ABILENE – Freshman
Miller Ladusau put together a career night with four hits and five runs driven in as the ACU baseball team moved one step closer to their goal with a 13-3 win in seven innings over the SFA Lumberjacks Thursday night at Crutcher Scott Field. ACU (32-18, 23-12 SLC) ripped off a seven-run fourth inning to break the game wide open, and got another solid outing from freshman
Tyler Morgan to win the opener.
Southland Significance
ACU did not clinch anything Thursday. The win, however, moved them into first place in the Southland standings, two points ahead of New Orleans. The formula on Friday for a regular season championship includes either a doubleheader sweep or one win combined with a Texas A&M-Corpus Christi loss.
Morgan struck out three batters in the first inning, but one reached on a wild pitch. Morgan still tossed a scoreless first, but surrendered a run in the top of the second after a leadoff double came around to score. SFA led 1-0, but the Wildcats answered in the home half.
ACU loaded the bases with no one out, and after a strikeout was called on
Eric Wimpee, catcher
Harrison Caley drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game, and
Cameron Cromer executed by hitting a ground ball to second, and after the out was made at second, Cromer beat the throw to ensure no double play. And just like that, the lead was ACU's.
The Lumberjacks evened it up with a single into right in the top of the third, but in the bottom of the fourth, the Wildcats erupted.
Grayson Tatrow stepped up with the bases loaded, and was hit by the pitch to drive in a run to put the 'Cats in front. It was a lead they would not give back.
Colton Eager, fighting for the RBI title in the Southland Conference, singled through the right side to score a pair, and the game was on. Ladusau then broke it open with a towering home run to right field that was nearly caught by the Lumberjack outfielder. It went in and out of the glove and stayed over the wall for the homer. It was an 8-2 game and getting more lopsided by the minute.
Eric Wimpee, making his sixth start of the year, groundout out to score
Sebastian Randle, and it was a seven-run inning to make it 9-2.
Ladusau picked up two more RBI in the fifth with an infield single and wonderful base running by
Cameron Cromer. Cromer saw the throw to first and kept going home, scoring all the way from second base.
Tommy Cruz drove in a run with a two-out single to left in the sixth, and
Alexei Cazarin won the game with a walk-off single in the seventh to end the game via the run rule, 13-3.
Stat Pack
- Ladusau matched his career high with four hits and set a new mark with five runs driven in. It was a 4-for-4 night for the left fielder.
- Eager moved into a tie with McNeese's Nate Fisbeck for the league lead in RBI with 51 after a three-hit, two-RBI night. Eager's hitting streak is up to 15 and now has 17 multi-hit games this season.
- Cruz now has 13 two-out RBI this season.
- Cruz and Randle each tallied two hits and one walk apiece to reach three times.
- Cruz, Tatrow, Cazarin, Wimpee, Caley, and Cromer all drove in runs. Eight Wildcats drove in runs on the night.
- Morgan gets back-to-back wins after throwing five innings of one earned run baseball. The right-hander allowed two hits and struck out seven, one shy of his career high.
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Trevor Jackson threw the final two innings, allowing one earned on two hits with a strikeout as well.
- Thursday was ACU's 10th win in the opening game of a series.
Up Next
The two teams play a doubleheader on Friday beginning at 2:05 p.m. The game can be streamed on ACUSports.com and heard on 102.7 The Bear and the iHeart Radio app. It is free admission to the fans all weekend at Crutcher Scott Field.
