The Wildcats traveled to Houston to play the Huskies this past weekend. ACU came into the series against Houston Baptist University 22-17 while the Huskies sat at 10-28.
The first game of the series began with a complete shut-out by both teams in the first two innings. Then junior designated hitter Tommy Cruz scored the first run of the game in the top of the third. HBU responded immediately with two runs of their own.
Shortly after, the game was put on hold due to weather in the fourth inning. The game was supposed to begin again on Saturday but the teams could not play since the weather had not cleared up. Along with these poor weather conditions, the team had to deal with unusual situations on the field.
“We were playing on a grass field, and they didn’t have lights, so we had very small windows to play,” said head coach Rick McCarty. “We tried to sneak a game in on Friday and got started but then it rained.”
The game was continued on Sunday with ACU down 2-1. ACU took the lead in the seventh inning, taking the lead 3-2. ACU sealed the win in the eighth inning with two home runs. The first home run was hit by sophomore center fielder Grayson Tatrow. Junior right fielder Colton Eager scored the second of the home runs. The game ended 5-2, with ACU taking the first win of the series.
The second game began with ACU scoring three runs in the first inning. The three scores were from Tatrow, Eager, and Cruz. ACU took an even larger lead at the top of the fourth, with freshman shortstop Sebastian Randle scoring off a hit from Tatrow. Tatrow scored a second time shortly after with a single from Eager.
“The second game, we had a much more offensive approach,” said McCarty. “We scored right out of the shoot. Our guys did a good job of scoring and getting ahead.”
HBU responded quickly by tying the game at the bottom of the fourth with five of their own runs. The Huskies took the lead 6-5 in the seventh, forcing ACU to try and win from behind.
“We’ve had so many come from behind wins. I think our guys kind of feel like we’re always going to get it done in the end,” said McCarty.
ACU scored three times in the eighth inning to win the final game of the series, 8-6.
ACU took the two-game sweep against HBU, with the two Saturday games being canceled. The next series for the Wildcats will be in Abilene against Lamar. The first game of the series will start May 7, then two games will occur on May 8 and the final game will start on May 9.
