NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana — ACU senior
Luis Trevino had the best offensive day in the Wildcats' Division I era Friday as he hammered four home runs — including three in the second game — as ACU earned a doubleheader split with the Privateers at Maestri Field.
The Privateers won the first game 14-2 before Trevino powered ACU to a 7-3 win in the second game. The Wildcats are now 23-22 overall and 10-13 in the Southland Conference, while the Privateers are 23-24 and 8-15. The two teams will try to dodge rain on Saturday to complete the series at 2 p.m., although a decision on that game will be made early Saturday morning.
The Wildcats are still in the thick of the chase for the final spot in the conference postseason tournament as ACU is 10th place in the standings, but just two games out of eighth place in the loss column with Nicholls in eighth at 10-11, McNeese in ninth at 10-12 and ACU in 10th at 10-13.
Trevino – who leads the Southland in all three Triple Crown categories (batting average, home runs and RBI – increased his season totals to .422 with 15 home runs and 60 RBI as he finished the day 6 for 8 with four home runs and five RBI, including a monstrous game in the nightcap. Trevino was 4 for 4 with four runs scored, four RBI and three home runs to lead ACU to lead the Wildcats to the victory.
He was 2 for 4 with one RBI, one home run and one double and was just about ACU's only offense in the opener. New Orleans scored eight runs in the second inning of the opening game of the doubleheader and never looked back in rolling to the win. ACU starting pitcher
Spencer Chirpich — who has been outstanding all season — was tagged for eight runs on seven hits in just 1 2/3 innings and took the loss to fall to 7-3.
Trevino wasted no time getting the Wildcats going in the second game, homering to center field in the first inning for a 1-0 lead and then homering to left field in the third inning to drive in a pair and make it 3-0. He singled and scored in the Wildcats' three-run sixth inning that gave them a 6-3 lead, and he provided some insurance in the seventh with his third home run of the day, a solo shot to left field that made it 7-3.
The last Wildcat to hit three home runs in a game was
Kyle Conwell on March 29, 2013, when he hit three in a win over Eastern New Mexico when ACU was still playing at the NCAA Division II level. The only other Wildcat in program history with three home runs in a game is Joel Wells, who hit three in a 16-12 win over Tarleton State on April 1, 2006.
Trevino's effort, however, makes him the first Wildcat at the Division I level to pull off three home runs in a game and also gives him 15 on the season, which is the program's Division I single-season record as are his 60 RBI on the season. On ACU's all-time Division I career list, he is second in both home runs and RBI to
Russell Crippen (2014-17), who hit 20 career home runs and drove in 108 RBI. Trevino enters the final game of the series with 19 career home runs and 103 career RBI as a Wildcat in just 100 career games.
Senior Drew Hansen was terrific on the mound for the Wildcats in the nightcap as he went seven innings, allowing just four hits and three runs in a game his team had to have to stay in the race for a spot in the conference tournament.
Bryant Jordan closed it out by striking out three Privateers and allowing just one hit over the final two innings.
