CANYON –
Cameron Bankston delivered a two-run single in the top of the ninth inning to put ACU on top and the Wildcats hung on for a 10-9 win Saturday afternoon as they salvaged a doubleheader split with West Texas A&M in Lone Star Conference baseball action at Wilder Park.
The Buffs took the first game 13-8, a victory that gave them the series win over the Wildcats. With Saturday's split, ACU is now 22-18 overall, and their hopes for a spot in next mont's LSC Post-Season Tournament are still alive as the Wildcats are 15-12 and in seventh place in the LSC.
West Texas A&M, meanwhile, is now 29-14 and 16-11 in the LSC, one game ahead of the Wildcats for the sixth and final spot in the tournament. ACU will be at home next weekend for a key three-game series against Cameron, while West Texas A&M will be in San Angelo to take on Angelo State before closing the season against first-place Tarleton State in Canyon.
The Wildcats will return to action Tuesday with a non-conference game against Texas-Permian Basin. The action gets started at 3:35 p.m. at Crutcher Scott Field.
In Saturday's series finale, the Wildcats fell behind 4-0 aferf the first and were down 7-0 through three innings before they got on the board with three runs in the fifth inning.
Sky Valenzuela had an RBI double to right-centerfield to plate the Wildcats' first run, and
Will Calhoun later added a two-run double that made it a 7-3 game.
ACU added single runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to pull to within 8-6 going to the ninth.
Calhoun led off the ninth with a double and scored on a single by
Peter Goudeau to make it 8-7. After
J.R. Roland and
Ian Tomkins reached on hits to load the bases, Bankston singled to centerfield to drive in pinch-runner
Marcus Uechi and Goudeau to make it a 9-8 game. Tomkins later scored on a wild pitch to put the Wildcats on top 10-8 going to the bottom of the ninth.
Calhoun got the first batter to strike out swinging before giving up a solo home run to make it a 10-9 contest. But he retired the final two batters on strikeouts to close out the win.
Every starter in the ACU lineup had at least one hit as the Wildcats pounded out 16 hits in the nightcap of the twinbill. Roland had three hits, while Bankston was 3 for 4 with two RBI and two runs scored. Calhoun – who picked up the win on the mound – had two hits and two RBI.
In Saturday's doubleheader opener, the Buffs jumped out to a 7-1 lead after two innings and stretched it to 10-3 after three innings. ACU starting pitcher
Brent Bray went just 1/3 of an inning before being pulled after giving up three runs on four hits.
Goudeau was ACU's offensive star in the first game as he went 3 for 4 with four RBI and three runs scored. Roland had one hit and two RBI in the contest.
