The Wildcats, who had looked strong in the last two conference series, struggled to get anything going as they lost all three games against Stephen F. Austin team.
In game one of the series, the Wildcats trailed heading into the ninth inning when junior pitcher/outfielder Derek Scott drove in the tying run to make it a 7-7 ballgame. Unfortunately, the storybook ending wouldn’t happen in extras as the Lumberjacks hit two home runs off reliever Jonathan Nicholson and then drive in two more runs off of Scott when he came to finish the 10th.
Despite strong offensive outings from Scott and freshman outfielder Colton Eager, the pitching couldn’t get anything going in the 11-7 loss, despite a scoreless three-inning relief spot from sophomore Briley Buckley
Game two wasn’t much better for the ‘Cats, as ACU never lead in the game and trailed by six at one point. The Wildcats would go on to score four runs on three singles in innings five and six to cut the deficit to 6-4, but SFA racked up seven more runs while ACU couldn’t muster up an extra-base hit the entire game.
Pitching struggled mightily as starter Brock Barger picked up the loss, going only one inning and allowing six runs, but none earned.
Game three was much of the same for the Wildcats as they were swept by a conference opponent for the second time this season, and it happened in a seven-inning game that ended in a 16-3 score.
Although ACU was down 1-0 in the bottom of the first, they tied it up thanks to a Derek Scott single. But then it was all SFA.
The Lumberjacks started the steamrolling, as they scored 10 unanswered runs in the second and third inning off of a solo home run, a few passed balls and four doubles.
ACU tried to mount a comeback in the third, scoring two off of a Dalton Dunn double and a Riley Donahue single, but that would be the last of ACU’s scoring as the Lumberjacks drove in four more runs in the fourth and then added an extra with a solo shot in the seventh, where the game ended in a mercy rule.
Colton Brasher was tagged with the loss after giving up five runs on five hits, going only one full inning.
The Wildcats did have some silver lining with the series as basically everyone in the starting lineup is hitting over .300, with the exception of freshman platoon infielder Seth Watts. Freshman Colton Eager leads eligible Wildcats in average at .373, good enough for fourth in the Southland conference, while Dalon Farkas and Derek Scott are right behind in the five and six slots.
The Wildcats head back to action Tuesday against Seattle in Abilene. The game starts at 6:30.
