NATCHITOCHES, La. - The ACU Wildcats ran into one of the top pitching staffs in the Southland Conference Thursday afternoon, and they had no answer for either starter Adam Oller or reliever Jeffrey Stovall in a 2-0 loss to the Demons at Brown-Stroud Field.
The loss drops the Wildcats to 16-33 overall and 8-19 in Southland Conference play, while the Demons improve to 31-22 and 18-10. The series will continue Friday with a game at 6:30 p.m. and conclude Saturday with a 2 p.m. game. ACU will then wrap up its season next Tuesday and Wednesday (May 24-25) with two games against the Arizona Wildcats in Tucson, Ariz.
Thursday's game settled into a pitcher's duel early as both Oller and ACU starting pitcher Garrett deMeyere moved through the opposing lineup with relative ease. deMeyere stranded five base runners in the first five innings, while the Wildcats stranded four baserunners against Oller in his six innings of work.
The Demons finally broke through against deMeyere in the sixth inning when he gave up a pair of runs. With one out and a runner on base via a hit by pitch, deMeyere gave up an RBI double to Daniel Garner, who drove in his 31st run of the season with the two-bagger. After deMeyere got a fly ball out, he gave up a double to Matthew Alford on a 1-2 pitch, allowing Garner to score to make it 2-0.
The Wildcats got a pair of runners on base with two outs in the seventh inning, but Willie Harris flew out to end ACU's final threat of the game.
Oller - 8-0 on the season after picking up the win - needed just 78 pitches to get through six innings en route to the combined shutout victory. He gave up just three hits and one walk while striking out five Wildcats. Stovall picked up his third save of the season, allowing just two hits over the final three innings.
deMyere was the hard-luck loser, falling to 4-8, despite giving up just seven hits and two runs (no walks) and striking out four Demons over seven strong innings in the final Southland Conference start of his career.
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The loss drops the Wildcats to 16-33 overall and 8-19 in Southland Conference play, while the Demons improve to 31-22 and 18-10. The series will continue Friday with a game at 6:30 p.m. and conclude Saturday with a 2 p.m. game. ACU will then wrap up its season next Tuesday and Wednesday (May 24-25) with two games against the Arizona Wildcats in Tucson, Ariz.
Thursday's game settled into a pitcher's duel early as both Oller and ACU starting pitcher Garrett deMeyere moved through the opposing lineup with relative ease. deMeyere stranded five base runners in the first five innings, while the Wildcats stranded four baserunners against Oller in his six innings of work.
The Demons finally broke through against deMeyere in the sixth inning when he gave up a pair of runs. With one out and a runner on base via a hit by pitch, deMeyere gave up an RBI double to Daniel Garner, who drove in his 31st run of the season with the two-bagger. After deMeyere got a fly ball out, he gave up a double to Matthew Alford on a 1-2 pitch, allowing Garner to score to make it 2-0.
The Wildcats got a pair of runners on base with two outs in the seventh inning, but Willie Harris flew out to end ACU's final threat of the game.
Oller - 8-0 on the season after picking up the win - needed just 78 pitches to get through six innings en route to the combined shutout victory. He gave up just three hits and one walk while striking out five Wildcats. Stovall picked up his third save of the season, allowing just two hits over the final three innings.
deMyere was the hard-luck loser, falling to 4-8, despite giving up just seven hits and two runs (no walks) and striking out four Demons over seven strong innings in the final Southland Conference start of his career.
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