Corpus, ACU set for 3-game set at The Crutch

Baseball | 4/14/2016 10:58:00 PM

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (11-20, 3-9) at Abilene Christian (11-20, 3-9)
Crutcher Scott Field
Abilene, TX

Friday, April 15 (Game 1): Audio / Video l Live Stats
Friday, April 15 (Game 2): Audio / Video l Live Stats
Saturday, April 16: Audio / Video l Live Stats
 
Starting Pitchers
Friday, April 15 (Game 1): RHP Garrett deMeyere (ACU) vs. LHP Chris Falwell (TAMCC)
Friday, April 15 (Game 2): LHP Aaron Mason (ACU) vs. RHP Devin Skapura (TAMCC)
Saturday, April 16: RHP Kyle Carroll (ACU) vs. TBA

ABILENE – The ACU Wildcats return to  Southland Conference action this weekend when they host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in a three-game series at Crutcher Scott Field.

The Wildcats lost two of three games to defending league tournament champion Houston Baptist before dropping a 10-4 decision Tuesday night at No. 3 Texas A&M.

The series will begin Friday with a 3 p.m. doubleheader and is set to conclude Saturday with a single game at 1 p.m. All three games will be seen and heard on acusports.com.

After an 8-4 start to their season, ACU has dropped 16 of its last 19 games to fall to 11-20 overall and 3-9 in the Southland Conference. The Wildcats are 7-9 this season in games decided by one or two runs, including 5-5 in one-run games. The Wildcats dropped a 3-2 game to Houston Baptist last Friday night before bouncing back to take a 9-0 win over the Huskies last Saturday.

The Wildcats are hitting .255 as a team and are led by junior infielder Russell Crippen, who is hitting .316 with two home runs and 11 RBI. Senior catcher Alex Copeland is hitting .299 with six RBI, while freshman shortstop Mark Pearson is up to .283 with seven RBI.

Junior Braxton Wilks leads the team with 17 RBI, while Crippen, Kyle Carroll and Austin Call each have two home runs for the Wildcats.

The Wildcats are expected to send RHP Garrett deMeyere (2-5, 4.12 ERA) and LHP Aaron Mason (4-2, 3.09 ERA) to the mound in Friday's doubleheader, while senior RHP Kyle Carroll (2-5, 4.62 ERA) is expected to take the hill in the third game of the series.

The Islanders – led by Abilene native Scott Malone in his ninth season as the head coach – have lost five straight and 12 of their last 14 entering this weekend's series, and have identical 11-20 and 3-9 records as the Wildcats.

Corpus Christi is hitting .260 as a team with 13 home runs and 139 runs scored (compared to eight home runs and 120 runs scored for the Wildcats). The Islanders are led by junior outfielder Zac Hardy, who is hitting .343 with three home runs and 26 RBI, while senior infielder Casey Thomas is hitting .338 with 14 RBI.

The Islanders will send junior LHP Chris Falwell (1-3, 2.13 ERA) to the mound for Friday's first game, followed by RHP Devin Skapura (2-4, 3.38 ERA) in the second game. Corpus is undecided on Saturday's starter.

The Islanders lead the all-time series against ACU 6-0 with three wins in 2014 in Abilene and three more in 2015 in Corpus Christi.