NEW ORLEANS — The ACU baseball team earned its first Southland series win on Sunday with another dominant, balanced offensive attack against New Orleans, claiming a 16-12 victory in the final game of the weekend. The Wildcats (15-8, 7-5 SLC) scored five runs in the second inning and erupted for eight runs in the fourth, and despite a late rally from the Privateers (12-12, 7-5 SLC), ACU held on for the victory. The team caps a 3-1 weekend that saw a total of 48 runs and 43 hits, including another 11 on Sunday. Eight of the nine players in the lineup drove in runs, and all nine recorded a hit in the win. New Orleans scored six in the eighth, but ACU responded with one in the ninth to cushion the lead back to four, and a double-play ball ended the game.
Southland Significance
The Wildcats are off to a 7-5 start, tied with UIW and New Orleans for third place in the standings. There are still 28 conference games left on the schedule, but ACU has not lost a series and claimed it first series win in league play this season.
Big second inning give 'Cats early lead
Colton Eager launched his fourth home run of the weekend with two outs in the first inning to give ACU a 1-0 lead. Eager jumped all over a 2-0 pitch to put the visitors on top, and it was the start of trouble to come for UNO starter Tyler LeBlanc. Meanwhile,
Spencer Chirpich got the ball for the Wildcats, and New Orleans was able to grab the lead with a two-run single. Despite the high-scoring game, ACU only needed to use three pitchers, while UNO would use six different arms Sunday.
ACU got it going with a huge second inning, scoring five runs on four hits, and three of them were doubles. Bash Randle doubled to right center field to plate
Hunter Gieser, and two batters later
Mitchell Dickson, who had a gigantic weekend, doubled to center to score two. ACU led 4-2, and
Tommy Cruz added to it with another double to switch spots with Dickson. Just when you thought the scoring was over in the inning,
Brett Hammit singled in a run to put the 'Cats up 6-2. UNO got one run back in the home second, but ACU led 6-3 going to the middle innings.
Eight-run fourth blows game open
With
Alexei Cazarin on base, Dickson put the ball in place, forcing an error at third. Cazarin scored, and it opened a flood.
Brett Hammit drew a bases-loaded walk to push the lead to 8-3, and Gieser followed it up by reaching on a fielder's choice. The out was recorded, but then the throwing error allowed two runs to score instead of just the one, and it was a 10-3 ACU advantage. The game was far from over, but ACU wasn't even done scoring this inning.
Miller Ladusau singled to plate Hammit, and then in stepped
Grayson Tatrow.
Tatrow had just four hits for the weekend, but this one was the biggest. The lefty absolutely crushed one to right to give ACU an overwhelming 14-3 lead. It was a no-doubter that broke the game completely open.
The fourth inning alone featured eight runs on three hits. New Orleans scored one in the fifth and two in the sixth, but the lead was still 14-6 going to the final three innings.
Late UNO rally not enough
The Privateers made a late push in the eighth inning. ACU added a run in the top half of the frame on a Gieser single up the middle, but then UNO went to work. Two singles, two wild pitches, and two bases-loaded walks allowed six runs to score to make it a 15-12 game. All of a sudden, ACU was looking for an insurance run in the ninth. Who delivered? Yep, it was Dickson. The Wildcat catcher capped a ridiculous 9-for-18 weekend with a single through the right side, driving in his 12th run of the weekend. ACU's lead was 16-12.
UNO put two on with no out against
Trevor Jackson in the ninth, but the right-hander got a strikeout and a 4-6-3 double play to end the game.
Stat Pack
- Eight Wildcats drove in runs, led by Dickson and Tatrow, who each tallied three RBI.
- Hammit and Gieser each brought in two runs, and Cruz, Eager, Ladusau and Randle added one themselves.
- The homer gave Eager his team-leading seventh of the season and his fourth of the weekend.
- Dickson and Cruz tallied multi-hit games, and overall all nine starters got a knock.
- Chirpich's five innings gave him the win, allowing four earned runs and three strikeouts.
-
Tanner Riley through two innings of relief, and Jackson closed the game out with two innings himself.
Up Next
ACU returns to Crutcher Scott Field next weekend for a four-game series with Northwestern State. Because of it being Easter weekend, the series begins Thursday, April 1 with a single game at 6:05 p.m. Friday, April 2 features the doubleheader that begins at 2:05 p.m., and Saturday, April 3 wraps up the series with a single-game at 2:05 p.m.
