ABILENE – The Wildcats regular season finale with Tarleton State at Crutcher Scott Field has been pushed back to a 5 p.m. start on Friday due to thunderstorms that passed through Abilene over the night. Saturday's doubleheader remains the same as ACU has clinched the No. 1 seed in next week's Lone Star Conference tournament held in Abilene.
# 6 ABILENE CHRISTIAN vs. SOUTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA
APRIL 23-24, 2010 • ABILENE, TX
|
First Pitch
|
Friday: 5:05 p.m. / Saturday: 3:35 p.m.
|
|
Stadium
|
Crutcher Scott Field
|
|
Radio
|
Internet Only
|
|
Live Video
|
|
|
Live Stats
|
|
FIRST PITCH
ACU dropped three spots in the national rankings but picked up their fifth consecutive LSC series win of the season and a non-conference win against UTPB. The Wildcats are now 26-2 at home as opposed to 14-8 on the road as they broke the 40 win plateau for the 12th time in school history and fifth consecutive time. It is also the 12th time under Britt Bonneau in his 14 season the Wildcats have won 40 or more games. In the three wins ACU score five plus runs making them 31-1 in games they have scored five or more runs this season. As a team the Wildcats rank in the top 10 in NCAA DII in three major offensive categories; #6 in batting average (.372), #7 in runs (405), and #6 in hits (548). The Wildcats are also #2 in NCAA DII with a .976 fielding percentage. Against SWOSU Clint Bowker saw his average rise to .398 while ACU has three players hitting over .400; Cameron Bankston (.434), Will Calhoun (.414), and Aaron Oliver (.401). Oliver continues to shine in centerfield for ACU while he blasted his sixth homer of the season in a non-conference win against UTPB. The Wildcats will finish up the regular season with Tarleton State before heading into the LSC Tournament as the No. 1 seed.
SERIES HISTORY
ACU leads the series 72-52 in one of their longest LSC rivalries. Last year ACU split the season the regular season series with TSU to end the regular season. However ACU defeated the Texans in the LSC Post Season tournament, 5-4 to advance to the championship game for the fourth consecutive year. Brad Rutherford picked up the win as the Wildcats came back to win playing as the visiting team in the top of the ninth inning.
STREAKS
The Wildcats lost back-to-back games for only the second time this season and first since losing to Southeastern Oklahoma and Delta State in March. ACU also has another streak running as they are currently riding a 14 game home winning streak at Crutcher Scott. The ninth-ranked Wildcats have only lost two games all season at their home park where they are 26-2 on the season. Their only losses came from Eastern New Mexico and Central Oklahoma. The loss to UCO came all the back on February 15, in an extra inning loss as the Bronchos scored four in the eighth handing Wildcat closer Rutherford his first loss of the season.
UP NEXT
ACU will have the luxury of playing at Crutcher Scott Field for the upcoming Lone Star Conference Tournament, May 1-4. The Wildcats have locked down the No. 1 seed for the tournament as the top six teams from the conference qualify.
