The Wildcats sweep Southern Utah for their second series of the Western Athletic Conference play.
ACU headed into this series with a 6-24 overall record and a 0-3 conference record, getting swept by Utah Tech in their previous WAC series.
On Saturday, the Wildcats played a doubleheader, pulling ahead in close wins.
In the first game, ACU won the battle in the seventh inning, finishing, 3-2.
The Wildcats secured the first run of the game in the third inning when freshman infielder Sammie Shelander doubled down the left-field line and sent senior outfielder Mercedes Eichelberger home. Later in the fifth inning, Shelander hit an RBI sacrifice fly to right field, allowing junior catcher Sydney Kaiser to score, pushing the Wildcat lead to 2-0.
In the seventh inning, Southern Utah was able to rally and secured a two-run home run off of junior pitcher Talia Nielsen to tie up the score. Yet in the bottom of the seventh, Eichelberger flied out to center field, sending sophomore infielder Logan Gaspar home, securing the win.
In the second game on Saturday, ACU rallied back to gain the win, 5-4.
Southern Utah started off strong in the third inning by securing three runs, but the Wildcats were able to counter back with four runs in the fourth inning. Red-shirt freshman pitcher Bubba Rote started out the run by ACU by singling up the middle, allowing sophomore outfielder Olivia Taylor to score. Three runs followed play after play.
In the fifth inning, Southern Utah was able to tie up the game on an unearned run by a Wildcat error. Yet in the bottom of the fifth inning, junior catcher Avery Miloch answered with a solo home run to left field, bringing the Wildcats to their final score, 5-4.
Rote gained her first win of the season from pitching 5.1 innings, recording one strikeout and allowing eight hits.
In the final game of the series on Sunday, the Wildcats pulled out a dominating start to bring the lead and hold it to the end, 5-1.
In the first inning, Taylor secured a three-run home run over the fence to give the Wildcats a confident lead starting the game. Then in the fifth inning, Southern Utah shot a solo home run down the left-field line to make a dent in the Wildcat lead. But in the bottom of the fifth, junior outfielder Karli Manney and Eichelberger scored on errors by Southern Utah, finishing out the game, 5-1.
The Wildcats next take on Utah Valley for their third series of WAC play in Orem, Utah this weekend, with a doubleheader on Friday at 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m.
Quotes will be added following Monday’s press conference with head coach Abigail Farler.
