Baseball | 3/6/2015 12:19:00 AM
ABILENE – The ACU Wildcats welcome one of the nation's top pitching staffs to Crutcher Scott Field this weekend for a three-game series that will mark the beginning of Southland Conference play for both ACU and the Colonels of Nicholls (La.).
The three-game series will get started Friday at 6 p.m. and will continue Saturday at 2 p.m. before wrapping up Sunday at 1 p.m. Friday night's game will be broadcast on 98.1 FM, while the final two games of the series will be available on acusports.com.
Nicholls is 8-3-1 on the season with series wins over Stony Brook (2012 College World Series participant) and Utah to go along with a Feb. 18 win over then-No. 2-ranked LSU in Baton Rouge, La. The Colonels have a 1.53 ERA on the season, which ranks as the eighth-best in the country in the early part of the year.
ACU, meanwhile, is off to an 0-7 start to the season, although pitching hasn't been the Wildcats' problem this season. The Wildcats have a respectable 4.75 ERA, although that number is 3.17 in the Wildcats' last five games. ACU threw 10 consecutive shutout innings Tuesday night in a 6-5, 16-inning loss at No. 5 Texas Tech.
The Wildcats' biggest issue in the early part of the season has been a lack of offense. They are hitting just .223 with only 23 runs scored and a team on-base percentage of .266. ACU has also been its own worst enemy at the plate with 72 strikeouts against just 12 walks.
Freshman third baseman
Brayden Gomez and junior catcher
Alex Copeland are tied for the team lead in batting average at .357, and they are the only two Wildcats hitting better than .300. Senior centerfielder
Tyler Eager is hitting .267, while sophomore first baseman
Russell Crippen is at .233 with one home run and a team-best five RBI.
The Wildcats will give the ball to right-hander
Garrett deMeyere on Friday, followed by left-hander
Aaron Mason on Saturday and right-hander
Thomas Altimont on Sunday. deMeyere is 0-1 with a 2.35 in two starts, while Mason is 0-1 with a 13.50 ERA in two starts and Altimont is 0-2 with an 8.25 ERA in three appearances (two starts).
Nicholls is currently eighth in the nation and first in the Southland Conference in ERA with a 1.53 average. Left-hander Grant Borne is first in the conference in ERA (0.53), while righties Ryan Deemes (0.64) and Justin Sinibaldi (1.59) are third and eighth respectively. Reliever Stuart Holmes in third in the nation and first in the Southland in saves (five).
Offensively, Nicholls is batting .258 as a team, with 23 extra-base hits and four home runs. The Colonels are 32nd in the nation and second in the conference in triples. Darius Knight is seventh in the nation and first in the league in sacrifice bunts (four).
Nicholls' rotation will be Frazier (1-1) on Friday, Borne (0-1) on Saturday and Sinibaldi (2-1) on Sunday.
