SWOSU Loses Four to ACU

March 10, 2007

Lance Scales

WEATHERFORD, OK – Southwestern Oklahoma State University gave nationally-ranked Abilene Christian University stern tests in each of the first  three games of its weekend baseball series before tripping hard in the fourth and final game. SWOSU lost by scores of 5-2, 4-3, 3-0 and 16-1 to the Wildcats.

SWOSU is now 4-14 on the year and will play next when it hosts Southern Nazarene University in a doubleheader Tuesday in Weatherford. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. ACU, which is ranked No. 8 in NCAA Division II, improved to 19-3 on the year. ACU is 10-0 against the Bulldogs in the last three years.

In the first game, SWOSU’s Kenny Hare put the Bulldogs back into the action with a RBI single in the fifth to cut ACU’s lead to 3-2. Hare and teammate Tristan Cummings were the only two Bulldogs to get multiple hits against the ACU pitching staff.

ACU scored two more in its half of the sixth and finally were able to solve Bulldog starter Chris Morrison who pitched well in the loss. Morrison (1-2) pitched six and two-thirds inning and allowed five runs, two of which were unearned. He scattered seven hits and set down nine straight batters during a span in the third, fourth and fifth innings.

Tristan Cummings

In the second game, SWOSU tied it at 3-3 when Cummings came up big with a two-out single that scored Sean Rogers in the sixth inning. The tie game did not stay that way long as the Wildcats plated the winning run in the seventh off starter Ty Pool.  Pool (1-4) kept the Wildcats off balance with a wide variety of pitches going the distance and allowed eight hits and four runs.

Saturday’s first game ended up as a pitching dual between SWOSU starter Jeff Keller and ACU pitcher Stephen Miller. Both matched each other throwing scoreless innings into the fifth when ACU pushed across its first run on a leadoff homer by Mike Elkerson and an RBI single by William Uechi made it 2-0.

The Wildcats added another in the sixth thanks to a fielding miscue by SWOSU to go ahead 3-0. Keller again was the hard-luck loser pitching the entire seven innings and allowing just eight hits and three runs. He struckout three and walked one. The Bulldogs managed just four hits, only one of which went for extra bases off the Wildcats pitcher.

In the final game, the outcome was decided early as the Wildcats chased Bulldog starter Gabe Winn in the second inning by scoring three in each frame. The fortune was not much different for relievers Brian Wortham and Kole Kennedy who also were roughed up by the ACU bats. The Wildcats finished 16 hits, three of which were home runs in the 16-1 romp.

 SWOSU’s only run came in the second on a RBI double by Kenny Hare.