By Joel Weckerly, Sports Editor
In a weekend that left a foul taste in the mouths of ACU baseball players, the Wildcats were swept in a four-game home series against Incarnate Word Friday and Saturday.
The sweep marked the first time ACU lost all four games in a four-game series since 1994, and dropped the Cats’ record to 2-6-their worst start since 1995, when ACU finished 17-36.
The Crusaders beat ACU with scores of 12-2 and 12-11 on Friday, then finished off the reeling Wildcats Saturday with scores of 6-4 and 7-4.
“Whenever you lose four games in a row on your home field, it’s disappointing,” junior catcher Cody Cure said. “We wanted to start off on a better note. Everybody was pretty upset afterward.”
In Friday night’s second game, ACU trailed 11-2 before rallying to cut the lead to 11-4 and then 11-10 with five runs in the bottom of the sixth. After Incar-nate Word scored a run in the top of the seventh to push the lead to 12-10, sophomore designated hitter Joel Wells homered for the second time this season to make it a 12-11 game. The Wildcats had runners on second and third when the game ended.
Saturday, Incarnate Word beat ACU sophomore starter Ben Brockman in the first game, and then chased Game 2 starter, senior Sam Hall, after a short stint. The Crusaders jumped out to a 6-1 lead and then held off a late ACU rally for the 7-4 win.
Wells said the locker room scene wasn’t pretty before head coach Britt Bonneau comforted his team.
“He was in a good mood,” Wells said. “He inspired us to come closer together as a team. It was nice knowing that he still has confidence in us.”
Wells said the scene in Monday’s practice was entirely different.
“It was a totally different locker room,” he said. “We came out with a firecracker behind us; we want to make a 180-degree turn back.”
Cure agreed.
“It’s a long season,” he said. “You can’t dwell on what you did wrong. You have to forget what happens. Baseball’s that kind of game.”
The Wildcats have the rest of the week to prepare for another four-game weekend homestand, this time against Oklahoma Panhandle State.
“This week you’ll see a different team out there,” Wells said. “The bad taste will be out of everyone’s mouths by then.”
