ABILENE, Texas — For the second consecutive night, the game between Lamar University and Abilene Christian was delayed due to lightning in the area, and for the second consecutive night the Cardinals picked up the win defeating their hosts, 9-5, but that is where the similarities between the two games ended.
Saturday’s game, which was originally slated for a 3 p.m. start, was pushed to 6 p.m. due to Friday’s game going past midnight. The second game of the series was moved to an evening start before Mother Nature stepped in and decided on a 6:45 p.m. first pitch.
The Cardinals scored their nine runs on 14 hits with eight of the nine starters getting in the hit column. Five different Cardinals recorded multi-hit efforts led by Kelby Weyler’s 3-for-5 (2 runs, 1 RBI) night, while Josh Blankenship, Chase Kemp and Matthew McDonald each went 2-for-4 on the night. Blankenship finished the night with a home run, two RBIs, a run scored and a walk.
Senior Adam Wheaton (9-2) got the win for the Red and White going 5.0 innings allowing just two earned runs on five hits with nine strike outs. He did allow four walks but was able to pitch around the extra base runners. He was one of three pitchers to take the mound Saturday as Max Mize pitched 2.1 allowing two runs – one earned – on three hits. Senior Jack Dallas came on to pitch the final 1.2 innings giving up a run on two hits.
Unlike the Friday night version, Saturday’s contest opened as a pitchers’ duel early. Neither team got on the scoreboard until the top of the third when Matthew McDonald singled through the left side scoring Bermudez who led off the game with a walk.
The one-run lead held until the bottom half of the fourth when ACU managed to get their first lead of the series, scoring two runs on four hits – including a leadoff home run from Colton Eager. The ACU momentum, and lead, was short lived Big Red responded immediately.
Ethan Ruiz led off the fifth with a double down the left field line. Two batters later, he came around to score when Chase Kemp singled up the middle. After McDonald hit a two-out single to left field, Kelby Weyler dug in and took a 2-2 pitch right back up the middle for Cards’ second run of the inning. The two-run fifth opened a stretch of three-straight innings where the Red and White would hang a crooked number on the board.
After Wheaton struck out two in a scoreless bottom of half of the fifth, the Cardinals opened the sixth with consecutive walks. Ruiz moved the runners over to second and third, setting the stage for Bermudez and once again the Caguas, Puerto Rico, native, delivered. Bermudez tripled down the left line scoring two. Bermudez would eventually come around to score on a wild pitch.
The Cardinals made it an 8-2 lead in the seventh inning following a two-run blast off the bat of Josh Blankenship. The homer – Blankenship’s third of the season – was a key point in the game as the Wildcats answered with a two-run frame in the home half of the inning. After a scoreless eighth, the Cardinals tacked on one run on three hits in the ninth. ACU closed out the scoring with a run in their half of the ninth but it was too little too late as the Cards take the game and series with the victory.
The Cardinals return to the diamond Sunday with a shot to win the season series over ACU. First pitch for Sunday is slated for a 1:05 p.m. first pitch from Crutcher Scott Field.