ABILENE – Bash Randle drove in five runs,
Trevor Jackson pitched four scoreless innings, and the ACU baseball team picked apart UT Arlington on Tuesday night in the final game of a six-game home stand at Crutcher Scott Field. The Wildcats (16-17) trailed 3-0, but outscored the Mavericks (11-22) 15-2 in the final five-and-a-half innings en route to a 15-5, seven-inning run-rule victory. The win snaps the five-game skid, and gets ACU back on track before it heads out west for Easter weekend. ACU tallied 10 total hits amongst seven different players, and six hitters drove in runs in the win.
How It Happened
- UTA got out in front with a two-run home run off Wildcat starter
Sam Berberich. It looked like it might be the same song as the last week, but the lyrics most definitely would be different this time around.
- The Mavericks grabbed a 3-0 lead with a two-out rbi-single in the top of the second, and ACU came to hit for the second time already down multiple runs. They would respond.
- The swing of the night might have come from
Tanner Tweedt. The Wildcat catcher roped a ball into the left field corner for a leadoff double. The mood changed in the park. And the 'Cats got back to being the 'Cats.
- Randle followed it up with a big fly to left center field, and it was a 3-2 ballgame. The energy was different at that point, and the Wildcats were here to stay.
- Jackson took over on the mound in the third inning, and he would begin his journey of four shutout innings. The pitching was in place, and now the hitting was joining them.
- In the bottom of the fourth,
Brett Hammit doubled down the line in left with two on base to give ACU the lead. It wasn't clear if the umpire was saying fair or foul, but the ruling was a fair ball, allowing Tweedt and
Bryson Hill to score to take the first lead of the night. ACU would not give it back.
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Hunter Gieser then did his job with a sacrifice fly to right field to score Hammit, and it was a 5-3 lead after four.
- In the fifth inning, Randle kept his hot hand going with a two-run single to center to score
Mitchell Dickson and
Grayson Tatrow, who both walked.
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Bryson Hill followed up the single with a two-run home run the opposite way to left center field, pushing the lead to 9-3.
- UTA scored a pair of runs in the seventh off
Carter Sells, and it appeared as though the Mavericks got back in the game, trailing 9-5. That was not the case.
- ACU scored SIX runs in the bottom of the seventh without an out being recorded to win the game via run-rule.
Colton Eager started it with a single through the right side to score Tatrow, and Randle added his fifth RBI with a single up the middle. It was an 11-5 advantage, and the bases were loaded with no one out.
- Hammit and Gieser were both hit by a pitch to force in runs, and
Aaron Staehely walked off with a single to win an unlikely run-rule game.
Stat Pack
- Jackson got the win, his first of the season, after a career-long 4.0 innings out of the bullpen, not allowing a run or a hit with four strikeouts. It was an incredible outing for the senior, who only faced 11 batters in four innings, throwing 56 pitches.
- Randle matched a season-high with three hits, and matched a career-high with five RBI. He finished 3-for-4 with three runs scored, and the homer was his fifth of the season.
- Hill had a two-high night, and launched his fifth homer of the year as well, and reached base three times in the game. Hill scored three times as well.
- Hammit, Gieser, and Staehely each drove in two runs in the game; Tweedt scored three times while Hammit and Tatrow each scored twice.
Beyond the Box Score
- There have been five occassions this season when an ACU player has recorded five or more RBI in a game. Randle's tonight was the first such game since March 5 when Tatrow drove in six and Tweedt drove in five in the same game.
- Tuesday marked the 18th game this season with 10 or more hits.
Up Next
- ACU turns to its attention to the west coast. The Wildcats head to Fresno, Calif. for a three-game series with the Mountain West's Fresno State, beginning Thursday, March 14. All three games air on the Mountain West Network.
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