ACU looks for first title
5/24/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Spartains, Wildcats set for rematch
No. 1 Tampa, No. 4 ACU top first-round matchup at CWS
THIS WEEK
The fourth-ranked Wildcats will make their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division II College World Series this week after winning the South Central Region title in Cleveland, Miss. The Wildcats beat No. 1-ranked Delta State, Miss., twice on the Statesmen's home field to win the regional championship. Delta State had a 47-game home-field winning streak snapped by ACU's 14-5 win in the winner's bracket game on Friday, May 16.
RADIO
All of ACU's games in the College World Series can be heard on KEAN 1470 AM with David Bacon calling the play-by-play.
ABOUT THE WILDCATS
The Wildcats -- who have now won 40 or more games in six straight seasons -- have tied the school record for wins in a season with 45. Last year's club established the record in its run to the regional championship game. ... In just his seventh season, ACU head coach Britt Bonneau has already won 290 games (against just 123 losses), three Lone Star Conference titles and one regional championship. He has led ACU to four of its five regional tournament appearances and now its first College World Series appearance. ... ACU revived its baseball program in 1991 after disbanding the program following the 1979 season. ACU graduate and former big-league pitcher Bill Gilbreth was the program's first coach after the revival, guiding the Wildcats from 1991-1995. ... Prior to Bonneau taking over the program in 1997, ACU had recorded just 10 winning seasons in its history and had one more than 40 games just once (41 in 1996). In fact, the program's overall record prior to Bonneau's arrival as the head coach was a meager 402-528-1 (.432 winning percentage). Bonneau's winning percentage of .700 has raised the baseball program's overall winning percentage to .514. ... The Wildcats have won 10 of their last 12 ballgames entering the World Series, including the three-game sweep of the regional tournament where the Wildcats collected 46 hits and scored 36 runs. ... ACU's offensive attack has been spearheaded by the quartet of senior third baseman Brad Massey, senior leftfielder Marcelino Escalante, senior centerfielder Creighton Bryan and sophomore shortstop Ryan Barker. ... Massey, who was named the MVP at the regional tournament, is closing out one of the great careers in the history of ACU and Lone Star Conference baseball. He is the school's all-time leader in home runs (26), doubles (56) and total bases (387), and is in the top three in hits (second with 231), RBI (third with 152; only three from a new record), runs scored (second with 168) and triples (second with 11). Massey, who was named the Lone Star Conference South Division MVP, also pitches, and could start the second game of the World Series for the Wildcats. He pitched 5 2/3 innings of solid baseball last Friday in ACU's 14-5 win over Delta State. On the season, Massey is 2-0 with a 4.88 ERA in six appearances (31 1/3 innings of work). ... Escalante carried the Wildcats through the early and mid-part of the season when their bats went cold, and enters the CWS hitting .362 with a team-high 10 home runs and 51 RBI. He was relatively quiet through the first two games of the regional tournament, but was 3 for 6 with two runs scored, two doubles and two RBI in the championship-game victory over Delta State. His 25 doubles this season are new single-season record. ... Bryan, a pre-season all-America selection, has been steady all season hitting out of the No. 2 spot in the lineup. Bryan leads all starters in hitting at .364 to go along with four home runs and 51 RBI. Bryan, who was an all-tournament selection at the regional tournament, leads the club with 87 hits. ... Barker was unstoppable in the first two games of the regional tournament, racking up five base hits and nine RBI. He had four RBI on a third-inning grand slam in last Thursday's 9-5 win over Central Oklahoma, then came back with five more RBI in the Friday win over Delta State. Barker, who started the season as the starting shortstop, was thrust back into that role after former starter, Beau Bimson, broke his throwing (right) hand at the conference tournament in Edmond, Okla. Barker responded by playing error-free baseball in three games and earning an all-tournament selection. ... Junior leftfielder Brian Johnson also had an outstanding tournament, collecting 11 hits in 15 trips to the plate, scoring four runs and driving in three runs, earning all-tournament honors. ... Senior catcher Chris Churchill enters the tournament hitting .350 with six home runs and 43 RBI, and he keyed a four-run fourth inning in Sunday's win over Delta State with an RBI double off the centerfield wall. ... Senior second baseman Luis Munoz is also getting hot at the right time, having raised his average more than 25 points in the last two weeks to its current .320. Munoz was 6 for 13 with four RBI in the regional tournament, including going 3 for 5 with three RBI in the championship-game win over the Statesmen. .. ACU's pitching staff has been consistent all season, although it doesn't have the dominating starter or two that it has had in the past. ... Aaron Lawler leads the team with nine wins, although he has started just two games (24 relief appearances). The starting pitcher with the best record is Kade Simmons, who is 8-2 with a 3.94 ERA. Simmons came into Sunday's win over Delta State after starter Brandon Shaw lasted just 1 2/3 innings. Simmons, who inherited a 5-2 deficit, allowed just four hits and two runs over 3 1/3 innings of work to pick up the victory. ... Justin Whitlock has been great out of the bullpen all season, but has really stepped it up a notch in the last two weeks. Last week at the regional tournament, he closed out each of the Wildcats' victories, recording a save in the championship game by giving up just three runs on three hits in the final three innings of the game. Whitlock, who was named to the all-tournament team, is 3-1 with a 2.98 ERA and seven saves entering the College World Series. Two weeks ago at the LSC Tournament, he picked up two wins and one save to earn tournament MVP honors and help the Wildcats rally from the loser's bracket into the conference tournament championship game. ... Senior Robert Newland could get the start Sunday night against Tampa, especially based on his performance last Thursday against Central Oklahoma. In that win over the hard-hitting Bronchos, Newland scattered seven hits and five runs over eight innings while striking out nine batters. Newland is 5-1 with a 3.11 ERA and a team-best 79 strikeouts in a team-high 81 innings of work.
ACU STARTING PITCHERS
Here are ACU's probable starting pitchers for its first two games of the tournament:
Game 1 -- Robert Newland (5-1, 3.11 ERA, 81.0 IP, 81 H, 43 R, 28 ER, 38 BB, 79 K)
Game 2 -- Brad Massey (2-0, 4.88 ERA, 31.1 IP, 37 H, 22 R, 17 ER, 12 BB, 17 K)
ACU vs. THE REST OF THE FIELD
ACU has only played two of the other seven teams in the field, and here's how those series stand:
vs. Tampa -- Tampa leads the all-time series 1-0. ... The two teams met on March 7, 2003, at the Montgomery Classic with the Spartans taking a 3-0 win. ... Eric Beattie went eight innings to pick up the win for Tampa.
vs. Kennesaw State -- The Owls lead the series 1-0. ... The two teams met on March 11, 2003, in Livingston, Ala., with the Owls winning 6-2. ... Kennesaw scored five times in the first en route to the win.
DID YOU KNOW?
ACU has been ranked in 87 of 88 NCAA Division II top 30 polls by Collegiate Baseball magazine, including the last 74 straight? The last time ACU failed to appear in the top 30 was April 26, 199. ACU's highest ranking in its 87 poll appearances was the No. 3 ranking it achieved in back-to-back polls (Feb. 17 and Feb. 24) earlier this season. ACU has been ranked in the top 10 in 37 of 87 weeks, and its average ranking in 87 polls is 12th.
