No baseball in Abilene: Bears, Wildcats looking for alternatives

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ABILENE – The ACU Wildcats' weekend baseball series against Northern Colorado won't be played at Crutcher Scott Field, if it's played at all.

A snow storm that blanketed the Big Country on Thursday and Friday has left ACU's home field unplayable. The Bears and Wildcats are now looking northwest to Lubbock to try and play a doubleheader Sunday and a single game Monday at Texas Tech's Dan Law Field.

If that series works out, Northern Colorado would then play Tech in a 6:30 p.m. game Monday that was already scheduled. And then ACU would return to Lubbock on Tuesday to play the Red Raiders in a makeup of a game that was to have been played last week in Abilene.

However, all of those scenarios are on hold until the current weather pattern plays out and fields can be made playable.

If the Wildcats and Bears do get to play, ACU will enter the series against the Bears at 0-6 on the season after season-opening sweeps at the hands of Nevada (at Crutcher Scott Field) and Texas-Pan American (in Edinburg). ACU has been a bit snakebitten in the early going as five of their six losses have been by three or runs less, two have been by two runs and two have been by one run.

Junior college transfer catcher Alex Copeland leads the Wildcats in hitting at .391, while freshman third baseman Brayden Gomez is hitting .304. Sophomore first baseman Russell Crippen is hitting .292 with one home run and a team-high five RBI, while senior centerfielder Tyler Eager is also hitting .292.

ACU, however, is hitting just .225 as a team and have already struck out 55 times in the program's first 0-6 start since the 1976 season.

Senior right-hander Thomas Altimont is 0-2 with a 7.88 ERA, and he is scheduled to get the start for ACU in the first game of the series, followed by left-hander Aaron Mason (0-1, 13.50 ERA) and right-hander Garrett deMeyere (0-1, 2.35 ERA).

The Bears – who were 10-43 last season – are 1-3 this season after losing three of four games to San Jose State in a season-opening series Feb. 20-22.

Northern Colorado is hitting 248 as a team, led by Ryan Tamane, who is hitting .455 with two RBI, while Jake Garcia is at .400 and Cole Maltese is at .375 with one home run and two RBI.

Schedule

Players Mentioned

Thomas Altimont

Alex Copeland

Brayden Gomez

Aaron Mason