of Fredericksburg, Texas, entered the game with ACU trailing, 5-4, and tossed 3.0 scoreless frames between the fifth and seventh innings with four strikeouts. He also walked two batters but did not allow either runner to advance past first base.
Starters
Drew Hanson (ACU) and Matt Williams (UTPB) were both subjected to costly errors, resulting in eight unearned runs being scored tonight.
The Wildcats were helped by third baseman Gabriel Melendez' fielding error to begin their first-inning at-bat, which paved the way for three runs as
Luis Trevino,
Ryne Randle and
Colton Eager all produced an RBI. Then in the second inning, ACU tied the score at 4-4 when Dunn, who led off with a double, scored on
Dalon Farkas' grounder to second base following a wild pitch by Nick Bartley.
Permian Basin countered ACU's three-run first with a four-run second inning as the Falcons were helped along by two errors and a RBI base on balls. The one-out walk to Burrows with the bases loaded cut the Wildcats' lead to 3-1. Tylor Frailey followed with a sacrifice fly ball to center, and then Skyler Palermo made it a 4-3 game with his two-run infield single.
In the third inning, a dropped fly ball in the left field led to the Falcon's fifth and final run. Afterward, reliever
Zach Smith retired the final five batters he faced before turning the game over to Jordan.
The Wildcats' homestand continues with a three-game Southland Conference series vs. Incarnate Word. First-pitch times are Friday at 5 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. All three games will be carried locally on 98.1 FM – The Ticket.
