The Wildcats came into this series 28-17 before their series against Sam Houston State. The team was coming off of a nine-game win streak that began April 24 against UIW.
“We came from behind in a lot of those wins,” said head coach Rick McCarty. “Our lineup has been so deep all year. When you look at the offensive numbers and how many guys are performing at a high level, you see it’s not just one guy.”
The first game against the Bearkats began with a home run from sophomore center fielder Grayson Tatrow’s eighth home run of the season, giving him back-to-back games with home runs. Senior first baseman Eric Wimpee followed up the home run in the third inning with a run of his own off a hit from sophomore catcher Mitchell Dickson.
Sam Houston got their first run of the game in the fourth inning after a hit by their designated hitter gave a runner on base a chance to score. ACU proceeded to deny SHSU another opportunity to score for the rest of the game. Freshman left fielder Miller Ladusau scored a home run of his own in the sixth inning. ACU ended the first game of the series 10-1.
Game 2 of the series ACU took another early lead 5-0 at the top of the second inning. The Bearkats then responded right after with four runs of their own in the bottom of the second and a tying run in the bottom of the third inning.
It was a tied game coming into the fifth inning until freshman second baseman Brett Hammit scored the run to give ACU a one-point lead again. ACU held that lead, increasing it by six at the top of the seventh while holding Sam Houston to one run in the bottom of the inning. The game ended after seven innings, with ACU increasing their win streak to 11, beating the Bearkats 12-6.
“The morale overall has been great; the sportsmanship on the team has been great so far. Winning solves many issues, sometimes internally, but I think this team really fights and enjoys being down. We never really believe that we’re out of the fight,” McCarty said.
ACU struggled to get points on the board during the third game of the series. SHSU scored the first two runs of the game in the bottom of the fourth. Wimpee scored the first run for the Wildcats off of a home run to left field at the top of the fifth. ACU got their second run at the top of the sixth, tying the game 2-2.
Tatrow scored his second home run of the series and ninth of the season with Dickson on base, giving ACU a two-run lead at the top of the seventh. SHSU scored their tying two points at the bottom of the eighth, and neither team scored in the ninth, sending the game into extra innings. The Bearkats ultimately won at the bottom of the 1o inning after a batter singled with loaded bases.
The final game of the series didn’t see any runs on the board until the fourth inning when both teams scored a run, each keeping it a tied game. ACU then took the lead in the fifth inning with three runs making the score 4-1. Sam Houston tried to come back from the deficit but lost 5-3.
ACU now stands 22-12 in conference play, putting them at the top of Southlands baseball rankings two games above A&M-Corpus Christi.
The Wildcats have one last series before the Southland Conference Tournament. The Wildcats will host SFA, who currently sits in eighth place in Southland baseball rankings. The first game will occur on May 20 at 6:05 p.m.
