ABILENE –
DJ Van Atten sent the Abilene Christian fans home happy with a walk-off, two-run home run to give the Wildcats a 4-3 win over Penn on Friday.
Down 3-2 heading into the bottom of the ninth,
Garrett Williams led off with an infield single. After the Quakers got one out, William homered to left for the game-winner.
The Wildcats allowed two runs but consistently got out of tough situations. Allowing 11 hits and issuing four walks, ACU forced Penn into 11 runners left on base.
Meanwhile, the Cats made the most of their six hits.
Wyatt Henseler had an RBI double in the first and a sacrifice fly in the third to give Penn a 2-0 lead.
ACU tied the game in the third inning.
Zandt Payne singled and
Miller Ladusau walked before both moved into scoring position on a grounder to first by Van Atten.
Gino D'Alessio came up with the two-out, two-run single to right.
Gavin Collins gave the Quakers a 3-2 lead with a sacrifice fly in the sixth.
The Wildcats got a nice outing from its pitching staff, allowing just two earned runs. Glaze got the start and went five innings.
Chandler Freeman allowed an unearned run in the sixth and
Blaine Palmer threw three shutout innings to get the win.
The home run was Van Atten's second of the season.
The 4-2 Wildcats meet the Quakers in a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday.
