ABILENE – Freshman
Sebastian Randle hit a three-run home run, sophomore
Grayson Tatrow launched a two-run blast, the offense was clutch late in the game, and the Abilene Christian baseball team used a comeback to win their ninth in row and sweep the Lamar Cardinals Sunday afternoon at Crutcher Scott Field. It was a perfect, picture-esque Mother's Day in the Big Country, and ACU (28-17, 19-11 SLC) scored four runs in the final three innings at the plate to win a 7-5 contest over their guests, completing the first four-game sweep of the season, and the first sweep in Southland Conference play since the final series of the 2019 season. The nine-game winning streak is the longest such streak in the Division I era of the program, and the 28 wins continues to break the record of the most wins since joining D1 in 2014 as well.
In front of a nine Mother's Day crowd, senior
Spencer Chirpich got the nod as he always does on Sunday, and pitched a scoreless first inning. Both teams went quietly in the opening frame, but ACU got things going with a bang in the second inning.
Miller Ladusau, who hit the ball hard the entire weekend, roped a double to lead off the frame, and after an
Eric Wimpee walk, Randle took the stage and destroyed a 370-feet home run past the bullpen in right field to open up a 3-0 lead. That wast the lone offense through the first five innings for ACU, but it was the early spark they needed.
Lamar got a run back in the top of the third with a solo home run from Daniel Altman, and tied the game up in the fourth when Altman doubled. He singled-handedly tied the game up at three apiece, and the game would stay that way until the sixth inning.
Chirpich lasted 5.1 frames before handing it off to
Max Huffling, who entered the game under duress. Lamar had just singled to go up 4-3, and doubled off Huffling to put runners at second and third with just one out. But the lefty buckled down and struck out the next two batters to keep it a one-run game going to the home half of the sixth. Enter the clutch ACU offense.
It has proven to be the top offense in the Southland Conference all year long, and it continued to dominate again on Sunday.
Mitchell Dickson walked to lead off the inning, and Tatrow wasted no time giving his team the lead back with a two-run blast to left center field. ACU went back up 5-4, and would not surrender the lead again. Huffling went back to work and tossed a scoreless seventh inning, and got another run from his offense after the seventh-inning stretch.
ACU went to work with two outs in the seventh inning. With Randle aboard at first, Dickson doubled down the left field line to plate his teammate and added a big insurance run. It was a 6-4 lead at that point, but Lamar still had a shot at getting it tied again. An rbi-groundout made it a 6-5 game in the eighth, and after a two-out double forced Huffling out of the game, closer
Tanner Riley got a groundout on a perfectly placed
Cameron Cromer at second base, who gloved the ball behind the second-base bag and threw to first to end the inning. Cromer flashed leather all weekend long, making big-time defensive plays at shortstop on Friday and at second base on Saturday and Sunday.
ACU then executed brilliantly in the home eighth to add more insurance for Riley.
Colton Eager singled to right on a 3-2 pitch, and moved up on a wild pitch to get into scoring position. Then it was all about moving the runner.
Tommy Cruz did just that with a groundout to first base, and Eager was sitting at third with one away. Enter Ladusau. The Wildcat left fielder did exactly what he needed to do, driving a ball deep to left field to score Eager on a sacrifice fly, and the lead was 7-5. That was plenty for Riley, who finished out the game with his seventh save of the season.
Stat Pack
- Chirpich threw 5.1 innings, allowing four earned on eight hits, while striking out four.
- It was the sixth win for
Max Huffling (6-1), who went 2.1 frames, allowing one earned on four hits with a pair of punch outs.
- Riley's seventh save came in a 1.1 inning effort, allowing just one hit against five batters faced.
- The offense racked up 10 hits, led by Tatrow's three-hit day. The sophomore drove in two and walked once, reaching base four times.
- Dickson all reached four times with a pair of hits and a pair of walks.
- Ladusau had a two-hit day, as did Randle. Randle's homer drove in a game-high three runs, and he scored a team-high two runs as well.
- ACU hit .326, tallied 42 total hits including nine home runs, and scored 28 runs in the four-game sweep.
- It was the first Southland Conference sweep since the team swept Nicholls at the end of the 2019 season in three games.
- It is ACU's second sweep of the season; the team swept a three-gamer with Arkansas State at the beginning of March.
Happy Mother's Day
- Prior to the game, ACU honored all the baseball moms who were in attendance with pink Abilene script shirts, and the moms went out onto the field to throw out a ceremonial first pitch to their sons. There were 20 or more baseball moms out on Crutcher Scott Field to have a wonderful moment with their player.
Up Next
ACU hits the road to Huntsville, Texas next week for a four-game series with the Sam Houston Bearkats. Friday's single game gets started at 6:30 p.m., Saturday's doubleheader begins at 2 p.m., and Sunday's single game gets underway at 1 p.m.
