Baseball | 5/7/2015 4:02:00 PM
ABILENE – The ACU Wildcats will try to keep their recent hot streak going this weekend when they return to Crutcher Scott Field to host Northwestern State in a three-game Southland Conference baseball series.
The series will get started Friday at 6 p.m., followed by a 2 p.m. game Saturday and a 1 p.m. game Sunday. All three games will be available to watch at
http://portal.stretchinternet.com/abilene/.
The Wildcats are 13-31 on the season and 11-13 in the Southland Conference and are coming off a three-game sweep of New Orleans last weekend. The Wildcats' sweep represents the first winning streak of the season, and it also marked the program's first sweep of a Southland Conference series dating back to even ACU's first stint in the league (1964-73).
ACU's win over New Orleans on Friday was the 700th in the 19-year career of Wildcat head coach
Britt Bonneau. In his 19th season as a head coach (all at ACU), Bonneau is 702-391-1 as the Wildcats' head coach. He will be honored for his accomplishment on the field prior to Friday night's first pitch.
Northwestern State, meanwhile, enters the weekend at 26-19 overall and 16-7 in the Southland and comes into the series after taking two of three games from Notre Dame last weekend in South Bend, Ind. The Demons lost the first game to the Fighting Irish (4-1), but won the final two games of the series by the scores of 8-2 and 8-4.
The Wildcats are hitting .245 as a team and are led by senior first baseman
Tyler Eager, who is hitting .285 with one home run and a team-leading 27 RBI. Sophomore second baseman
Russell Crippen has played some of the best baseball of his ACU career of late, raising his average to .274 with two home runs and 21 RBI.
The pitching staff has been solid in conference play with a 4.08 team ERA. That staff has been led by senior right-hander
Thomas Altimont, who is 3-3 with a 1.71 ERA in Southland Conference action. Altimont will get the start Friday night, followed by
Nate Cole (0-1, 4.76 ERA in conference play) on Saturday and
Garrett deMeyere (3-2, 5.36 ERA in conference play) on Sunday.
