ABILENE - With an army of Hall-of-Fame-worthy alumni cheering them on, ACU softball Saturday posted a dramatic doubleheader sweep of Southern Utah at Poly Wells Field by scores of 3-2 and 5-4.
The Wildcats (8-24, 2-3 WAC) scored their game one winner in walkout fashion (Mercedes Eichelberger sacrifice fly), and held on for two frames after Avery Miloch provided the go-ahead solo shot in the nightcap's fifth inning.
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Before, after, and in-between, however, there were a number of additional star plays that enabled ACU to thwart the Thunderbirds at every turn.
Game one starter Talia Nielsen pitched an absolute gem en route to her fourth win of the season, taking a perfect game into the fifth, and no-hitter / shutout into the seventh where pinch hitter Riley Neilson just cleared the wall and the outreached glove of Olivia Taylor for her first HR of 2023.
But despite giving up that deflating game-tying hit, Nielsen roared back by getting Bella Garcia on a liner to short (snagged by Logan Gaspar) and a swinging strikeout of Bella Garcia.
Nielsen finished the contest with five strikeouts, and notched the 'W' a few plays later as the offense rallied on her behalf.
Gaspar led off the seventh with a double into the right-center gap - her second hit of the game - advanced to third on a passed ball when Sydney Kaiser feigned a bunt attempt, and scored standing up on Eichelberger's fly ball to center field.
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Earlier, Eichelberger gave the Wildcats a 1-0 lead after scoring on Sammie Shelander's double down the left-field line. Shelander added a second insurance run in the fifth with a fly ball to right, plating Kaiser, whose five-pitch walk was followed by Eichelberger's bunt single and Catrin Hoffman's sacrifice hit.
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Game two was more of a grind as the two sides exchanged the leads three times between the third and fifth innings.
Bubba Rote won her first game of the year behind 108 pitches by throwing the right pitch and trusting her defense.
SUU threatened early but came away empty in the first and second frames as the infield made two force plays at third base. But the Thunderbirds plated three runs in the third thanks to an RBI single by Madison Sanders and a two-out double by catcher Amyah Boostedt.
SUU likely would have scored a few more times if not for the heads up play of Gaspar and Miloch, who recorded outs at home and third base, respectively.
Rote threw another runner out at home in the fifth, successfully handling a Boostedt sac squeeze attempt, and in the sixth, she turned the game over to Laurén Schiek, who recorded 1.2 scoreless innings (2K) in earning her first save.
Schiek came on with runners at second and third with one out. She struck Neilson out swinging for out No. 2 and squashed the the threat with a ground ball to shortstop. Schiek then retired the Thunderbirds in order to complete the sweep.
Aided in part by Rote's bat, the Wildcats jumped back ahead with a four-run fourth by stringing together five consecutive one-out hits. Kaiser's double tied the score at 3-3 and Eichelberger followed with a RBI ground ball to second base.
SUU momentarily tied the score at 4-4 on an unearned run in the fifth, but Miloch quickly answered in the home half, smacking a scoreboard shot off reliever Payton Goodrich (0-4).
ACU looks to complete its series sweep and even its WAC record at 3-3 Sunday at noon.
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