ACU Posts 20 Runs in I-35 Split

SAN MARCOS – Abilene Christian's lively bats produced 20 runs as the Wildcats split two games at the I-35 Tournament on Saturday.
 
ACU beat Lamar 11-5 and lost 10-9 to South Dakota State.
 
Sammie Shelander staked the Cats to a 1-0 lead in the first inning of the first game with a sacrifice fly and ACU cranked out five runs in the third inning behind a two-run double by Miranda Lista, an RBI single from Shelander and a two-run home run by Bubba Rote.
 
Lamar climbed back to within 6-5 before the Wildcats silenced the rebellion. Avery Miloch homered in the fifth and ACU hung a four-run inning on Lamar in the sixth.
 
The final outburst included an RBI double by Miloch and an RBI walk by Catrin Hoffman after an Olivia Taylor theft of home.
 
Mercedes Eichelberger and Miloch had three hits each to lead the 13-hit ACU attack. Shelander contributed two.
 
Riley White went the distance, allowing three earned runs on five hits while striking out four.
 
The Wildcats belted out three home runs in the second game, including back-to-back jacks against the Jackrabbits in a seventh-inning rally that fell a run short.
 
The Cats took a 2-1 lead in the third inning on Shelander's two-run single and Bubba Rote tied the game in the fifth inning with a three-run home run.
 
South Dakota went up 10-5 before the Wildcats erupted for four runs in the top of the seventh on a two-run double by Lista and consecutive solo home runs by Miloch and Sydney Kaiser.
 
Kaiser had two hits to lead the Wildcats.
 
Rote took the pitching loss.
 
ACU finishes off its tournament appearance with a 10 a.m. contest in San Antonio on Sunday, taking on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.