ACU (17-11, 8-4) won its fourth series in a row last week, taking down Utah Valley (13-15, 5-4) at home, two games to one. After falling in the series opener, ACU was able to bounce back on Friday and Saturday to take the last two games including a walk-off win on Saturday.
The Wildcats were coming off a road series win against Sacramento State the previous weekend and were looking to keep the momentum going after getting some rest with no mid-week game scheduled.
Utah Valley entered the weekend on a five-game win streak including a 15-11 win over BYU in their last outing.
In Thursday night’s opener, the Wolverines got on the board early, scoring the first two runs of the game off of a two-run homer into left. The Wildcats quickly responded in the first with back-to-back home runs from senior outfielder Miller Ladusau and graduate utility man Gino D’Alessio.
After the two homers, senior infielder Garrett Williams drove a ball into left for a single and was able to steal second and third base, setting up senior infielder Bobby Serfass to send one up the middle for an RBI single to make it 3-2.
“It was a typical game of a weekend series,” head coach Rick McCarty said. “Back and forth early on and neither team really capitalized early which puts you in the seventh inning in a 3-2 game where every pitch matters.”
Despite the bats being hot in the first, the next handful of innings would be controlled on the mound. After giving up the two solo shots in the first, graduate right-handed pitcher Austin Glaze would pitch four hitless innings keeping the Wildcats up, one going into the sixth inning.
The Wildcats would get runners on the corners in the bottom of the sixth, but would not be able to bring the insurance runner home.
After getting two outs in the top of the seventh, sophomore right-handed pitcher Cade McGarrh would come in with the bases loaded and give up an unfortunate go-ahead grand slam giving the Wolverines a 6-3 lead. UVU would tally one more in the eighth and not give up a hit through the final three innings, taking game one 7-3.
“Thursday night was a very competitive game,” McCarty said. “Statistically speaking, they lead the WAC in a lot of offensive categories so to hold them down over the course of nine innings, you’re going to have to score some runs.”
The Wildcats finished with eight hits, two coming from Williams, and two errors with graduate right-handed pitcher Brett Garcia taking the loss in relief.
Junior right-handed pitcher Iain Campa would be on the mound for the Wildcats on Friday night looking to even the series after Thursday’s loss.
After a dull first two and a half innings of play, the Wildcat offense came to life in the bottom of the third inning, despite getting two quick strikeouts to open up the inning. Junior infielder Zandt Payne got things started, working an eight-pitch walk and making his way to third on a single from Ladusau.
Payne would score the first run of the game on a wild pitch, moving Ladusau to third, who would quickly be brought home off an RBI single from D’Alessio. In the next at-bat Williams would knock down a single and junior infielder DJ Van Atten would hit a double down the line to bring both runners home and make it a 4-0 lead for the Wildcats. Four straight singles from the bottom of the lineup extended the Wildcat to seven, adding one more after Ladusau would record a hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded to make it an 8-0 lead after eight hits from the Wildcats.
“It was great to get out in front and score early,” McCarty said. “Knowing that they are gonna score some runs. Having the ability to just kind of hold on there down the stretch…so to score eight was great there early.”
Despite the large lead, UVU would fight to get back in the game, cutting the lead in half in the top of the fourth and adding one more in the fifth and sixth innings to make it an 8-6 game.
After the big third inning, the Wildcats would only get one more hit the remainder of the game and junior right-handed pitcher Caden Greanead would pitch a scoreless eighth and ninth to earn the save and close out the game giving the Wildcats an 8-6 victory, evening up the series.
The Wildcats finished with ten hits and four errors, with D’Alessio and senior infielder Benjamin Greer accounting for two hits apiece.
In the series finale, the Wildcats got things going in the bottom of the third with a leadoff single from senior outfielder Aaron Staehely. Greer followed up with a double to move Staehely to third and freshman outfielder Reese Borho would send a SAC bunt down to the first baseman to score the first run of the game. Payne followed with a SAC fly into right to bring home Greer and make it a 2-0 advantage for the Wildcats.
Freshman left-handed pitcher Brett Lanman pitched a strong six innings, striking out five, allowing only two hits and holding the Wolverines scoreless until a solo shot in the sixth to make it 2-1. In the top of the eight, Utah Valley was able to tie it up at two runs each.
In the bottom of the eight, with the bases loaded, two outs and a full count, Williams would hit a ground ball directly to the UVU shortstop, who would commit a costly error allowing two Wildcat runners to make their way home, giving ACU a 4-2 lead. Despite the lead, Greanead could not shut the door and the Wolverines would tie things up with a two-run homer and send the game to the bottom of the ninth.
Sophomore catcher Maddox Miesse started the bottom half of the inning with a crucial double on an 0-2 count. A bunt moved the runner to third and after an intentional walk, it would be Borho with the chance to end it for the Wildcats. The freshman would do just that, sending one into right, bringing home the runner from third, giving the Wildcats a 5-4 win and their fourth series victory in a row.
“It’s great to see some of these young guys get these experiences early in their career,” McCarty said. “Hopefully, you’re looking back at that two, three, four years from now and they’ve just got a lot to draw from.”
The Wildcats finished the game with six hits and no errors, giving them their eighth conference win of the season and bringing their overall season record to 17-11.
The team hits the road once again as it heads to Nacogdoches this weekend to take on Stephen F. Austin, with Friday’s first pitch set for 6:30 p.m.
