Now in his 22nd season at the helm of the ACU baseball program, Britt Bonneau turned the Wildcat program into a perennial contender for an NCAA Division II national championship, has led the program through its four-year transition to NCAA Division I affiliation, and now has the program in its first year of eligibility for the Southland Conference Post-Season Tournament after the successful completion of that transition.
In 2017, the Wildcats concluded the program's transition by taking the No. 1 team in the country – the Oregon State Beavers -- to the wire twice in a three-game set to end the year. ACU lost to the Beavers 5-4 in 11 innings in the first game of the series and 4-2 in the season finale, two games the Wildcats could have won.
In their second season at the NCAA Division I level, the Wildcats were an improved squad in 2015. The Wildcats finished 17-38 overall, but were 13-17 in Southland Conference play (ninth in league play). Each of the Wildcats' 17 wins were over NCAA Division I opponents, an increase of five over the 2014 season when the Wildcats won just 12 games against NCAA Division I opponents.
The Wildcats' 13 conference wins were more than double what they won in their inaugural season when they were at the Division I level (2014) when they finished 6-18 in conference play.
The 2015 season was also an historic one for Bonneau as he won his 700th career game (all at ACU) when the Wildcats rallied for an 8-6 win over New Orleans in Louisiana on May 1, 2015. The Wildcats scored five runs in the top of the seventh to make a winner out of relief pitcher Aaron Mason. Nate Cole picked up his first save in the Wildcats' victory.
The Wildcats played some of their best baseball of the season against the best teams on their schedule. They lost four one-run games against top-20 oppponents: 6-5 in 16 innings at No. 5 Texas Tech on March 3; 4-3 vs. No. 2 TCU on April 6 in Abilene; 7-6 against No. 19 Texas Tech on April 14 in Abilene; and 3-2 at No. 1 Texas A&M on April 15 in College Station.
ACU then finished the season with a 2-1 win at Arizona in the next-to-last game of the season and then knocked off Hawaii, 7-4, in the season finale in a neutral-site game in Tucson, Ariz. The Wildcats' win over Arizona marked the second straight season ACU has beaten Arizona, and it also marked the final loss of legendary Arizona head coach Andy Lopez's career. He retired shortly after the end of the 2015 season.
In their first season at the NCAA Division I level in 2014 (first year of transition from NCAA Division II), the Wildcats were 18-36 overall and 6-12 in the Southland Conference. The Wildcats’ biggest win came in the next-to-last game of the year (May 24) when they knocked off four-time College World Series champion Arizona, 6-5, in Tucson, Ariz.
Before Bonneau joined the ACU baseball program, the Wildcats had won one conference championship and had never made an NCAA post-season appearance in more than 30 years.
Since his arrival as an assistant coach in 1996, ACU fielded one of the most successful baseball programs in NCAA Division II. Bonneau – who became the Wildcats’ head coach at the age of 26 in 1997 – has led ACU to new heights in his 18 seasons as head coach.
From 2000-10, the Wildcats captured eight LSC South Division titles (2000-02, 2004-05, 2007, 2009 and 2010), two regular season championships (2008 and 2010) and five LSC Post-Season Tournament titles (2000-02, 2009, and 2010). Bonneau’s teams were also invited to nine of the last 13 NCAA Division II South Central region tournaments.
The 2003 Wildcats won the regional title for the first time in school history, enabling ACU to make its first appearance in the NCAA Division II College World Series.
All of the Wildcats’ success has helped make Bonneau the winningest coach in school history with a record of 689-360-1. His 671 wins left ACU as one of the winningest baseball programs in NCAA Division II over the past two decades.
To those who have followed his career, it should come as no surprise that Bonneau has turned ACU into a big winner.
This new level to ACU is not new to Bonneau, who played collegiately at Lubbock Christian before spending one season at Oklahoma where he helped the Sooners earn a berth in the College World Series in 1992.
In more than 20 years as a player, assistant coach and head coach at the college level, Bonneau has gone to one NCAA Division I College World Series, one NCAA Division II College World Series, one NAIA College World Series.
As a standout centerfielder at Lubbock Christian (1989-91), he helped lead LCU to the 1991 NAIA World Series and was named Rawlings Region IV Player of the Year and first team all-America. He led the nation in hits (111), runs scored (109), RBI (98) and was third in home runs (19).
In 1992 he played right field for Oklahoma and helped lead it to the Big Eight regular season title, a NCAA South Central region championship and a fifth-place finish at the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. Bonneau was named to the Big Eight all-Tournament team and the American Airlines/National Baseball Congress all-America team.
Following college, Bonneau went on to a brief professional career with the Chicago Cubs’ organization and in the Texas-Louisiana League with the Tyler Wildcatters and the Lubbock Crickets, whom he helped lead to a league crown.
He began his coaching career as an assistant at the University of Texas-San Antonio in 1993 before moving to LCU in 1994 and then ACU in 1996.
Bonneau, 48, received his B.S. in kinesiology in 1994 from LCU. He and his wife, Cari, have four daughters, Jaci, Mati, Scotlyn and Landry.
BRITT BONNEAU'S RECORD AT ACU
| Year |
Record / Conference Record |
Post-Season |
| 2017 |
13-43 / 3-27 |
N/A |
| 2016 |
16-37 / 8-21 |
N/A |
| 2015 |
17-38 / 13-17 |
N/A |
| 2014 |
18-36 / 6-18 |
First year in Southland Conference |
| 2013 |
29-24 / 15-13 |
LSC post-season tournament semifinalist |
| 2012 |
26-28 / 11-17 |
LSC post-season tournament semifinalist |
| 2011 |
24-23 / 16-17 |
|
| 2010 |
50-15 / 28-11 |
LSC Regular Season champion
LSC Tournament champion
NCAA Division II South Central Regional |
| 2009 |
44-19 / 30-14 |
Lone Star Conference champion
NCAA Division II South Central Regional |
| 2008 |
44-17 / 35-7 |
LSC Tournament runner-up
LSC regular-season champion
NCAA Division II South Central Regional |
| 2007 |
47-13 / 17-3 |
LSC Tournament runner-up
LSC South Division champion |
| 2006 |
44-18 / 13-7 |
LSC Tournament runner-up
NCAA Division II South Central Regional |
| 2005 |
42-17 / 16-4 |
LSC Tournament runner-up
LSC South Division champion
NCAA Division II South Central Regional |
| 2004 |
31-25 / 16-8 |
LSC South Division co-champion |
| 2003 |
45-20 / 15-8 |
LSC Tournament runner-up
NCAA Division II South Central Region champion
NCAA Division II College World Series |
| 2002 |
45-14 / 17-6 |
LSC champion
LSC South Division champion
NCAA Division II South Central Region runner-up |
| 2001 |
43-17 / 19-5 |
LSC champion
LSC South Division champion
NCAA Division II South Central Regional |
| 2000 |
41-16-1 / 12-8 |
LSC champion
LSC South Division champion
NCAA Division II South Central Regional |
| 1999 |
41-19 / 12-6 |
LSC Tournament runner-up |
| 1998 |
41-17 / 15-5 |
LSC South Division champion |
| 1997 |
34-22 / 8-12 |
|
| TOTALS |
735-478-1 / 325-234 |
|
BONNEAU'S MILESTONE WINS AT ACU
| Win |
Score |
Opponent |
Date |
| 1 |
11-10 |
Schreiner College |
Feb. 8, 1997 |
| 25 |
24-0 |
Hardin-Simmons |
April 1, 1997 |
| 50 |
4-1 |
Colorado School of Mines |
March 17, 1998 |
| 100 |
11-3 |
Minnesota State-Mankato |
March 19, 1999 |
| 150 |
12-11 |
McMurry |
April 18, 2000 |
| 200 |
6-5 |
Central Oklahoma |
April 28, 2001 |
| 250 |
3-0 |
Northeastern State |
Feb. 8, 2003 |
| 350 |
8-7 |
Tarleton State |
Feb. 27, 2004 |
| 400 |
6-1 |
Eastern New Mexico |
April 22, 2006 |
| 450 |
9-4 |
West Texas A&M |
April 28, 2007 |
| 500 |
10-2 |
New Mexico Highlands |
Feb. 7, 2009 |
| 600 |
8-4 |
Texas A&M-International |
March 5, 2011 |
| 650 |
18-3 |
Eastern New Mexico |
March 1, 2013 |
| 700 |
8-6 |
New Orleans |
May 1, 2015 |
