ABILENE – The weekend got off to a great start for the Wildcat baseball team, picking up a 11-1 victory in eight innings over SFA in the series opener Friday night at Crutcher Scott Field. ACU (9-8, 2-2 WAC) got back to its winning ways, and got back to its offensive ways, racking up 12 hits and scoring runs in six of the eight innings. The WAC rule states that if a team leads by 10 runs after seven innings, the game is over, and
Brett Hammit put the rule into effect with a two-run homer in the eighth to win it 11-1. ACU pulls back to even in WAC play as the teams move into the middle game of the weekend on Saturday.
How It Happened
- Starter
Tyler Morgan got things off to a good start with a scoreless first inning, and the offense gave him an early lead.
Grayson Tatrow launched a ball the opposite way down the left field line for a solo shot to put ACU in front, 1-0.
- ACU kept the pressure on with the offense in the home second when
Bash Randle launched a long ball of his own. The ball went out to dead center to extend the lead to 2-0.
- The inning kept going when
Tanner Tweedt and
Miller Ladusau reached, and
Mitchell Dickson drove in Ladusau with a single through the left side. ACU led 3-0, and that would be plenty of offense. But they weren't nearly done.
- As Morgan continued to dominate on the hill, the offense kept scoring. Tatrow added to his RBI total with a very long single down the right field line to score
Bryson Hill. The right fielder cut the play off well in the right field corner, and Dickson was unable to score on the play. ACU led 4-0 at that point.
- SFA got on the board in the sixth on an RBI-single off Morgan, trailing 4-1.
- ACU got that run right back when
Bryson Hill absolutely destroyed a baseball to right field. The exit velocy was 107 mph for Hill, who put ACU up 5-1.
- ACU scored four in the seventh on an RBI-groundout for
Alexei Cazarin and an three-run triple for Dickson. The lead pushed out to 9-1.
- Hammit ended it with a two-run shot to left, implementing the run-rule, 11-1.
Stat Pack
- Dickson led the way with three hits and four runs drive in, while Tatrow tallied two hits and two runs batted in. Tatrow reached base four times with a pair of walks as well.
- Ladusau tallied a pair of hits, and Hammit drove in the two with the homer.
- Hill recorded two hits with the monster slam, and led the way with three runs scored as well.
- Morgan got the win, moving to 3-0 on the season, and went 6.0 innings, allowing one earned on just four hits with four punch outs.
-
Drake Boggan and
Sam Berberich each tossed a scorelss inning in relief.
Beyond the Box Score
- The 11 runs and 12 hits are the first double-digit performances in those categories for ACU since March 6 against Marist.
- The four homers hit are the second-most in a single game this season for the 'Cats.
Up Next
- The series continues with the middle game on Saturday, March 19. ACU goes for the series win at 3:05 p.m. at Crutcher Scott Field.
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