CLEVELAND, Miss. – The ACU Wildcats ventured away from their home field for the first time this season on Saturday and came away with a doubleheader split with old regional rival, Delta State, at Ferriss Field.
The seventh-ranked Statesmen won the first game, 9-4, before the Wildcats dealt them their first home loss of the season with a 6-3 win in the nightcap. The three-game series is set to conclude at 1 p.m. Sunday.
After dropping the first game, the Wildcats (12-8 on the season) fell behind early, 2-0, as Delta State scored two runs in the first on an error by rightfielder
Rodge Macy that allowed Brent Kakwitch and Ben Kingsley to score for DSU (11-3 on the season).
But Macy made up for the error in the third when he drove in
Kevin Finklea with a single to left to cut the Statesmen lead to 2-1. The Widlcats took the lead in the top of the fifth with a pair of runs, one coming in on an RBI single by Conwell and the other on an error by the Statesmen.
Delta State, though, tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI single from Kingsley.
The Wildcats, though, put this one away in the top of the seventh starting with Conwell's home run to left-center to put the Wildcats ahead 4-3. With two outs, Finklea walked, stole second and went to third on a passed ball and scored on
Chuck Duarte's RBI single to right-centerfield.
Travis Schuetze then followed with an RBI single that plated Duarte to make it 6-3.
Josh Stone worked a scoreless 1 1/3 innings to end it to pick up the win and improve to 3-1.
Austin Palmer went the first 5 2/3 innings and was effective, scattering eight hits while giving up just three runs (two earned) and three walks while striking out three Statesmen.
In the first game, Delta State jumped on ACU starting pitcher Jordan Herrera for three runs in the first inning and that score held up through five innings before ACU took the lead in the top of the sixth with four runs of its own.
Schuetze got the inning started with a single and a stolen base, and he then scored on a single to center by
Tyler Eager to make it 3-1. After a Macy bunt moved Eager to second,
Duncan Blades doubled to left-centerfield to make it 3-2 before Macy scored on a passed ball to tie the game at 3-3. Conwell then drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly, plating Blades and giving ACU a 4-3 advantage.
That lead was short-lived, however, as the Statesmen scored five runs on four hits and one error in the bottom of the sixth to take an 8-4 lead. Herrera was tagged with the loss as he dropped to 2-3 on the season for the Wildcats.
