Wildcats return to Southland action at McNeese State

Baseball | 3/24/2016 12:05:00 PM

Abilene Christian (9-11, 2-4 Southland) vs. McNeese State (10-9, 3-3 Southland)
Cowboy Diamond (2,500)
Lake Charles, La.
 
Thursday, March 24 (6 p.m.): Audio l Live Stats
Friday, March 25 (6 p.m.): Audio l Live Stats
Saturday, March 26 (3 p.m.): Audio l Live Stats
 
Starting Pitchers
Thursday: RHP Kyle Carroll (ACU) vs. RHP Bryce Kingsley (McN)
Friday: RHP Garrett deMeyere (ACU) vs. RHP Kaleb Fontenot (McN)
Saturday: LHP Aaron Mason (ACU) vs. LHP Bryan King (McN)
 
Abilene Christian
      The Wildcats return to Southland Conference play this weekend with a series at McNeese State that begins Thursday and ends Saturday because of the Eastern holiday weekend.
      The Wildcats have lost four straight games after being swept at home last weekend by Southeastern Louisiana and then falling 6-4 Tuesday at No. 7 TCU. Of the Wildcats' four straight losses, three have been by two runs or less as they lost 4-3 to Southeastern Louisiana in the series-opener and 9-7 in the series finale before falling by two runs to TCU.
      ACU will send senior righthander Kyle Carroll (2-3, 2.76 ERA) to the mound in Thursday's series-opener, followed by senior righthander Garrett deMeyere (2-2, 3.86 ERA) on Friday and senior lefthander Aaron Mason (3-1, 2.60 ERA) on Saturday.
      The Wildcats have a team ERA of 4.03, while their opponents' ERA is 2.97 after ACU faced a talented group of pitchers from Southeastern Louisiana and TCU over its last four games.
      Offensively, the Wildcats are hitting .258 as a team with senior catcher Alex Copeland leading the way at .340 with six RBI. Junior leftfielder Braxton Wilks leads the club with seven RBI, while junior third baseman Aaron Draper has eighth RBI and a team-high 20 hits.
 
McNeese State
      The Cowboys will mix up the pitching rotation this weekend, inserting senior Bryce Kingley (3-0, 3.18 ERA) into the Thursday night spot. Senior Kaleb Fontenot (2-2, 2.20 ERA) will take the mound Friday night while freshman Bryan King (2-0, 2.33 ERA) will draw the start for Saturday's contest.
      Fontenot and King threw a combined 15.0 scoreless innings against Incarnate Word over the weekend and helped McNeese shut out a conference foe in back-to-back contests for the first time since 1994.
      Kingsley enters the weekend rotation following three relief appearances and a start against ULM. He tossed 5.0 innings and limited the Warhawks to just two runs off of four hits to pick up his third win of the year. He also struck out a season-high six batters against Houston Baptist.
      As a team, the Pokes are hitting .282 on the season with 176 hits, 107 runs scored, 12 home runs and 20 stolen bases through 19 games. They also boast some of the top offensive percentages in the league with a .379 on-base percentage that ranks fourth and.402 slugging clip that ranks fifth in the SLC. On the mound, McNeese has a 4.47 ERA, with five saves, walking 63 and striking out 154 in 167.0 frames of work.
      Senior outfielder Lewis Guilbeau leads the squad with a .404 (23-for-57) clip and has posted eight multiple hit games while currently riding a 10-game hitting streak. He has 23 hits, three doubles, 14 RBI and seven runs scored this season. Senior first baseman Connor Crane leads the team with 25 hits, six doubles, 16 RBI and 19 runs scored. 
 
ACU vs. Nationally Ranked Teams
   Since beginning its transition to NCAA Division I affiliation 2013-14, the Wildcats are 0-18 against nationally ranked teams, including five losses to Texas Tech and three vs. TCU.
   The Wildcats were 0-4 against nationally ranked teams in 2014, 0-9 against those teams in 2015 and are 0-5 against those teams in 2016. Here's a breakdown of the scores of each game:
         • March 11, 2014 – #26 Texas Tech 6, ACU 2 (Lubbock)
         • March 13, 2014 – #15 Oklahoma State 15, ACU 7 (Stillwater, Okla.)
         • April 8, 2014 – #30 Texas Tech 19, ACU 2 (Lubbock)
         • May 20, 2014 – #21 Arizona State 4, ACU 2 (Tempe, Ariz.)
         • March 3, 2015 – #5 Texas Tech 6, ACU 5, 16 innings (Lubbock)
         • March 24, 2015 – #15 Dallas Baptist 11, ACU 6 (Abilene)
         • March 31, 2015 – #13 Dallas Baptist 12, ACU 1 (Dallas)
         • April 6, 2015 – #2 TCU 4, ACU 3 (Abilene)
         • April 14, 2015 – #19 Texas Tech 7, ACU 6 (Abilene)
         • April 15, 2015 – #1 Texas A&M 3, ACU 2 (College Station)
         • April 21, 2015 – #18 Texas Tech 10, ACU 2 (Midland)
         • May 12, 2015 – #4 TCU 8, ACU 2 (Fort Worth)
         • May 19, 2015 – #12 Arizona State 4, ACU 1 (Tempe, Ariz.)
         • Feb. 24, 2016 – #25 Oklahoma 7, ACU 1 (Norman, Okla.)
         • March 10, 2016 – #22 Oklahoma State 8, ACU 2 (Stillwater, Okla.)
         • March 11, 2016 – #22 Oklahoma State 16, ACU 0 (Stillwater, Okla.)
         • March 12, 2016 – #22 Oklahoma State 8, ACU 4 (Stillwater, Okla.)
         • Mach 22, 2016 – #7 TCU 6, ACU 4 (Fort Worth)
 
Turning the Corner?
      The Wildcats are in their third season of transition to NCAA Division I status, but trying to turn the corner from Division II powerhouse to Division I contender is tough. ACU, though, is slowly but surely turning the corner toward returning to the consistent winner it was at the NCAA Division II level.
      ACU, though, could be showing signs of turning the corner in 2016 if early signs are any indication.
      Last year ACU didn't win its ninth game of the season until a 3-2 win over Sam Houston State on April 19 in the season's 37^th game. That win gave ACU a 9-28 overall record and 7-11 Southland Conference mark.
      ACU won its ninth game this season on March 15, more than one full month ahead of last year's pace. At its current pace, ACU will finish with 27 victories on the season, which would be its most since the Wildcats finished 29-24 in 2013, their final season in the Lone Star Conference and at the NCAA Division II level.
 
Diaper Dandies
      The Wildcats are playing as many as six freshmen in the field on a daily basis with four of them having earned everyday starting spots. Those Wildcats are the foundation of what head coach Britt Bonneau believes will be the core of a Southland Conference contender in 2018 when the Wildcats can compete for a conference championship.
      Shortstop Mark Pearson has started all 20 games, and he's hitting .246 with two doubles and three RBI, while first baseman David Ruot is hitting .218 with five RBI in 15 starts and has a 5.40 ERA in five relief appearances on the mound.
      Outfielder Hunter Markwardt has also started all 20 games and is hitting .232 with four RBI, while outfielder Willie Harris has played in 16 games (13 starts)  and is hitting .225. Other freshmen who have seen playing time are catcher Conner Nichols (.375 in four games) and designated hitter / second baseman Hunter Hays (.250 in five starts).
      Freshman reliever Joseph Goetze has a 3.60 ERA in 10 innings (nine appearances). Freshman centerfielder Derek Scott – who received the most attention when he committed to and later signed with ACU – played his first game of the season Tuesday night against TCU after missing the first 19 games of the season with an injury, and he was 0 for 4 against the Horned Frogs.