Abilene Christian
6-4
Marist
4-3
Power on full display as 11 ACU homers leave Crutcher Scott
3/5/2022 11:49:00 PM | Baseball
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- ACU starting pitcher Breck Eichelberger retired the side on three straight groundouts in the top of the first, and his day got a lot easier once he returned to the dugout.
- Leadoff man Mitchell Dickson teed off on the second pitch he saw in the home half, and Bash Randle followed with a solo shot of his own to make it 2-0. Hunter Gieser crushed a mammoth two-run homer later in the inning, marking ACU's longest home run in the Trackman era.
- Alexei Cazarin began the second with yet another big fly, and four batters later, Tanner Tweedt hit an inside-the-park home run off the wall in left to make it a 7-0 game.
- ACU only scored once in the third, doing so off Grayson Tatrow's opposite field solo shot.
- Marist plated their lone run of the day in the fourth when an RBI groundout off the bat of Gavin Norieg cut the Red Foxes' deficit to 8-1.
- The Wildcat bats never cooled off, as a six-run bottom of the fifth was followed by nine more runs over the final three innings.
STAT PACK:
- Eichelberger picked up his second win of the year behind the huge amount of run support, fanning four hitters and allowing just two hits over five innings of work.
- The Wildcat bullpen was tremendous on Saturday, as Sam Berberich, Sam Grace, Zach Smith and Cinoon Bak each tossed a hitless inning to keep Marist hitters off balance.
- Tatrow and Tweedt combined for 11 hits and 11 RBI on the day, while 13 different Wildcats recorded a base hit.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
- ACU's 11 home runs are a program record, completely obliterating the previous record of six. The most home runs ever hit by a team in an NCAA game was 14, done by Georgia Southern in 2008.
- The 11 Wildcat dingers on Saturday traveled more than 4,000 feet, and the Purple and White are a third of their way to 2021's total just 10 games into the 2022 season.
- ACU's last game with at least 20 runs came exactly one year ago to the day, when the Wildcats defeated Arkansas State 26-3 at Crutcher Scott Field.
UP NEXT:
- The Wildcats and Red Foxes are back in action on Sunday, when ACU will look for their second consecutive series sweep. First pitch is slated for 11:00 a.m. from Crutcher Scott Field.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Eichelberger, Breck (2-1)
L: Erubiel Cand (0-0)
Batting:
2B: Marco Ali 1
RBI: Gavin Norieg 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Marco Ali 1
CS: Reece Armita 1
HBP: Niko Amory 1
Batting:
2B: Randle, Bash 1 ; Eager, Colton 1 ; Tweedt, Tanner 1 ; Tatrow, Grayson 1 ; Cazarin, Alexei 1
HR: Dickson, Mitchell 1 ; Staehely, Aaron 1 ; Randle, Bash 1 ; Tweedt, Tanner 2 ; Gieser, Hunter 1 ; Cruz, Tommy 1 ; Tatrow, Grayson 2 ; Cazarin, Alexei 1
RBI: Dickson, Mitchell 1 ; Staehely, Aaron 2 ; Randle, Bash 1 ; Eager, Colton 1 ; Tweedt, Tanner 5 ; Gieser, Hunter 2 ; Nielsen, Jack 1 ; Cruz, Tommy 2 ; Tatrow, Grayson 6 ; Cazarin, Alexei 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Dickson, Mitchell 1 ; Staehely, Aaron 1 ; Randle, Bash 2 ; Eager, Colton 1 ; Byrd, Adam 1 ; Tweedt, Tanner 4 ; Gieser, Hunter 2 ; Nielsen, Jack 1 ; Ladusau, Miller 1 ; Cruz, Tommy 2 ; Tatrow, Grayson 3 ; Riggs, Julio 1 ; Cazarin, Alexei 2 ; Bender, Riley 1
HBP: Gieser, Hunter 1
