HAMMOND, La. – Junior
Hunter Gieser blasted two home runs, freshmen pitchers
Tyler Morgan and
Max Huffling dominated on the mound, and the top-seeded ACU baseball team picked up a 7-1 win over the No. 8 seed Lamar Cardinals Wednesday in the opening round of the Southland Conference Tournament. ACU's first tournament appearance in the Southland since 1968 was worth the wait as they advance to the second round at Alumni Field. The 'Cats trailed 1-0 after the first, but scored back in the second and third and never trailed again as the pitching constantly got in and out of trouble throughout the game.
Freshman
Tyler Morgan became the first Wildcat pitcher to start a postseason game since 2010, and the first-ever Division I pitcher to do such. Lamar jumped in front with a two-out, rbi-single up the middle, and led 1-0 after a half inning.
Morgan battled again in the second, and came back with a scoreless frame, and despite throwing 44 pitches in the first two innings, kept it 1-0. And then the bats opened up in the home second.
Hunter Gieser, who got the start at first base, launched a three-run homer to put the Wildcats in front, and the runs kept on coming in the third.
Tommy Cruz walked, and worked his way around the bases, scoring on a wild pitch to make it 4-1.
Miller Ladusau, who doubled in the second, singled in the third, and after a misplay in center field,
Tommy Cruz was able to score to make it a 5-1 lead.
Morgan settled in nicely, despite a high pitch count. The freshman worked into trouble in the top of the fifth, as Lamar loaded the bases with two outs. But Morgan hung in, getting a strikeout looking on a fastball to end the threat, and keep the lead at 5-1.
Rookie lefty
Max Huffling took over after Morgan's day came to an end with 99 pitches, and the big six-foot, nine-inch southpaw worked a scoreless inning, as the Cardinals continued to leave runners on base. Morgan and Huffling were great all day at stranding 10 runners through the first six innings.
Meanwhile,
Hunter Gieser was having himself a day. The first baseman launched his second homer of the day, well past the scoreboard in left. Gieser's home run total for the season moved up from three to five with his performance, providing power in the eighth spot in the lineup.
Huffling pitched the seventh as well, and after a runner reached with one out, the lefty got a ground ball to short, and
Sebastian Randle turned a 6-4-3 double play with his double-play partner
Brett Hammit to retire the side.
The defense dazzled in the eighth as well, as a near-double play was turned by Randle. The freshman leaped up and snagged a hard line drive, and flipped the ball somehow behind himself to Hammit covering the bag for what was called a double play. The umpires went to the replay and ruled the runner safe at second, but it was a ridiculous play by the youngster.
Gieser did his thing again, this time driving in pinch-runner
Alexei Cazarin on a double to dead center, giving him his fifth RBI of the day.
Connor Carlton took over in the ninth and after putting two runners on, enduced a 6-4-3 double play to get the first two outs. The lefty then got to move the 'Cats to the next round.
Stat Pack
- Morgan worked five innings of brilliant pitching, allowing one earned run on six hits with a pair of strikeouts. It was a 99-pitch inning as Morgan helped strand nine Cardinals on base.
- Huffling pitched three innings of scoreless ball on just two hits, while striking out a pair as well.
- Gieser led the way, setting a new season-best with three hits, both of them homers. Gieser's three extra-base hits helped drive in five of ACU's seven runs on the afternoon.
- Laudusau had two hits on the day as well.
- It is ACU's second-ever Southland Conference Tournament win. ACU won a tournament game in this league back in 1965, but was 1-10 in that five-year stretch before leaving the conference they were a founding member of.
- It was a remarkable
Up Next
(1) ACU will take on (4) Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the second round of the tournament on Thursday, May 27 at 4 p.m. The game will air on ESPN+.
