Baseball | 1/29/2016 3:29:00 AM
ABILENE – ACU head baseball coach
Britt Bonneau will officially kick of his 20
th season as the leader of the Wildcats' program when his team goes through its first official practice of the spring at refurbished Crutcher Scott Field.
The 2016 Wildcats will hit the turf surface at Crutcher Scott at 3 p.m. Friday for the first full team workout of the season. Bonneau is 706-398-1 in 19 previous seasons with the Wildcats.
In ACU's 25
th anniversary of playing at Crutcher Scott Field, the field has undergone a dramatic transformation over the last three months as the grass and dirt were removed in favor of an all-turf field. A new fence was also added around the entire outfield, bringing the fences in some 10 feet all the way around to encourage more scoring and home runs, and a new home bullpen has been constructed beyond the right field wall.
The Wildcats' roster has also undergone a dramatic transformation since last May when ACU ended the 2015 season with back-to-back wins over Arizona and Hawaii in Tucson, Ariz. Gone are mainstays like
Tyler Eager,
Kevin Sheets,
Ladgie Zotyka and
Thomas Altimont and in their place are freshmen like outfielder
Derek Scott and shortstop
Mark Pearson (both from Abilene High), outfielder
Hunter Markwardt, outfielder
Willie Harris and infielder
David Ruot (Abilene Cooper High School), as well as transfers Dalton DeVries (infielder from American River JC),
Austin Call (infielder from American River JC),
Collin Dudley (righthanded pitcher from College of the Canyons),
Braxton Wilks (outfielder / lefthanded pitcher from McLennan JC), Caleb Daugherty (righthanded pitcher from McLennan JC), and
Zach Kornely (righthanded pitcher from McLennan JC).
Of course, the Wildcats also return a solid core of veterans in third baseman
Aaron Draper, second baseman
Russell Crippen, infielder / pitcher
Kyle Carroll and catcher
Alex Copeland among everyday players and pitchers
Garrett deMeyere,
Drew Hanson,
Aaron Mason,
Nate Cole, Austin
Brandon Lambright and
Nick Palacios.
The Wildcats will open the season at home on Friday, Feb. 19, with a 4 p.m. game against Texas-Rio Grande Valley. ACU will host UT-RGV for a four-game set over three days with a doubleheader scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 20.
ACU will also host Northeastern (Mass.) in a four-game set before Southland Conference play begins. ACU will host nationally ranked Dallas Baptist on Tuesday, March 29, TCU on Tuesday, April 19, and Texas Tech Tech on Tuesday, April 26. AC Will also host Southeastern Louisiana, Lamar, Houston Baptist, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Stephen F. Austin and New Orleans in Southland Conference action.
