By Grant Abston, Sports Editor
Down four runs entering the eighth inning and facing a series split, ACU rallied for six runs in the final three innings in Sunday’s finale against Angelo State to win three of four and remain atop the Lone Star Conference standings.
ACU (31-11, 24-8) holds a one-game lead atop the LSC in front of Cameron University, while Angelo State (27-15, 20-12) fell one spot behind Southwestern Oklahoma for fourth place. The Wildcats also jumped one spot in Collegiate Baseball’s Division II Poll to No. 9, while Angelo St. fell eight spots to No. 25.
“It was a huge series for us,” head coach Britt Bonneau said. “Playing on the road versus Angelo State, a team that will be a contender, and winning three of four is huge for us.”
After scoring one run in the third and fourth innings and two more in the fifth to take a 4-2 lead, the Rams extended their lead to 6-2 after a sacrifice fly by first baseman Chris Adamson and an RBI double by right fielder Clay Puckett in the bottom of the seventh. However, the Wildcats responded in the top of the eighth after center fielder Thomas Bumpass and second baseman Chris Hall recorded back-to-back RBI singles to pull ACU within two.
Closer Brad Rutherford entered the game in the eighth in relief for pitcher Kevin Justice and shut down the Rams in order to keep the score at 6-4. Right fielder Travis Latz reached on an error to start the ninth before short stop Willie Uechi singled up the middle to put runners on first and second with no outs. After a strikeout by third baseman Cameron Watten, pinch hitter Corey Kelly singled to left field, scoring Latz and cutting the lead to one; first baseman Bret Bochsler tied the game on the next at bat with an RBI groundout to second base before Bumpass grounded out to end the inning.
In the bottom of the ninth, Rutherford once again shut down the Rams in order to force extra innings. After a single by Hall to start the 10th, left fielder Davis Page tried to bunt Hall to second but grounded into a fielder’s choice, and Hall was thrown out at second for the first out. But on the next at bat, Schmitt hit his second home run of the series to give ACU an 8-6 lead and Rutherford pitched his third scoreless inning to close out the game in the bottom of the tenth and earn his seventh win of the season.
“Schmitt came up with a huge home run and has been clutch for us all year,” Bonneau said. “And with the way Rutherford was throwing this weekend, we just need to get him the lead. He was the difference maker for us this weekend.”
The Wildcats scored three runs in the tenth inning to break a 5-5 tie and give Rutherford his sixth win of the season Friday. ACU took the lead in the 10th after Schmitt scored on an error, and Latz extended the lead with a two-run double on the next at-bat. Rutherford pitched the final 1 1/3 innings, allowing no runs on one hit to earn the win, while Page led the team with three hits and Latz had a game-high 3 RBI.
In game one of Saturday’s doubleheader, ACU jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning after a two-run home run from Schmitt, making him ACU’s all-time leader in home runs with 28. The Rams scored three in the second before ACU answered with one run in the third to tie the game at three; however, the Rams’ offense exploded for 20 runs over the next three innings to win 23-6. Despite ACU outhitting the Rams 14-12, Angelo State took advantage of five Wildcat errors to score 11 unearned runs to hand the Wildcats their worst loss of the season.
The Wildcats bounced back in the second half of Saturday’s doubleheader behind strong pitching performances from starter Cameron Aspaas and Rutherford. After both teams scored one run in the second and two in the fourth, third baseman Cameron Watten doubled home Latz to break the tie in the sixth; two batters later, Bumpass singled home Watten to give ACU 5-3 lead.
Rutherford, who was named LSC Pitcher of the Week, entered in the bottom of the sixth and shut out the Rams in the final two innings, allowing no runs on no hits, while striking out four to earn his seventh save of the season. Aspaas improved to 6-1 after going five innings, allowing three runs on six hits, while Latz went 3-4 and Watten went 2-3 to lead ACU’s offense.
“We got a good pitching performance from Aspaas and put pressure on them,” Bonneau said. “I thought winning the night game was the key game of the weekend.”
Over the weekend Schmitt became the LSC and ACU all-team leader in RBI after a two-run single in game one. The two RBI gave him 192, breaking the record of 191 set by former ACU player Ryan Barker. Schmitt also became ACU’s all-time leader in home runs after hitting career No. 28 in game two of the series.
ACU returns home this weekend for a four-game series with Northeastern State. The RiverHawks are 16-24-1 overall and 11-20-1 and in 10th place in the LSC. The series will begin with a doubleheader Friday at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. and will conclude Saturday with a doubleheader at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.
“Obviously we want to sweep this weekend but we want to carry the momentum from last series and treat the Northeastern series like Angelo and not let up and let them take a game or two from us,” Schmitt said.
