The Wildcats lost a 6-2 battle to St. Mary’s University Wednesday afternoon. The Rattlers got to the Wildcats’ bullpen, putting up three runs in the sixth and two more runs in the seventh.
“Ultimately, their pitcher held us in check, and we just couldn’t get guys into scoring opportunities,” Head Coach Britt Bonneau said. “We had five opportunites to get bunts down, and we only got one successfully down. We just weren’t into it today, and our hitters didn’t come through late in the game.”
St. Mary’s started the game off with a run in the top of first to take the early lead. ACU answered, adding a run to tie the game in the bottom of the third. The game remained tied until the sixth inning, when the Rattlers were able to string some walks and hits together to put up three runs to make the score 4-1.
ACU would get one run back in the next inning. Duncan Blades and Bryce Gerhardt both drew walks to start the inning. Marcus Uechi would lay down a sacrifice bunt to move both runners over. Cameron Watten then grounded into a fielder’s choice as the Rattlers got out the runner at third. ACU would pick up a run, but St. Mary’s managed to limit the damage.
In the seventh, the Rattlers would add two more runs. ACU was unable to score the rest of the game, as the Rattlers went on to win 6-2.
“For the most part, we played all right today. We pitched well and played good defense, we just didn’t have timely hits and didn’t get enough people on in the right situations,” senior Cameron Watten said. “We didn’t give it to them, but they earned it today and beat us.”
The Wildcats will not have time to dwell on this loss, since they have an upcoming important weekend series against West Texas A&M University.
The Wildcats currently are tied with West Texas A&M for the sixth and final playoff spot in the conference tournament. ACU will travel to Canyon this weekend for three big games against the Buffaloes. ACU will need to play well against WT this weekend and down the stretch in order to make the LSC tournament.
“WT is always tough, they have a new field, so it should be fun to play at and should be exciting for us to get up and go out there and compete,” Watten said. “We have played well on the road this year, but our backs are against the wall the past three weeks, so it is important that we come out with a sense of urgency and play well.”
It will not be an easy road for the Wildcats, as ACU only has three remaining series left in conference play. After playing WT this weekend, ACU has a three-game series against Cameron University, which currently ranks fourth in the conference. ACU will conclude its season with a three-game series against Southwestern Oklahoma. Regardless of where they finish, the ‘Cats will host the LSC tournament on May 7-10, 2011.
