ABILENE – The Abilene Christian baseball team invites three Lone Star Conference teams and the Knights of Bellarmine University to Crutcher Scott Field this weekend for its second-annual Whitten Inn Classic.
Action begins Thursday at 6 p.m. with a non-conference battle between the Wildcats and Tarleton State (6-6-1) and continues Friday through Sunday with three straight 1/6 p.m. doubleheaders. ACU will play the 6 p.m. game Friday and Saturday, while Sunday features two neutral-site contests between Cameron (3-7) and Eastern New Mexico (11-2) in game one, and Bellarmine (3-1) vs. the Texans in the nightcap.
Live stats are available for all seven of this weekend's games.
The Wildcats enter their second month of the season with an overall record of 7-6, which consists of several four-game splits mixed in with a 10-2 victory at McMurry. ACU settled for a split of last weekend's series vs. New Mexico Highlands after surrendering three runs in the eighth inning of game four's 5-4 loss.
In the game prior, however, the Wildcats received stellar pitching from starter
Carter Hahn and reliever
Brady Rodriguez, who combined on a seven-inning, six-hit shutout of the Cowboys. Hahn struck out six in 5.1 innings pitched, while Rodriguez earn his first save of the season by allowing just one walk over the final 1.2 frames.
Rodriguez totaled 5.1 innings through three relief appearances last weekend and held the Cowboys' offense to a paltry .063 batting average. These combined outings lowered his season ERA to a team best 0.61.
Austin Palmer also pitched well vs. Highlands in game four, giving up just one earned run through 5.0 innings, while
Ty Taylor racked up six Ks against the Cowboys in his game one start.
On offense, veterans
Chuck Duarte,
Travis Schuetze and
Seth Spivey all hit the ball consistently well as each batted over .400 for the weekend. Duarte went 6-for-11 with two RBI, Schuetze was 6-for-12 with four runs, and Spivey tripled, scored five runs and stole three bases as part of a 5-for-12 weekend.
Schuetze – the clubhouse leader with a .474 batting average – has reached base in all 13 games along with Spivey, while Duarte currently has an 11-game streak in progress.
Of the Wildcats 34 hits last weekend, only two were for extra bases – triples by Spivey and
Kyle Conwell – but they made the most of their position by stealing 15 bases on 18 attempts. Nine of ACU's thefts came in game one of the series, which tied a single-game record that's now been accomplished on five occasions. The Wildcats last recorded nine steals during a 2011 game vs. Texas A&M-Kingsville.
ACU went 1-2 at last year's classic, falling to Eastern and Cameron before rebounding on the final day for a 6-1 win vs. Tarleton State.
Whitten Inn Classic Schedule
Thursday, Feb. 28
ACU vs. Tarleton State - 6 p.m.
Friday, March 1
Tarleton State (home) vs. Cameron (away) - 1 p.m.
ACU vs. Eastern New Mexico - 6 p.m.
Saturday, March 2
Eastern New Mexico (home) vs. Tarleton State (away) - 1 p.m.
ACU vs. Cameron - 6 p.m.
Sunday, March 3
Cameron (home) vs. Eastern New Mexico (away) - 1 p.m.
Tarleton State (home) vs. Bellarmine (away) - 6 p.m.
