ACU tops No. 12 TCU for first top-25 win in program history

FORT WORTH – It was quite the turnaround in a week's time. The ACU baseball team, after falling to No. 19 TCU at home on March 22, returned the favor on the road at Lupton Stadium with a 6-2 win over No. 12 TCU, marking the first win over a top-25 team in program history. The Wildcats (13-11) trailed through three innings, erupted for four in the fourth, and never looked back, snapping the four-game winning streak of the Horned Frogs (18-6). Tuesday night marks the highest profile win in the history of the program, as ACU continues to climb to new heights under fourth-year head coach Rick McCarty.

How It Happened
- TCU claimed an early lead in the bottom of the second with a run on an rbi-groundout.
- The fourth inning was a big one for the Wildcats. Colton Eager got into one to right field for a two-run shot to put ACU in front, 2-1.
- It was followed by Tanner Tweedt smoking one into left center field that hopped over the fence for a ground-rule double, scoring Bash Randle.
- Miller Ladusau then scored off a sacrifice fly from Bryson Hill, capping the four-run inning.
- TCU got a run back in the fourth with a double into left center, but the run scored was unearned against starter Garrett Egli.
- ACU answered in the top of the sixth after Bash Randle and Ladusau put together back-to-back doubles to go up 5-2.
- The Wildcats got a little help from TCU, when the Horned Frogs couldn't find the ball in center field in the night sky, and Bryson Hill got a double out of it, scoring Ladusau to go up 6-2.
- Connor Carlton and Tanner Riley combined to throw five shutout innings to get the highest profile win in school history.
- TCU made it interesting, putting the first two on in the bottom of the ninth, but Riley buckled in with three-straight strikeouts to win the game.

Stat Pack
- Garrett Egli had his best outing of the season in his second start. The right-hander went four innings, allowing one earned run on three hits with a strikeout.
- Carlton took over for Egli, and was dominant out of the bullpen. The lefty went 3.0 innings in relief, allowing _ runs on just one hit with five strikeouts.
- Riley came in, needing all three outs in the eighth, and stranded a runner to get out of it. He took the mound in the bottom of the ninth, and got three punchouts, finishing with five for the night.
- ACU tallied six hits, all coming from different players. Five of the six hits were extra-base hits, with four doubles and a home run.
- Eager hit his fourth homer of the year, while Hill drove in a pair as well.

Beyond the Box Score
- Tuesday marked ACU's first win ever against a ranked Power 5 opponent.
- It is the second-ever win over TCU for the 'Cats. It's also the fourth win this season over a Power 5 opponent, after having just four of them ever coming into the 2022 campaign. ACU swept Michigan State in a three-game series earlier this season in Abilene, and as far as their other wins go, the Wildcats beat Arizona in back-to-back seasons (2014-15), won at TCU in 2018, and at Texas A&M in 2021.
- Tuesday marked the 13th time this season ACU recorded double-digit strikeouts, finishing with 11 for the night.
- ACU held TCU to its season-low of hits with six.

Up Next
- ACU's four-game road trip culminates with the three-game series in Beaumont against Lamar this weekend as the 'Cats get back to WAC play. Friday night's game gets underway at 6 p.m., while Saturday's game starts at 2 p.m., and Sunday's finale begins at 1 p.m.

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