ABILENE, Texas (Interstat) — Brady Ladusau went 4-for-6 with six runs batted in and Diego Cardenas homered twice as Abilene Christian routed Utah Valley 16-6 on Sunday afternoon at Kimbrell Arena in the rubber match of a Western Athletic Conference series.

The Wildcats rallied from a 6-6 tie after five innings by scoring 10 unanswered runs, taking control on Cardenas’ second homer of the game in the bottom of the fifth and breaking the game open with a five-run seventh inning.

Abilene Christian improved to 24-25 overall and 12-14 in conference play. Utah Valley fell to 12-34 and 7-19.

Ladusau, who had been hitless in his previous four games, delivered a two-run single in the first inning and added a go-ahead RBI groundout in the fourth. He capped his day with a two-run single in the eighth inning. Cardenas was 3-for-3 with a pair of solo homers, his 21st and 22nd of the season.

Carson Wallace pitched 3 1/3 hitless innings of relief for the Wildcats, striking out three. Evan Whiteaker started and went 4 2/3 innings, allowing six hits and three earned runs with five strikeouts.

Derek Houston led Utah Valley by going 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs. Chance Wallace pitched two hitless innings with three strikeouts for the Wolverines, who had won the series opener 5-3 on Saturday after losing 9-2 on Friday.

The game swung dramatically in the fifth inning. After Utah Valley scored two unearned runs in the top half to tie the score 6-6, Cardenas led off the bottom of the fifth with a homer to right field, putting Abilene Christian ahead for good. The Wildcats added a run in the sixth on a Ladusau groundout that made it 8-6.

Abilene Christian broke the game open in the seventh. With the bases loaded and one out, Maddox Miesse doubled to right-center, scoring Payne to make it 9-6. After a pitching change, JT Thompson doubled to deep center field, clearing the bases and stretching the lead to 11-6.

Reese Borho added a solo homer in the eighth, his first of the season, and Miesse walked with the bases loaded to force in another run. Thompson then reached on a fielder’s choice that scored Cardenas, and Ladusau capped the scoring with a two-run single to center.

Utah Valley’s offense sputtered after the fifth inning. The Wolverines managed only one baserunner over the final three innings and struck out six times against Abilene Christian’s bullpen.

The Wildcats finished with 12 hits, while Utah Valley had six. Abilene Christian committed two errors, but the Wolverines were unable to capitalize.

Utah Valley took an early lead in the first inning. Easton Block scored on a groundout by Coy Beck, and Carter Carpenter scored on an infield single by Jackson Strong that was compounded by a fielding error. The Wolverines added a run in the second on an RBI single by McKay Brass and a solo homer by Houston in the fourth.

Abilene Christian answered each time. After falling behind 2-0, the Wildcats scored three in the bottom of the first on an RBI single by Thompson and a two-run single by Ladusau. They tied the game at 3-3 on an unearned run in the third, then took a 4-3 lead on Cardenas’ first homer in the fourth.

The Wildcats now travel to Utah Tech for a three-game series starting Thursday. Utah Valley visits BYU on Thursday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Abilene Christian 5, Utah Valley 0. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Abilene Christian with a 66.50 percent probability to win.