ABILENE – Abilene Christian opened the season with a pair of run-rule victories over Northern Illinois on Friday, 16-6 and 12-2.
ACU banged out 28 hits on the day, led by
Aaron Staehely with five and
Maddox Miesse and
Gino D'Alessio with four each. Staehely and
Miller Ladusau each had four RBIs on the day.
In the opener, ACU broke up a scoreless tie in the second inning on an RBI fielder's choice by
Zandt Payne and
DJ Van Atten lifted a two-run home run for a 3-0 lead in the third.
NIU got one run back in the fourth but ACU answered two runs in the home half on an RBI bunt single by
Cade McGarrh and a sacrifice fly by
Garrett Williams. D'Alessio added an RI single in the fifth for a 6-1 lead.
NIU picked up two runs in the sixth but ACU answered again, scoring seven times in the bottom of that inning. The Cats got a sacrifice fly by Payne, an RBI single by Van Atten, a two-run double by Miesse, an RBI single by Staehely and a two-run base hit by McGarrh.
The Huskies added their last three runs of the game in the top of the seventh but ACU retaliated with a game-ending three-ruin bottom of the seventh. Miesse was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, Stehely drew an RBI walks and
Reese Borho was hit by a pitch to force home the game-ending run.
Van Atten, Miesse and Staehely had three hits each to lead the Cats' 15-hit output. Williams and McGarrh had two each.
Austin Glaze went five innings, fanning seven for the win.
In the second game, the teams traded first-inning solo home runs with Williams tying the game in the bottom of the first.
Staehely had a sacrifice fly in the second for a 2-1 lead and added an RBI single in the fourth. Ladusau added an RBI single in the fourth for a 5-1 lead and put the Cats up 6-1 in the sixth with a sacrifice fly.
D'Alessio homered in the seventh for an 8-2 lead and opened ACU's five-run eighth with an RBI single.
Caden Matlon added a two-run single and Borho a two-run triple to end the game.
ACU had 13 hits in the game, led by D'Alessio with three. Ladusau, Malton and Staehley had two each.
Iain Campa started and got the pitching win with nine strikeouts in his five innings.
The teams pay at 3:05 p.m. on Saturday and wrap up the series at 12:05 p.m. on Sunday.
