Baseball | 2/25/2016 11:08:00 PM
ACU vs. NORTHEASTERN
ABILENE – The ACU Wildcats return home this weekend for their final non-conference series before the start of Southland Conference play when they host Northeastern (Mass.) in a four-game set at Crutcher Scott Field.
The Wildcats and Huskies will meet four times over three days beginning with Friday's 4 p.m. single game and followed by Saturday's 1 p.m. doubleheader. The series will conclude Sunday with a single game at noon. Shortly after the series finale, Northeastern will head to Fort Myers, Fla., for an exhibition game Monday against the Boston Red Sox at the team's spring training site.
All four games will be broadcast on acusports.com with audio / video on Friday and Sunday and audio only on Saturday.
ACU enters the series against Northeastern at 4-1 on the season after Wednesday's 7-1 loss at No. 25 Oklahoma, while Northeastern is 2-2 after splitting a season-opening series at OU last weekend.
If form holds from last weekend, the Wildcats will send RHP
Kyle Carroll (Friday), RHP
Garrett deMeyere (Saturday), LHP
Aaron Mason (Saturday) and RHP
Drew Hanson (Sunday) to the mound in starting roles. Each of those four pitchers went six innings in their starts last weekend against UT Rio Grande Valley, and all four picked up victories.
Northeastern is set to send RHP Aaron Civale (Friday), RHP Dustin Hunt (Saturday), LHP James Mulry (Saturday) and RHP Will Jahn (Sunday) to the mound in starting roles. Civale beat OU last week, but none of the other three starters picked up wins over the Sooners.
ACU freshman shortstop leads the club offensively with a .313 batting average on the season, while junior third baseman
Aaron Draper is hitting .300 in the early going. The Wildcats are hitting .265 as a team, but the pitching staff has limited opponents to a .214 batting average.
The Huskies claimed their first-ever victories against a Big 12 opponent, pounding out eight hits during each game of the series last weekend against OU. Sophomore shortstop Max Burt led NU with a .438 series batting average (7 for 16), while Civale threw a career-high eight strikeouts en route to Colonial Athletic Association Pitcher of the Week honors.
