Baseball | 3/19/2015 5:27:00 PM
NOTE: Because of the rains that have hit the Abilene area today, tonight's ACU baseball game against McNeese State has been pushed back to a 7 p.m. start at Crutcher Scott Field. Saturday's game has been moved up to a 1 p.m. start, and Sunday's game will also start at 1 p.m.ABILENE – The ACU Wildcats return to Crutcher Scott Field this weekend for a three-game Southland Conference series against a McNeese State team off to one of the best starts in recent program history.
The first game of the series is set for Friday at 7 p.m. with the second game to be played Saturday at 1 p.m. and the series finale set for a 1 p.m. start Sunday.
The Wildcats enter the game at 3-14 overall and 2-4 in the Southland, while the Cowboys are 15-6 overall and 5-1 in the conference. Saturday and Sunday's games can be viewed and heard on www.acusports.com, and fans can follow all three games via live stats. The two programs will clash for the first time in nearly 42 years. The last time the two teams met were in Abilene during the 1973 season. The Wildcats took two of three games from the Pokes.
ACU is coming off a mid-week split against Alabama A&M with a 9-5 loss on Tuesday evening and a 6-3 win Wednesday afternoon. Slowly but surely, the Wildcats seem to be finding their offense as they've raised their team batting average more than 20 points in the last week to .226. ACU scored seven runs in the ninth inning of last Saturday's 9-2 win at Southeastern Louisiana and had a six-run fifth inning in Wednesday's victory, the two biggest innings of the season.
The Wildcats are led by
Tyler Eager who has started in every game this season and has posted a .319 average along with 23 hits, six doubles and 12 RBI.
Alex Copeland has a .309 clip along with 17 hits, five doubles, six RBI and four walks.
ACU head coach
Britt Bonneau will send his normal pitching rotation to the mound this weekend with
Garrett deMeyere set to start Friday with
Aaron Mason and
Thomas Altimont getting the ball on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. deMeyere is 1-2 with a 5.21 ERA while Mason is 0-2 with a 4.95 ERA and Altimont is 0-4 with a 6.00 ERA.
Off to one of the best starts in recent program history, the Pokes are coming off a three-game sweep of Incarnate Word last weekend and are currently sitting one game out of first in the early Southland season. McNeese has scored eight victories in its last 10 contests and will enter the series with the Wildcats on a four-game winnings streak.
The Cowboys will mix up the pitching rotation this weekend, inserting junior Ethan Stremmel for the Sunday afternoon game. Junior Kaleb Fontenot (3-1, 2.70 ERA) will take the bump on Friday night while sophomore Trent Fontenot (2-1, 2.96 ERA) will draw the start for Saturday's contest.
As a team, the Cowboys boast one of the top hitting percentages in the Southland Conference. Their .296 batting clip ranks second best in the league along with their 212 hits, 102 runs scored, 12 homers 26 stolen bases through 21 games. On the mound, McNeese has a 2.92 ERA, with nine saves, walking 63 and striking out 182 in 194.0 innings of work.
