ABILENE - Abilene Christian baseball split its doubleheader versus St. Thomas at Crutcher Scott Field at Bullock Brothers Ballpark on Saturday, mounting late-inning rallies in both contests. The Wildcats beat the Tommies 6-5 in comeback fashion in the first game before dropping an 11-10 decision in 10 innings in the nightcap.
ACU closes out its first series of the season on Sunday at Crutcher Scott Field at Bullock Brothers Ballpark. First pitch is at 12 p.m.
Game 1 - 6-5, ACU
The Wildcats rallied from a 6-1 deficit with a five-run eighth inning that featured a three-run home run from
Grant Watkins ahead of a two-run, go-ahead blast by
Diego Cardenas. The pair was responsible for plating each of ACU's runs after Cardenas recorded an RBI single in the third inning.
The Tommies bolstered their advantage with three runs in the top of the eighth before the Wildcats answered with their bats.
Braden Regala and
Zandt Payne reached base via free passes, and Watkins took advantage with a no-doubter to right field that got ACU within a run.
Nick Arias followed with a single before Cardenas, last season's leader in home runs in the Western Athletic Conference, sent another pitch over the fence in left field. The Wildcats rattled off five runs to grab the lead before an out was recorded.
Watkins and Cardenas drove in three runs apiece as Cardenas went 2 for 4 at the plate. Payne reached base three times with a couple of walks and scored twice. Payne opened the third inning with a walk and came home on Cardenas' single.
Caden Greanead was credited with the win after registering the final two outs in the top of the eighth.
Brady Coe earned the save, sitting the Tommies down in order with a pair of strikeouts in the ninth to close out the win.
Pittsburgh transfer
Aidan Coleman logged seven frames in his ACU debut, surrendering just one earned run and four hits with five punchouts on 78 pitches.
Game 2 - 11-10, St. Thomas (10)
With the Wildcats down to their final out, Regala sent a back-and-forth affair to extra innings with a game-tying RBI single in the ninth inning. Watkins opened the bottom of the 10th with a double and came home on a wild pitch, but it was all ACU could muster after St. Thomas plated a pair in the top of the frame.
The Wildcats banged out 12 hits as Rutgers transfer and Abilene native
JT Thompson led the way with three in his first start of the season. Watkins and Arias each collected a pair of extra-base hits with a home run and a double apiece, while Watkins came around to score three times. Thompson and Regala each tallied two runs batted in.
Both teams' offenses emerged with runs scored in all but one inning.
Noah Galvan was the most effective ACU pitcher, allowing one run in two innings with three strikeouts.Â
Watkins stayed hot from the first leg of the doubleheader, clobbering his second home run of the day in the first inning. St. Thomas scored a pair in the top of the second, but the lead was short-lived. Back-to-back hits from Thompson and
Brady Ladusau opened the bottom of the frame before both came home on a Regala sacrifice fly.
The Wildcats cut into the Tommies' 6-3 edge in the fifth, as an Arias solo shot and an RBI single by Thompson made it a 6-5 ballgame. ACU moved into the driver's seat an inning later with a three-run effort, kickstarted with Regala scoring on a Payne single coupled with a throwing error. Two more runs came around on a
Maddox Miesse sacrifice fly and a Thompson single and throwing error.
St. Thomas didn't go down quietly, scoring three runs over the next two innings to grab a 9-8 advantage. ACU rose to the occasion, as Miesse singled to open the ninth and scored the game-tying run on Regala's RBI single.
