Wildcats set to take on Arizona State in final game at iconic stadium

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TEMPE, Ariz. -- The ACU Wildcats begin their highest-profile road swing in program history Tuesday night as they take on five-time College World Series champion Arizona State in the final game at historic Packard Stadium.

Game time is set for 6:30 p.m. local time, which is 8:30 p.m. Abilene time. The game can be heard locally on 98.1 FM The Ticket and on www.acusports.com.

Following Tuesday night's game against the Sun Devils, the Wildcats will travel about 110 miles southeast to Tucson, Ariz., where they will take on the Arizona Wildcats, four-time CWS champions, including a national title just two seasons ago. That three-game series (Friday-Sunday) will wrap up ACU's first season at the NCAA Division I level.

The Wildcats enter Tuesday  night's game at ASU At 17-33 on the season and will carry a five-game losing skid into the ballgame. ACU, however, has only allowed more than five runs in a game once in the skid as the pitching staff has had its best run of the season.

Senior left-hander Brady Rodriguez (4-8, 4.61 ERA) is set to get the start Tuesday against Arizona State and in Sunday's season-finale at Arizona.

Senior catcher Seth Spivey -- who on Monday was named second team all-Southland Conference at catcher -- continues to lead the Wildcats' offensively with a .350 batting average and five home runs to go along with 33 RBI. Freshman shortstop Brandon Grudzielanek leads the team in RBI with 35 and is hitting .341 on the season.

ACU could get a boost to its lineup this week with the possible return of third baseman Kyle Giusti, who got three at-bats last weekend at Incarnate Word after missing every game since March 25 with a groin injury. Giusti could be back in the field and in the middle of ACU's lineup against the Sun Devils and Wildcats.

Packard Stadium in Tempe is one of the iconic stadiums in college baseball. The first game was played there April 7, 1974, and in the years since the Sun Devils are 1,121-307-1 (.785 winning percentage) in 1,429 total games at the stadium. The stadium has been home to 80 Major League Baseball players, including two Most Valuable Players, four Rookies of the Year, an ALCS and NLCS MVP, and four World Series Champions, including players like Barry Bonds, Reggie Jackson, Sal Bando, Bob Horner, and Dustin Pedroia.

Arizona State recently completed a three-game sweep of Utah and has won six straight games to record its 52nd straight 30-win season. ASU enters Tuesday night's game at 30-21 and is led by Drew Stankiewicz, who is hitting .322 with three home runs and 22 RBI. Nathaniel Causey is hitting .318 with four home runs and 25 RBI for the Sun Devils.