Abilene Christian topped Cameron on Monday to earn a spot in the
championship game, while Angelo State defeated Tarleton State to
stay alive at the Lone Star Conference Baseball Championship at
Crutcher Scott Field in Abilene, Texas.
CU and ASU will play at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, with the victor
advancing the title game at 5 p.m. against ACU.
Abilene Christian 13, Cameron 7
The 11th-ranked ACU Wildcats scored six runs in the top of the
ninth inning Monday afternoon to push them to a 13-7 win over
Cameron in the Lone Star Conference Championship at Crutcher
Scott Field.
The win pushes the Wildcats to 45-13 and means that for the 10th
time since 1999 they will play for the conference
championship. ACU will play at 5 p.m. Tuesday against an
opponent to be determined. If the Wildcats lose that game,
the decisive if-necessary championship game will be played at 1
p.m. Wednesday.
Up next for CU is the Angelo State-Tarleton State winner at 1
p.m. on Tuesday in an elimination game.
The Wildcats connected on four home runs in the contest, including
two two-run home runs by Aaron Oliver. Ian Tomkins and Will
Calhoun each had solo home runs for the Wildcats, but it was the
one by Tomkins that finally turned the momentum for the
Wildcats.
With one out in the top of the ninth against Cameron starter Ricky
Cramer, Tomkins ripped a line shot to left that barely cleared the
wall for his third home run of the season, a solo shot that gave
ACU an 8-7 lead. After Clint Bowker grounded out for the
second out, Cameron coach Todd Holland replaced Cramer with
Corey Davidson.
But Davidson walked Oliver on four pitches and then watched him
steal second base on his first pitch to Chris Hall. Hall then
followed with an RBI double, and he then scored on a gift double by
Will Calhoun. Cameron centerfielder Codi Harshman never saw
the ball of Calhoun's bat, and it dropped harmlessly in
left-centerfield for an RBI double to make it 10-7.
Travis Latz then followed with an RBI single to right to score
Calhoun, and then Uechi doubled in Latz to make it 12-7. Bret
Bochsler capped the scoring with an RBI single to right field to
drive in Uechi.
Brad Rutherford -- who pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning to keep the
game tied at 7-7 going to the ninth -- gave up a pair of harmless
singles in the bottom of the ninth, but struck out a pair of Aggies
to end the game.
Angelo State 11, Tarleton State 3
Angelo State jumped out to a 10-2 lead after five innings Monday
night and never looked back as the Rams remained alive in the Lone
Star Conference Baseball Championship with an 11-3 win over
Tarleton State at Crutcher Scott Field.
The win pushes the Rams (33-25) into a 1 p.m. elimination game
against Cameron on Tuesday. The winner of that game will play
ACU at 5 p.m. in the first championship game. A win by either
ASU or Cameron over ACU would force the if-necessary championship
game at 1 p.m. Wednesday.
Dylan Petrich and Keith Towne each had two hits and drove in
three runs for the Rams, while Isaac Garcia, Travis Lits, Chris
Adamson, Clay Puckett and Jason Morriss each had RBIs for the Rams.
Jerris Springfield went the distance on the mound for Angelo,
throwing 134 pitches in a nine-inning complete-game effort.
He scattered eight hits and gave up three walks while striking out
a pair of Texans to pick up the win and improve to 2-1 on the
season.
-- Courtesy of ACU Sports Information