HAMMOND, La. – Just when you think they're down, they aren't. The ACU baseball team had one run through seven innings Thursday against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, but rallied for three in the eighth on a
Miller Ladusau home run to top the Islanders, 4-3, to advance to the semifinals of the Southland Conference Tournament. After trailing 2-1 after seven, Ladusau's game-winning blast put the Wildcats (36-19, 25-13 SLC) one win away from the championship game.
Left-hander
Adam Stephenson got the nod, and after a one-out double in the first,
Mitchell Dickson made a nice play behind the plate. The ball got away, but Dickson got to his feet and quickly threw out Itchy Burts at third for the second out of the game. Stephenson got the strikeout after that and the inning was over. Both sides were scoreless through the first two frames.
Stephenson stranded two Islanders in the second inning, and then worked a 1-2-3 third frame as he settled into the game nicely. Then the offense helped out.
ACU cracked the scoreboard first in the home third when
Grayson Tatrow smashed a home run to left field, his first long ball of the tournament. After taking the first two pitches outside, Tatrow squared one up and went the opposite way to give the Wildcats the 1-0 lead.
Stephenson went back to work with a scoreless fourth, despite giving up a one-out walk. Then it was trouble in the fifth when A&M-Corpus Christi put two on with out one, but the left-hander buckled down. After a wild pitch moved the runners to second and third, Stephenson got a ground ball to third base that
Alexei Cazarin, after an initial bobble, knocked down and threw to first for the second out. Stephenson then struck out the best Islander hitter, Itchy Burts, to end the threat and keep it a 1-0 lead.
After the Wildcats came up empty in the fifth, the Islanders put runners on again, and this time capitalized in the sixth. With runners at first and third with no outs, AMCC scored on a sacrifice fly to even it at 1-1.
After an error at first base on a stolen base attempt and a walk, the Islanders had two on with one away, and in came right-hander
Austin Glaze. The freshman got exactly what the doctor ordered when the Islander hit a sharp ground ball to third that
Alexei Cazarin gloved, stepped on the bag at third, and threw across the diamond for the double play.
ACU went down 1-2-3 in the home sixth, and Corpus Christi took the lead in the top of the seventh with a solo home run from Luke Marbach, giving the Wildcats their second deficit of the tournament.
ACU put a runner on in the home seventh, but stranded
Brett Hammit at first in the inning, and trailed 2-1 going to the eighth. Glaze went to work again and got a 1-2-3 inning, setting up the Wildcats in come-from-behind mode as the team was down to its final six outs.
Tatrow, who homered in the third, drew a lead-off walk, forcing the first pitching change for A&M-Corpus Christi, as Hayden Thomas left after 7.0 innings of one-run ball on just four hits. After the pitching change,
Colton Eager drew a walk, and ACU had first and second with no one out for
Tommy Cruz. Cruz laid down an awkward-yet-effective sacrifice bunt to move the runners over, and ACU had the tying run at third with one out.
In came
Miller Ladusau.
The Wildcat left-fielder, who was 0-for-3 in the game, stepped up and demolished a 1-2 pitch to dead left field for a go-ahead, three-run homer to put the 'Cats back up 4-2.
Tanner Riley then closed it out, despite allowing a run, to hold on for the 4-3 win an a date in the semifinal game.
Stat Pack
- Stephenson went 5.1 innings, allowing one earned on five hits, while striking out six Islanders, and earned a no-decision. The southpaw threw 101 pitches and battled through his first postseason start.
- Glaze got the win, improving to 4-1 on the year, and tossed 2.2 innings allowing one earned run on just one hit with three punch outs.
- Tatrow's solo shot was his 10th of the season, while Ladusau launched his seventh homer of the year.
- The six Wildcat hits came from six different players (Tatrow, Ladusau, Cruz, Cazarin,
Sebastian Randle, and
Hunter Gieser.
- The 36 wins continues to extend the school record for most in a season.
Up Next
The top-seeded Wildcats will take on the winner of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Sam Houston, who play in an elimination game at 9 a.m. ACU's semifinal game takes place at 4 p.m., and the Wildcats need a win to advance to the championship game. ACU cannot be eliminated with a loss Friday; if the team loses it would play another game against the same opponent for the right to go to the championship game. The game can be seen tomorrow at 4 p.m. on ESPN+.
