ABILENE – Garrett Williams had a three-hit day,
Logan Britt launched a grand slam, and the ACU baseball team came back from an early 5-0 deficit to beat the defending Summit League champion Oral Roberts on Wednesday at Crutcher Scott Field. The Wildcats (14-3) erupted for six runs in the fifth inning, and broke a late tie with two in the seventh to top the Golden Eagles, 10-8. ACU picks up another win over a 2022 NCAA Tournament club, this time the tournament champs of ORU, who sit at 10-8 on the season. There were two grand slams, one for each side, and a combined 11 pitchers used in a wild Wednesday afternoon game at The Crutch.
How It Happened
- ORU jumped out a very early lead against ACU starter
Rolando De La Cruz. The Golden Eagles sent the first three to the plate to lead them up and then launched a grand slam to go up 4-0 before there was an out in the game.
Adam Stephenson then took over on the mound for the 'Cats and retired the side in the first, and despite giving up a run on a double-play ball in the second inning, kept the game at 5-0 all the way to the home fifth.
- ACU, however, struggled on offense. ORU starter Joshua Caravalho did not allow a hit through the first four innings and was in control. ACU needed a spark. Insert
Grayson Tatrow.
- The Wildcat senior laid down a bunt to start the inning, not only to break up the no-hitter, but to provide a spark for the Wildcat offense. It worked.
Maddox Miesse followed suit with a double down the line in left to bring home Tatrow to get ACU on the board. Miesse would eventually score after a pair of ground outs, including one from
Eric Martin to bring home the run. ACU trailed 5-2 with two outs and the bases empty, but it was not over.
Bash Randle walked and then went first-to-third on a single by Williams to put runners on the corners. Williams then stole second and
Miller Ladusau walked to set up Britt. The Wildcat center fielder delivered with a grand slam to left to put ACU in front, 6-5. It completed the second-largest inning of the season for the Wildcats.
- ORU tied it up in the top of the sixth, only to have Williams deliver in the bottom half with a two-run home run to go right back in front.The resiliency of the offense has been on display all season long, and that continued Wednesday.
- An rbi-single and a wild pitch allowed the tying runs to score in the top of the seventh, but reliever
Zach Smith did a great job limiting the damage. The sixth-year senior grabbed a ball on a sac bun t on the third base side and spun to make a great throw to cut down the lead runner at third base. He then got out of the inning with a fly out and a strikeout. The game remained tied, giving his clutch offense a chance.
- With runners at first and second with two out in the home seventh, Martin delivered with a single to center field. The ball then got away from the center fielder, and two runs scored out of it and Martin got all the way to third. The 'Cats jumped back in front, this time for good.
Blake Anderson got the final six outs to preserve the win.
Stat Pack
- Williams tallied three hits including his first home run of the season and drove in a pair of runs as well.
- Tatrow, Miesse, and Martin all had two-hit days, with Miesse and Martin each driving in runs (Martin drove in a pair).
- Britt's grand slam was his fourth blast of the season, the most on the team.
- Ladusau drew three walks and had just one official at-bat on Wednesday.
- Smith got the win on the mound (1-0), tossing the seventh inning, while Anderson got the save, his second of the season, throwing a pair of scoreless innings to close it out.
- Stephenson took over in the first and delivered in four innings allowing no earned runs on three hits with six strikeouts.
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Luke Krkovski and
Drake Boggan made appearances out of the bullpen on Wednesday as well.
Beyond the Box Score
- The six-run fifth inning was the second-most runs scored in a single inning this season for ACU. The Wildcats scored eight runs in the eighth inning against Houston Christian on March 3.
- Britt's grand slam was ACU's third slam of the season. Tatrow and Miesse each have grand slams this season as well.
- Wednesday marked ACU's fifth win over a 2022 NCAA Tournament team. The Wildcats beat last year's national runner-up Oklahoma, last year's Ohio Valley champ SEMO (three times), and last year's Summit League winner ORU.
On Deck
- ACU will open up a four-game road trip with a three-game series at UT Arlington this weekend. Game one opens on Friday, March 17 at 6:30 p.m., while Saturday's game two begins at 2 p.m. and Sunday's finale is set for 1 p.m. All three games will air on ESPN+.
#ATO | #GoWildcats
