HAMMOND, La. — After an 8-3 defeat in the opening game Saturday, the ACU baseball team stormed back in a big way, scoring eight runs in the eighth inning to top Southeastern Louisiana in game two, 8-4. The Wildcats (18-12, 10-9 SLC) ensure at least a road series split with the top team in the Southland standings going into Sunday, and it came in dramatic fashion. ACU was getting shut out going to the eighth in game two before sending 14 batters to the plate to not only take the lead, but add to it.
Tanner Riley got the final three outs, and the Wildcats celebrated on their opponent's field.
Brett Hammit led the way at the plate with a home run in each game, while
Grayson Tatrow homered in game one.
ACU goes for the series win on Sunday with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. The game can be seen on ESPN+ and on the ESPN app.
Game 1: SLU 8, ACU 3
It was a tough outing for junior
Genner Cervantes, who suffered his first lost this season, as SLU scored six times in the first three innings. The right-hander fell to 5-1 on the season, after going 4.0 innings before giving way to
Nick Norton and
Eric Wimpee. ACU scored two runs in the fourth inning off solo shots from Tatrow and Hammit, but the Lions responded with a home run of their own in the home fourth. Trailing 8-2, Tatrow singled in the seventh to score
Tommy Cruz, but it would not be enough as ACU dropped the seven-inning game, 8-3.
Stat Pack
- Tatrow was the big bright spot of the offense, going 3-for-4 with the home run.
- Cruz, Hammit,
Colton Eager, and
Sebastian Randle each recorded the other hits, with Hammit homering.
- Tatrow drove in two of the three runs.
- Cervantes struck out three, while Wimpee wiffed a pair of LIon hitters.
Game 2: ACU 8, SLU 4
Lefty
Adam Stephenson got the nod in game two, and despite some early trouble, got through 4.2 innings, allowing three runs on just one hit. The Wildcat offense, meanwhile, was unable to get anything going against Lion starter Will Warren, registering six hits in the games first seven innings. The momentum wouldn't begin until the remarkable eighth frame.
Before the comeback began, the pitching staff needed to keep ACU in the ballgame. They did just that.
Trevor Jackson took over in the fifth, and not only got the final out of the inning, but went the next two frames as well, and allowed just one run on a pair of hits. Jackson would go on to earn the win when it was all said and done. ACU trailed 4-0 going to the eighth. Then the craziness got started.
It was a 14-batter eighth for ACU, beginning with what appeared to be a harmless single from
Miller Ladusau. But the fireworks started immediately after when Hammit hit his second homer of the day. The two-run shot made it 4-2, but the 'Cats needed to keep pressure on the Lion bullpen with baserunners. They did. Randle singled,
Alexei Cazarin and
Mitchell Dickson drew back-to-back walks and the bases were loaded with no outs. In stepped
Tommy Cruz, who has been clutch all season long in late innings. The junior delivered with a two-run single into right field to tie the game at four, but the Wildcats were far from finished.
Cruz moved up to second on the throw to the plate, so ACU had runners at second and third with still no one out.
Colton Eager singled to right field, and Cruz and Dickson scored to put ACU in front, 6-4. The six runs all came before Southeastern recorded an out in the eighth. The seventh run came on a
Miller Ladusau single to score
Hunter Gieser, and the eighth run came when Randle was walked with the bases loaded. In total, it was an eight-run, seven-hit inning that gave ACU a comfortable 8-4 lead.
Carter Sells tossed a scoreless eighth, and
Tanner Riley threw a scoreless ninth to earn the save, and ACU completed the comeback with the 8-4 win.
Stat Pack
- It was the fifth and sixth homers of the season for Hammit, who is now second on team behind Eager in that category.
- Cruz, Ladusau, and Hammit each tallied two hits in the win, while Cruz and Hammit each drove in a pair.
- Five Wildcats drove in runs.
- Stephenson and Jackson each struck out three, and Riley struck out all three in the ninth inning.
