HOUSTON – Abilene Christian rallied from behind late in both games to take a 5-2 victory over HBU in the resumption of Friday's game and an 8-6 win in Sunday's Southland Conference baseball series at Husky Field.
The Huskies held a 2-1 lead after four innings when Friday's game was suspended. The Wildcats then scored two in the seventh and two more in the eighth.
Sophomore first baseman Brennan Bales had the only hit and an RBI for HBU (10-30, 7-19 SLC). Senior leftfielder
Lane Botkin stole two bases and scored a run.
Sophomore righthander
Jared Burch (2-3) took the loss, allowing three runs, two earned, on three hits with four strikeouts and four walks in 3.1 innings.
Tommy Cruz was 2-for-2 with a double, an RBI and scored a run, while Sebastian Randle went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run. Grayson Tatrow and Colton Eager connected for back-to-back solo home runs for ACU (24-17, 15-11).
Adam Stephenson (1-4) earned the win, shutting the Huskies out on no hits with eight strikeouts and three walks in four innings, then Tanner Riley came on and picked up his fifth save of the year, striking out two in an inning of work.
Senior third baseman
Nathan Soriano went 3-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and a run and Botkin was 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, two RBIs, a run and two stolen bases for HBU in the second game. Bales went 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and a run and freshman shortstop
Sebastian Trinidad doubled.
Junior righthander
Andrew Reitmeyer (2-2) took the loss, giving up three runs on five hits with six strikeouts and a walk in 4.1 innings of relief.
Eager was 3-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs, while Tatrow went 2-for-4 with an RBI and scored twice. Cruz was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and scored a run. Mitchell Dickson was 2-for-4 with a double and scored and Randle went 2-for-4 and scored twice.
Spencer Chirpich (5-3) picked up the win for ACU, holding HBU scoreless on one hit over 1.2 innings, then Riley came in and notched his second save of the day and sixth of the season by striking out the side in the ninth.
The Wildcats jumped out to a 5-0 lead with three in the first and two more in the fourth, but the Huskies exploded for five runs in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game. Soriano and Botkin each had two-run singles in the rally.
HBU took the lead on Bales' RBI single in the seventh, but Eager answered an RBI single in the eighth to tie it, then Cruz delivered a two-run single to give the Wildcats the lead.
The Huskies return to action when they face UIW in a four-game set next weekend in San Antonio.
