Baseball | 2/19/2015 6:09:00 PM
EDINBURG – The ACU Wildcats are back on the diamond this weekend for a three-game series against Texas-Pan America in the Al Ogletree Classic at the Edinburg Baseball Stadium.
The Wildcats are 0-3 on the young season, while the Broncs are 2-2 after splitting four games last weekend at the Jackson State (Miss.) Tournament. ACU dropped three games last weekend to Nevada, which went to Lubbock on Tuesday and beat nationally ranked Texas Tech, 8-4.
This weekend's series is set for a 7 p.m. game Friday, followed by a 6 p.m. game Saturday and a 12 p.m. game Sunday. The last time the Wildcats started a season 0-3 was 1979, which is also the last time they started 0-4 on the year.
In three games last weekend, the Wildcats hit .255 as a team and came out of the series with a 6.33 ERA. The Wolf Pack outscored ACU 21-3 in the first 14 innings of the series, but then were outscored by the Wildcats 8-3 over the last 13 innings of the series. Nevada won the first game, 12-3, then won 9-6 and 3-2.
Leading the way offensively for the Wildcats in the early going is catcher
Alex Copeland (.545 with two RBI), freshman third baseman
Brayden Gomez (.417), and senior outfielder
Tyler Eager (.308 with one RBI).
ACU head coach
Britt Bonneau said
Aaron Mason (0-1 on the season) will get the start Friday with
Thomas Altimont (0-1) following him in the game.
Joe Gawrieh (0-0 on the season) will get the start Saturday with
Nate Cole (0-0) following him. And
Garrett deMeyere (0-1) will get the start Sunday.
The Broncs lost their first two games of the season (6-5 to Jackson State and 1-0 to Tennessee-Martin) before rallying last Saturday to beat UT-Martin, 8-7, and Jackson State, 7-0.
The Broncs hit just .197 in the tournament, led by Victor Garcia Jr., who is hitting .467 with two doubles, one home run and eight RBI in four games. Manny Loredo is the only other UTPA player hitting above .300 on the season. Loredo is hitting .333 with a team-high five runs scored.
Pan-American will send Blake English (0-1, 3.00 ERA) to the mound to start Friday's game, followed by Ryuan Jackson (0-1, 1.12 ERA) on Saturday and Robert Quinonez (0-0, 6.75 ERA) on Sunday.
