COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Tie game. Ninth inning. In one of the toughest ball parks in the country to play in. The ACU baseball team delivered in a big way Tuesday night.
Hunter Gieser roped a one-out double to right center field and
Alexei Cazarin came in as a pinch-runner. The speedster moved up to third on a wild pitch, and
Bryson Hill stayed patient at the plate and delivered a go-ahead sacrifice fly into right to give ACU a 6-5 lead.
Tanner Riley closed the door in the ninth inning, and the Wildcats (3-1) beat the Texas A&M Aggies for the first time in school history. It was a total team win, and the Wildcats perfectly placed all the right pieces to win their fourth-ever game against a Power 5 opponent.
The lead after three innings
Freshman
Max Huffling got the start on the mound, and Texas A&M was able to push across a run on an RBI-single from Bryan Sturges to lead 1-0. But Huffling hung in and kept the Aggies to just that run through three innings of work. The Wildcats went to work in the top of the third inning, and put some pressure on the Aggies.
Mike Brown reached on an error at shortstop with one out, and
Grayson Tatrow followed with a hit-by-pitch.
Colton Eager then stepped in and drew a walk to load the bases, and
Hunter Gieser had an opportunity. Gieser struck out, but the pitch got away to the backstop and took a big, 20-foot bounce behind home plate. Brown not only scored from third, but Tatrow hustled around the bases and scored from second as well to give the Wildcats a 2-1 advantage.
A combined seven runs in the middle innings
ACU added to its lead in the top of the fourth frame. With the bases loaded and one out,
Mike Brown made just enough contact to put one softly in play for an infield single. The Wildcats just battled through each at-bat and knocked out Aggie starter Chris Weber in the fourth with just one out. The lead, however, would not last.
Texas A&M got that run back in the home fourth. Kalae Harrison singled to score a run to make it a 3-2 game off of Wildcat reliever
Austin Glaze. Glaze went 1.2 innings out of the bullpen before giving way to
Zach Smith, who got the game to the seventh inning.
The Aggies scored three in the home fifth to re-take the lead. It was their second lead of the game, coming on a passed ball and a two-run double. ACU faced its second deficit going to the sixth inning, and responded to the challenge.
Mitchell Dickson started the sixth by getting hit by the pitch. Freshman
Brett Hammit then singled through the left side to put the first two aboard for the 'Cats. ACU then went with strategy and Bash Randle laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners. With one away and a left-hander on the mound, head coach
Rick McCarty made a move to the bench, calling
Tommy Cruz in to pinch hit for
Cameron Cromer. Cruz swings it from the right side to give ACU an advantage at the plate, and the junior delivered in his first at-bat of the season. Cruz sent one into right field to score both Dickson and Hammit to tie the game. ACU got the game tied going to the final three innings.
Clutch at the plate and on the mound to win it
Tanner Riley was given the ball in the bottom of the seventh, and was not afraid of the moment. The junior right-hander allowed a single to open the frame, but shut it down after that. Riley retired the next nine batters he saw to earn the victory, and struck out three batters, including the final out of the game. He pitched perfect 1-2-3 innings in both the eighth and ninth to give ACU one of its biggest wins in program history.
In the top of the ninth,
Hunter Gieser started the go-ahead rally with a laser of the bat into right center for a double on the first pitch of the at-bat. McCarty then went to his bench to pinch-run for Gieser with
Alexei Cazarin. Cazarin read the ball well on the next at-bat, and advanced to third on a wild pitch.
Bryson Hill then put together one of the best plate appearances of the night, fighting off a foul ball and working a full-count before launching a sacrifice fly to right field on the seventh pitch of the at-bat. Cazarin tagged and scored to put ACU in front, 6-5.
Riley shut the door with two fly-outs and a strikeout in the ninth, and the celebration could begin.
Stat Pack
- Brown, Hammit, and Gieser each recorded a pair of hits, all apart of a nine-hit night for ACU.
- The Wildcats outhit the Aggies, 9-8, and commited no errors in the field as opposed to the two for A&M.
- Huffling struck out four in his first career start, while Glaze recorded two punchouts and Riley added three.
- Riley got the win (1-0), while Joseph Menefee took the loss (0-1).
- ACU drew four walks and three hit-by-pitches in the game, and worked counts the whole night.
- It's the fourth-ever win over a Power 5 opponent; ACU beat Arizona in back-to-back seasons (2014-15), won at TCU in 2018, and now earned its first-ever win over Texas A&M tonight.
Up Next
ACU will return to Abilene for a four-game, non-conference series with New Mexico State. It will be a single game on Friday at 6:05 p.m., a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 2:05 p.m., and a single game on Sunday at 2:05 p.m.
