Wildcats close in on LSC South title

ACU takes 3 of 4 from Kingsville, can clinch vs. ENMU

KINGSVILLE -- ACU moved closer to its first outright Lone Star Conference South Division baseball title since 2002 over the weekend by taking three of four games from defending LSC champion Texas A&M-Kingsville at Nolan Ryan Field.

The Wildcats and Javelinas split Friday's doubleheader (ACU winning 19-7 before losing 8-3 in the second game) before ACU swept Saturday's doubleheader by the scores of 12-5 and 8-3.

ACU -- ranked No. 6 in the nation -- is now 38-13 overall and 13-3 in the LSC South Divsion and leads the LSC South by three games over second-place Angelo State (28-22 and 10-6).  The Wildcats can wrap up the LSC South title this weekend when it hosts Eastern New Mexico in a four-game set at Crutcher Scott Field.  ACU can win the division title with two wins or one win over the Greyhounds and one Angelo State loss at Kingsville.

With no conference post-season tournament in 2005, the Wildcats will have to wait until the second Sunday in May to find out if they have earned a spot in the NCAA Division II South Central Region Tournament.  ACU is currently tied for the top spot in the region with defending national champion and second-ranked Delta State (Miss.).

ACU and Eastern New Mexico will get their four-game set started Friday with a 3 p.m. doubleheader, followed by Saturday's noon doubleheader.  All four games can be heard on KSLI 1280 AM.

Here's a brief recap of each game of the Kingsville series:

Game 1 (ACU 19, Texas A&M-Kingsville 7) -- The Wildcats pounded five Kingsville pitchers for 23 hits and 19 runs in this runaway victory.

ACU led 2-1 before it scored seven runs in the fifth inning.  Joel Wells and Alec Sowards keyed the inning with a two-run tripl and two-run double, respectively.  Sowards finished the game with two doubles and four RBI.  Johnny Zepeda also had an RBI single in the inning.

Wells and Zepeda added back-to-back RBI doubles in the seventh round as ACU scored three more runs.  The Wildcats put up four runs in the eighth inning and two in the ninth inning to take a 19-3 lead.  The Javelinas put up four runs in the bottom of the ninth to make the score closer than the game.

Sophomore righthnader Ben Maynard went seven innings to pick up the win and improve to 9-1 on the year.  Maynard allowed just five hits and three runs while walking one and striking out four batters.

Game 2 (Texas A&M-Kingsville 8, ACU 3) -- Raul Trevino shut down the Wildcats in the second game of the doubleheader, limiting ACU to just four hits in the nightcap as the Javelinas picked up their only win of the weekend.

Trevino improved to 6-1 on the season with the complete-game victory.

The game was tied 3-3 in the fifth before the Javelinas scored five runs to take an 8-3 lead.  The inning was keyed by Steve Yaden's two-run triple.  Steve Echevarria had an RBI triple in the inning, Andrew Sweet an RBI double and Javier Molina an RBI sacrifice fly.

ACU starting pitcher Ben Brockman -- who entered the game tied with Delta State pitcher Ben Lightsey for most wins in Division II (10) and winning percentage (10-0, 1.000) -- got a no-decision in the game.  Brockman's three innings of work represents his shortest outing as a starter in 2005.  He allowed four hits and three runs while walking two and striking out just one.

Game 3 (ACU 12, Texas A&M-Kingsville 5) -- Junior righthander Brandon Moore improved to 8-0 on the season by going six innings and allowing just six hits and two runs as ACU won Saturday's first game.

ACU scored two runs in the second, two in the fourth, one in the fifth, two in the sixth and one in the seventh to take an 8-0 lead. The Javelinas, though, chipped away with two runs in the seventh and three in the eighth to cut the lead to 8-5.

The Wildcats, though, scored four runs in the top of the ninth to put the game away.  ACU scored four runs on three hits and two errors, two of Kingsville's six errors in the game.  Ruben Rivera had an RBI sacrifice fly, C.J. Goularte an RBI double and Ryan Barker an RBI single to key the inning.

Kade Simmons pitched a scoreless ninth inning to sew up the win for the Wildcats.

Game 4 (ACU 8, Texas A&M-Kingsville 3) -- Texas A&M-Kingsville led 2-1 early before ACU put up three runs in the top of the third inning to take a 4-2 lead, and the pushed another run across in the fourth to make it a 5-3 game.

ACU put the game away in the top of the seventh inning with three runs, two coming in on a Ruben Rivera two-run double to right field, and the other coming in on an RBI double by Wells.

Justin Whitlock -- who had trouble in the first inning in each of his last two starts against Tarleton State and Angelo State -- threw his first complete game of the season, allowing just four hits and three runs (one earned) in seven innings, walking five and striking out three to improve to 5-3 on the season.