ABILENE - Abilene Christian's baseball team begins Lone Star Conference competition Friday for the start of a four-game series at preseason poll favorite Incarnate Word.
Games begin at Sullivan Field Friday at 3 p.m., and Saturday (DH) and Sunday at 1 p.m.
The Wildcats enter the weekend three games above .500 at 12-9 after dropping two of three last weekend at seventh-ranked Delta State. The Statesmen were victorious in games one and three by scores of 9-4 and 7-5, while ACU captured game two, 6-3, after scoring three times in the seventh.
Kyle Conwell broke the 3-3 tie with a home run to left-center - his second of the year - and then with two outs,
Kevin Finklea walked, stole second and went to third on a passed ball before scoring on
Chuck Duarte's single to right-centerfield. Travis Schueteze followed with an RBI single that plated Duarte to make it 6-3.
The Wildcats rallied from a 5-1 deficit in game three with two runs in the third and sixth and then added a go-ahead run in the top of the seventh. But Delta State countered with single runs in the eighth and ninth frames off ACU closer
Josh Stone.
Even though Stone was saddled ultimately saddled with the loss, the Wildcats wouldn't have been in position to win if not for the middle-relief effort of
Aaron Lambrix, who hurled five scoreless innings with three strikeouts.
Lambrix's outing marked his first relief appearance of 2012 and lowered his season ERA to a team-best 2.70.
ACU's offense combined for a .299 series batting average vs. the Statesmen, led by Finklea who hit .500 ( 5 for 10) with a home run, double, and stolen base.
Reed Watson also homered for the first time this year in boosting his season average to .333 through 11 games.
Incarnate Word is 5-6 this season and have not played since losing 2-0 at St. Mary's on March 6.
The Cardinals are batting .251 as a team led by Jordan Littlefield (.474) and Hector Flores (.433). Zac Russel has the most home runs of any Cardinal with two, and Derrick Walls has the most RBI with six.
UIW's weekend rotation should include Kirk Jewasko (1-2, 4.70 ERA), Marc Gomez (0-0, 2.63), Jorge Guarneros (1-3, 3.94 ERA) plus one other, most likely middle reliever Ethan Lutz who is 3-0 this year with a 0.71 ERA through 12.2 innings.
Lutz, Guarneros and Jewasko share the team lead in strikeouts with 15.
Jewasko earned the league's Pitcher of the Year and first-team all-LSC honors in 2011 after leading the conference with a 12-1 overall record and 103 strikeouts.
UIW received 13 of the 21 first-place votes on the preseason ballots cast by LSC coaches, sports information directors and various media representatives for 157 total points. The Cardinals – who finished 37-18 last season – fell to Central Missouri in the NCAA Division II South Central Region championship game.
Angelo State and Abilene Christian tied for fourth place in the poll with 91 points.
