ACU (22-15, 10-5) grabbed a huge win Tuesday night taking down power five opponent TCU (22-13, 7-11) in an 8-3 final.
The Horned Frogs took the first matchup of the season back in Fort Worth in early March but entered Tuesday nights facing some struggles over the past few games going 2-5 over their last seven. The Wildcats entered the matchup following a series victory at home against non-conference opponent UC Davis.
After a scoreless top half of the first for the Frogs, the Wildcats came out swinging looking to set the pace early. The Cats opened up with back-to-back walks and a single from graduate utility player Gino D’Alessio got the bases loaded after the first three batters. Sophomore catcher Maddox Miesse would be the one to open the gates for ACU as Mieese would hit the gap in left-center for a bases-clearing double to put the Wildcats up 3-0.
After a TCU error that put runners on the corners, junior infielder Zandt Payne sent an RBI bunt down the first base line to bring home Miesse and tally on another run for the Wildcats. Junior infielder Ranse Radtke would take a similar approach and would bring home another ACU runner despite recording the first out for the Wildcats.
Senior infielder Garrett Williams kept the scoring going, adding another on an RBI single and in his second at-bat of the inning, senior infielder Ben Greer hit a sac fly out to center scoring the seventh and final run for the Wildcats in the first inning.
After a scoreless second inning, the Horned Frogs made up some ground in the third getting two runs back to make it 7-2. In the bottom of the fourth, ACU was able to get runners on the corners looking to add onto the lead but the lead stayed at a five-run differential.
In the top of the fifth, junior right-handed pitcher Cade Greanead would come into a tough spot with the bases loaded and no outs. After giving up an RBI single to make it a 7-3 game, Greanead struck out three straight batters to get out of the inning with minimal damage.
In the bottom of the fifth, ACU was able to add on another run after an error from the TCU third baseman to make it an 8-3 game, it would stay for the remainder of the night. The Horned Frogs gave one more last-minute effort in the top of the ninth but were not able to bring any more runs across the board giving the Wildcats the 8-3 victory.
Payne led the way for the Wildcats with three hits and scored two runs while six other Wildcats also received a hit with six of the nine ACU hits being doubles.
The Wildcats will stay at home this week to host Cal Baptist for a three-game series with Friday’s first pitch set for 6:05 p.m.
