The gauntlet is finally over.

After four straight games in which ACU baseball squared off against Power 4 competition in six days, the Wildcats dropped the finale, 9-1, to Texas Tech on Wednesday night at the Crutch, putting them at 1-3 during the stretch.

Well, at least until April 28, when they face a formidable Dallas Baptist team for their final “powerhouse” opponent of the regular season.

One thing head coach Rick McCarty said entering this stretch of play was that the Wildcats had to play their best brand of baseball, beginning with the starting pitching – something that did not happen in this game.

Wildcats opener Collin Adams, junior left-handed pitcher from Lebanon, Tennessee, allowed five runs in the first inning on four hits, including a two-out, three-run home run to left field by Matt Quintanar.

“I didn’t think Collin was bad to start,” McCarty said. “They’ve got a really good offense. When you line their hitters up against the best in the country, they’re right there at the top of a lot of categories.”

As expected from the Red Raiders, that early deficit proved a big feat to overcome.

Still, there were some positives for the Wildcats, as three pitchers – Logan Young, Baron Mannis and Carson Wallace – combined for five shutout innings after the big blow while scattering five hits and two walks.

“I thought some guys came in behind him, did a good job of going inside the zone, made some pitches when they had to make some pitches,” McCarty said. “We just didn’t do enough offense, didn’t win enough innings there in the middle.”

That was true, as ACU managed only one run in the bottom of the fifth inning when senior designated hitter Diego Cardenas of El Paso drove in Zandt Payne with a single, a hard-hit grounder through the right side of the infield.

The wind also played a factor later in the game, seen when Cardenas hit a deep fly ball to dead center, clocked at 109 mph off the bat, that dropped right at the warning track.

“I feel like anytime you put a Power 4 team on your schedule, it’s just going to be tough,” Cardenas said. “But I feel like that’s why you want those games. Having those reps, having those games under our belt is going to help us in the long run. We’re not going to see that [pitching] this weekend, I don’t think, compared to the Tech offense.”

That perspective may be very important down the stretch. After seeing some of the best arms in the country, ACU fell to 19-21 overall and is now 2-4 in Western Athletic Conference play, sitting in sixth place in the WAC.

“I think you learn from the opponents you play,” McCarty said. “Sometimes you get exposed by them. Sometimes you just get beat by them. I think that’s what happened today.”

The next key conference test starts against UT Arlington, a three-game series beginning Friday at 6 p.m., as ACU looks to turn the tough stretch into lessons as the postseason looms closer.