CAC’s offense flattens Baptist Prep

Central Arkansas Christian used its bats to beat the rain and Baptist Prep on Tuesday.

The Mustangs banged out 14 hits, including a towering solo home run from Spencer Wall, to cruise to a 13-4 victory at Eagle Field in Little Rock.

Six players had multiple hits each for CAC (9-4).

“Over the last three weeks, we’ve been tracking upwards,” CAC Coach Patrick Smith said. “We’ve gotten a lot of our young guys and sophomores who started last year going. … we’re starting to grow and come together as a team, and it’s showing.”

The Mustangs cooled off a Baptist Prep team that had won four of its previous five games. CAC overcame a 3-2, third-inning deficit by scoring six runs in the fourth to take control in a nonconference title before thunderstorms rolled into the area.

Webb Watson finished with a team-high three hits while Wall, Caleb Cowley, Grayson Wilson, Cade Sargent and Caleb Cook all had two hits apiece for CAC, which has won four games in a row and seven of its past eight.

“I’ve got a great assistant [Eric Hansen] who’d actually been working the last year at UALR, and I’m very fortunate to have him because he does a really great job with our guys on defense,” Smith said when talking about his team’s recent play. “But then, some of it is just returning experience. Some of our guys took some lumps last year.

“Our freshmen that started last year are turning into some men out there, and it all started [Tuesday] with Webb hitting one off the fence at the very beginning of the game.

“He’s hitting about .600 right now, tearing the ball off the cover. But that hit kind of set the tone for us.”

CAC didn’t cash in on Watson’s hard-hit double in the first and actually found itself trailing 1-0 at the end of the inning after Baptist Prep’s Jackson Mullen scored on Hunter Sherrill’s grounder.

The Mustangs responded in the second by tying it at 1-1 when Cowley scored on a double-steal before grabbing a 2-1 lead following a fielding error that allowed Sargent to sprint home.

Mullen, who came in batting .563, put Baptist Prep (8-7) back ahead with a long two-run home run to left-center field in the third until its rivals countered with its huge fourth.

CAC sent 11 batters to the plate in the inning, with Canon Brymer getting the surge started by ripping a bases-loaded, three-run double that gave the Mustangs a 5-3 advantage. One batter later, Wall blasted a ball to the left-field wall that plated two more runs. He, too, scored when a misplay in the outfield enabled him to reach home. Cowley also had an RBI-double in the frame.

Smith’s ballclub added three more runs in the sixth, with Wilson notching a two-run double and Cook cracking an RBI-single, and two runs in a seventh inning that began with Wall’s second home run in as many games. Sargent chipped in with a run-scoring triple as well.

“I think we’re starting to see the ball well,” Smith explained. “We’re getting a little bit of energy right now, which is helping us kind of get things together and put Mustangs baseball back on the map as far as what are goals are. We’re playing well, and I’m really proud of the guys.”

Mullen had three hits, while Isaac Devine, who had an RBI-single in the seventh, ended with two hits for the Eagles.

“Over the last three weeks, we’ve been tracking upwards. We’ve gotten a lot of our young guys and sophomores who started last year going. ... We’re starting to grow and come together as a team, and it’s showing.” CAC Coach Patrick Smith