NEW ORLEANS — The Wildcat offense has been nothing short of spectacular all season long, and that continued on Saturday in a doubleheader against New Orleans at Maestri Field. ACU (14-8, 6-5 SLC) scored 23 runs in the two games, winning 19-10 in Game 1 before falling 8-4 in Game 2. Nine different Wildcats recorded a hit on the day, and
Mitchell Dickson led the way with seven runs driven in, including six in the opener. ACU trailed early in Game 1, immediately answered back, and used a seven-run fourth inning to grab a lead they would not surrender in the seven-inning win. ACU was limited to five hits in Game 2, and UNO fought back with runs in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings to earn the split.
TOMORROW'S NOTE: The two teams are now back at it early on Sunday. The first pitch time has been moved up from 1 p.m. to 11 a.m. to wrap up the series.
Game 1: ACU 19, UNO 10
ACU jumped in front immediately on a solo home run from
Colton Eager, and it started what would be a busy day offensively for both Eager and his team. New Orleans responded with a four-run frame off of starter
Genner Cervantes, scoring on a double and a two-run home run to lead 4-1. But the offenses would trade punches throughout the day.
Alexei Cazarin singled into center to score
Miller Ladusau to make it 4-2 UNO, and then
Mitchell Dickson stepped up. The Wildcat catcher would prove to be clutch all day at the plate, and it began with a two-run single down the line in right, just barely dropping fair in the Bermuda Triangle of defenders to tie the game through an inning and a half. UNO responded with a grand slam in the home second, and the Privateers led 8-4 after two innings.
Guess what? The Wildcats had an answer. Trailing 8-4,
Hunter Gieser sent one out to center for a two-run blast, and Ladusau followed it up with a solo shot. The back-to-back bombs got ACU within one, 8-7. Cervantes hung in on the mound, tossing a scoreless third, and the 'Catsa trailed by one going to the fourth. Then the madness began.
Cazarin began the inning with a leadoff triple, and Dickson then had a deja vu moment with nearly the exact same single down the line in right to tie the game. ACU was nowhere close to finished. ACU loaded the bases two batters later, and freshman
Brett Hammit delivered with an absolute blast to left field for his first career grand slam. The Wildcats took the lead 12-8 and they would not trail again. The inning was also not over.
Sebastian Randle singled through the left side to plate Gieser, and Dickson then tallied his second RBI in his second at-bat of the inning on a single up the middle. ACU scored seven runs on six hits in the fourth inning alone to lead 14-8 halfway through the game.
UNO scored a run in the home fifth and home sixth innings to cut it to 14-10, but the 'Cats weren't done scoring. Eager launched his second homer of the game, this time to the opposite field in left, to lead off the inning, and four batters later,
Grayson Tatrow singled into right center to plate another run. Randle followed it up with another RBI-single, Dickson then drove in two more runs with a single to left. ACU plated five more in the seventh and ran away with a 19-10 win. The 'Cats turned a 4-6-3 double play to end the game in the bottom of the seventh.
Stat Pack
- Dickson led the way with four hits and six RBI, and he reached base in all six plate appearances (4-4, 2 BB) at the leadoff spot in the lineup.
- Cazarin went 3-4 with an RBI, and scored a pair of runs as well.
- Eager, Ladusau, and Randle all tallied two hits; both of Eager's were homers, giving him a team-high six blasts this season. Eager and Ladusau each scored three runs as well.
- Hammit added his fourth homer of the season, and scored three times as well.
- Cervantes earned the win, going 4.1 innings allowing nine runs on nine hits. The right-hander struck out two as well.
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Connor Carlton went 1.2 innings of relief work, allowing one run and striking out three before giving way to
Nick Norton, who through the seventh inning. Norton delivered the double-play ball that ended the game.
Game 2: UNO 8, ACU 4
The offenses mellowed out in Game 2, with neither team scoring in the first two innings. ACU jumped in front in the third on a (guess who?) Dickson RBI-single to plate Randle.
Adam Stephenson, despite the high pitch-count, battled hard and did not allow a run through four innings. ACU led 1-0 going all the way to the fifth frame.
With the bases loaded, Eager delivered again. He singled into right field, and a high throw to the plate allowed all three runs to score, and Eager ended up at third because of it. It was a 4-0 lead for the 'Cats, but UNO would have an answer.
The Privateers scored three in the bottom of the fifth, knocking Stephenson out of the game and bringing in Ausitn Glaze. Glaze went 2.0 innings in relief, allowing two earned runs (three in total) on four hits. UNO tied it up in the sixth at 4-4, and would grab the lead in the seventh on a two-run double.
Carter Sells replaced Glaze on the mound, and tossed 1.2 innings, allowing one run on two hits. The Privateers scored two more in the eighth to stretch the lead to 8-4, and ACU went down in the ninth. The Wildcats struck out 19 times in the second half of the doubleheader.
Stat Pack
- Eager led the way with two RBI.
- The five hits for the team came from five different players (Dickson, Eager, Gieser, Cazarin, and
Harrison Caley).
- Stephenson struck out five Privateers, while Sells tallied three punchouts.
