HEAD COACH BRITT BONNEAU INTERVIEW WITH GRANT BOONE
ABILENE – Abilene Christian's massive 16-game homestand reaches its halfway point this week as the Wildcats begin a three-game set vs. Bellarmine of the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
Game times are Thursday and Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at noon.
The Knights (3-4) are currently 0-3 on their Spring Break trip, which started Sunday with a 10-7 loss to Tarleton State at Crutcher Scott Field for the final game of the ACU/Whitten Inn Classic. Bellarmine nearly erased an eight-run deficit by scoring seven times between the fourth and fifth, but its bullpen was a bit wild as the Texans plated a pair of insurance runs in the seventh.
The Knights later suffered a two-game sweep at the hands of No. 15 Angelo State. The Rams won game one, 4-0, with three of their pitchers combining of a five-hit shutout, and got just enough out of their relievers to hang onto a 6-4 victory in game two.
Bellarmine senior Kyle Grana struck out 11 over 6.0 innings in game one vs. ASU and is penciled in as the Knights' game-three starter. He has a 1.64 ERA and 16 Ks through two starts. ACU is also likely to see Curtis McCombs, who was roughed up by Tarleton State, Benjamin Fuchs and Jason Sterett, who tossed 3.0 innings Tuesday at Angelo.
The Wildcats (9-7) celebrated their first winning weekend after taking two of three at its annual classic, which features Lone Star Conference teams playing in a non-conference setting. ACU lost badly in the first game to Tarleton State, 15-5, but rebounded with a resounding 18-3 triumph over Eastern New Mexico followed by a balanced 8-2 victory vs. Cameron.
Senior
Carter Hahn received a share of the conference's Pitcher of the Week award in recognition of his fine start vs. the Aggies, during which he struck out five over 7.1 innings. Hahn (3-0) faced the minimum three batters on three occasions and twice was helped by the double play. Hahn's season ERA of 2.30 and 33 strikeouts are ranked among the LSC leaders.
Brady Rodriguez followed Hahn to the mound for the final 1.2 innings. The junior allowed a run on two hits, but his ERA (1.10) and opponents' batting average (.196) still rank among the LSC's top-five leaders.
The ACU offense made a winner of senior Jordan Herrera (4-1) in its 15-run win over the Greyhounds, which was the team's fourth run-rule decision of the season. Herrera faced 28 batters over 7.0 innings, struck out six, and allowed three runs on four hits and two walks.
Herrera currently ranks second to Hahn with 31 Ks and is tied for the LSC lead with two others at four victories. He also is third among conference pitchers with 28.1 innings pitched.
After being held in check most of the night by Tarleton's Pete Perez, the Wildcats pounded out 23 hits vs. Eastern New Mexico and 11 more vs. Cameron to finish the weekend with an impressive batting and slugging percentages of .406 and .614. Additionally, every Wildcat within the starting lineup proved to be a major contributor as 10 players hit .333 or better.
Sophomore
Tyler Eager and senior
Kyle Conwell each hit a team-best .500 and combined for seven runs, six extra-base hits and five RBI, while newcomer
Seth Spivey drove in five and hit the Wildcats' first home run of the year – a leadoff shot over the wall in right field vs. the Greyhounds.
Senior
Travis Schuetze also had another hot weekend at the plate in extending his season-long on-base streak to 16 and team-best hitting streak to eight. He is now batting .449 on the season and leads ACU in hits with 22 and doubles with six.
