Dolphins secure sweep of Coastal Bend, winning both games of Saturday’s doubleheader.
ACC won the first contest 5-1 (F7) before run ruling the Cougars 10-0 (F5) in game two.
The Dolphins started the day with Tyler Ryden on the mound to begin game one, and Ryden was able to pitch around two hits in the top of the first to keep the score at 0-0. ACC got on the board when Alex Guejardo scored on a passed ball. Caden Miller scored on an RBI ground out to the pitcher. The Dolphins lead 2-0 until the fourth inning, when Coastal Bend scored on a solo homer from Evan Nickowski, tightening the score at 2-1. ACC added insurance runs in the bottom of the fifth when Miller drove in Guejardo, Tanner Marek scored on a passed ball, and Hayden Carpenter drove in Miller with an RBI walk. The Dolphins took a 5-1 lead into the top of the seventh, when Carlos Garza came into close it out, and tossed a scoreless final frame. Ryden earned the win as he tossed six innings of one run ball, striking out six cougars. Guejardo went 1-2 with two walks and scored two runs. Caden Miller went 2-3 with an RBI and scored two runs as well.
In the second and nine inning game of the doubleheader, ACC jumped on top early with an RBI single from Cade Baker that scored Guejardo in the bottom of the first. It was 1-0 in favor of ACC until the bottom of the third, when Marco Villanueva and Joe Mancinas scored on an error from Coastal Bend's pitcher, that resulted in Guejardo making it to third base on a bunt. The next batter Marek hit a two run homer to extend ACC's lead to 5-0. Nayden Ramirez later doubled in Baker after Baker reached on a double. The next batter Chris Chavez hit an RBI single that scored Ramirez, and then Mancinas later singled in Chavez to cap a seven run bottom of the third. A two run double from pinch hitter Brice Smith scored Marek and Miller to put ACC up 10-0 in the bottom of the fourth. Another 1-2-3 inning from ACC's starter Reagan James in the top of the fifth secured the victory via the 10 run rule. James tossed a 5 inning no hitter, only allowing one baserunner on a hit by pitch in the third inning. James struck out three Cougars during his run rule shortened complete game shutout, tossing just 57 pitches with 40 for strikes.
The Dolphins have won four straight games headed into the final series of the season, where ACC will play four games against the defending champions Blinn. With just four games left in the season, ACC currently sits in the final playoff spot, but need some good luck from the Galveston vs Wharton series to help their chances of making the playoffs.
ACC's final home game will be on Wednesday at 1PM. All ACC home athletic events can be watched live on Youtube: ACC Athletics Youtube
