ACU makes ferocious comeback late to topple UTA for series win

ARLINGTON – Maddox Miesse had a career day at the plate, Crew Parke drove in a career-high three runs, and the ACU baseball team stormed back Sunday with 10 runs in the final four innings to earn a come-from-behind, 12-7 victory over UT Arlington to win the series, 2-1. The Wildcats (16-4, 5-1 WAC) trailed 7-2 after five innings, but scored two in the sixth, two in the seventh, and six in the ninth to come all the way back and win by five runs over the Mavericks (8-12, 4-2 WAC). Adam Stephenson was remarkable in relief, earning the win and throwing the final five innings to lock down UTA as ACU came back to win the ball game. The 5-1 record in league play is the best start to a conference season in the Division I history of the program, and the best start to a conference slate overall since 2010.

How It Happened
- UTA struck first in the opening inning on an rbi-single and a run-scoring ground out off ACU starter Austin Glaze. It was 2-0 UTA after one.
- Miller Ladusau got ACU on the board in the top of the third inning with a double into right field to score Garrett Williams, and the 'Cats trailed 2-1 heading to the fourth.
- Grayson Tatrow tied the ball game up with a solo home run to right center field in the top of the fourth inning. UTA would retake the lead pretty quickly, however, with a five-run home fourth with the scoring coming on a single, a balk, a triple, and a home run. The Mavericks led 7-2 after four.
- The comeback started in the top of the sixth. ACU just started chipping away at the deficit. Tatrow led off the sixth with a double and was brought in two batters later by Miesse on an rbi-single into center field. Eric Martin then followed with a run-scoring double to right center, and it was a 7-4 game heading to the late innings. Meanwhile, Stephenson was dominating on the mound to keep the Mavericks at seven runs.
- ACU went to work in the seventh, but did not have a base-runner until there were two outs in the inning. Logan Britt singled through the left side and Tatrow followed with a bunt for a hit to pu two runners on. Tanner Tweedt then walked to load the bases and Miesse delivered with a two-run single to left center to make it a 7-6 game. ACU was right back in it. Stephenson did his thing for the next two innings to push the game to the ninth with the same score.
- The top of the ninth was wild. Britt tripled with one out to get it all going and after a Tatrow walk, Tweedt and Miesse singled on back-to-back pitches to deliver the tying and go-ahead runs for the 'Cats. But ACU was nowhere near done. Martin walked to load the bases, and Crew Parke brought in all of them with a three-run double to right field to put ACU in front 11-7. It went from a dramatic comeback to a big lead in the blink of an eye. Garrett Williams would reach on an error at third and Parke would score on that play as well to push the lead to 12-7. Stephenson shut it down in the ninth to earn the win.

Stat Pack
- Tatrow and Miesse each had three hits Sunday, with Miesse leading the 'Cats with four runs driven in. Tatrow walked once as well and scored four times in the win.
- Ladusau, Britt, and Tweedt all totaled two hits apiece, and Parke's lone hit produced three rbi, the most in his time at ACU.
- Glaze got the no-decision in the start, going 3.2 innings allowing six earned runs on six hits with a pair of strikeouts.
- Luke Krkovski got the final out of the fourth inning and that was it for the left-hander.
- Stephenson took over and earned the win (1-1) after tossing five scoreless innings of three-hit baseball to go with eight strikeouts.

Beyond the Box Score
- ACU was 0-1 this season when trailing after eight innings until Sunday.
- ACU is off to a 5-1 record in league play, the best start to a conference season in the Division I history of the program. In fact, it's the best start to a conference slate overall since 2010, when that group went 5-1 to start Lone Star Conference play on its way to 28-11 LSC record and a 50-15 overall mark.
- This weekend marked the first three-game series between ACU and UTA since the Wildcats moved to Division I in 2014. The teams are in the sam eleague after ACU joined the WAC in 2021 and UTA joined in 2022.

On Deck
- ACU will wrap up the four-game road trip with a Tuesday night affair in Fort Worth against No. 11 TCU. It's a 6 p.m. start time at Charlie and Marie Lupton Baseball Stadium at Williams-Reilly Field, and the game will air on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.