LAMAR at ACU
Friday, 6 p.m. (
Audio I
Video I
Live Stats)
Saturday, 2 p.m. (
Audio I
Video I
Live Stats)
Sunday, 1 p.m. (
Audio I
Video I
Live Stats)
Starting Pitchers
Friday
Lamar – RHP Carson Lance (5-4, 2.75 ERA)
ACU – RHP Caleb Doughterty (0-1, 8.56 ERA)
Saturday
Lamar – RHP Jimmy Johnson (3-4, 3.07 ERA)
ACU – RHP Zach Kornel,y (0-0, 5.51 ERA)
Sunday
Lamar – RHP Jace Campbell (3-1, 3.22 ERA)
ACU – TBA
ABILENE – The ACU Wildcats return to Southland Conference action at home this weekend when they host the Lamar Cardinals in a three-game set at Crutcher Scott Field.
The Wildcats and Cardinals will get the series started at 6 p.m. Friday, followed by a 2 p.m. game Saturday and the series finale at 1 p.m. Sunday. Friday night's game will be broadcast on 102.7 FM with the final two games of the series set to be broadcast on 98.1 FM.
ACU snapped a 16-game losing streak Tuesday night with a 3-2 win over Texas-Permian Basin that saw starting pitcher
Derek Scott strike out 11 Falcons in seven shutout innings.
Russell Crippen hit a two-run home run and
Aaron Draper a solo shot for the Wildcats' only three runs in the game.
The Wildcats, however, have lost 15 straight conference games entering this weekend's series and are 1-17 in league play. ACU is 10-23 overall and 1-17 in league play, while the Cardinals are 23-16 overall and 9-9 and in sixth place in the Southland Conference. ACU is 1-8 against the Cardinals since re-entering the Southland Conference in 2014.
Crippen leads the Wildcats in batting average at .378 and home runs with five and is second on the club in RBI with 22. Junior designated hitter
Luis Trevino is hitting .365 with three home runs and a team-high 28 RBI. Scott is hitting .331 with three home runs and 12 RBI, while second baseman / outfielder
Dalon Farkas is at .303 with two home runs and 17 RBI.
Two other Wildcats – Koby Claiborne and
Anthony Dominguez – are in double figures in RBI with 16 and 12, respectively.
Cutter McDowell, now LU's leading hitter at .367, is 40-of-87 (.460) in his last 23 games. In that span, he has a team-leading 23 runs scored and 21 runs batted in. The senior has a .556 on-base percentage and is slugging at .747. For the season, he has 38 runs, tops on the team, and 24 RBI. He lacks just two doubles to jump into LU's top 10 for doubles in a season.
Three other Cardinals hit above the .300 threshold, Robin Adames (.331), Reid Russell (.326) and
Brendan Arredondo (.301), and Trey Silver's narrowly misses the mark at .299. Adames has the team's lead in RBI at 33, followed by Russell's and Silvers' 32. McDowell leads in slugging and on-base percentage.
ACU NOTES
• Friday night's game is a "Pack the Park" promotion with giveaways for students who download the new ACU app. Students are eligible for free Double Dave's Pizza, Firehouse Subs, four $25 Buffalo Wild Wings gift certificates, and a $50 Miguel's gift certificate.
• The Wildcats' home game vs. TCU on March 21 was stopped because of rain in the top of the fifth inning with the Horned Frogs leading, 2-0, with two outs. The game will be completed at 6:30 p.m. at Lupton Field on Tuesday, May 2, but the regularly scheduled game between the two teams that night will not be played.
• To make up for the lost ACU game on May 2, ACU head coach
Britt Bonneau has added a game against Baker (Kan.) University (NAIA-affiliated university) at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April, 26, on the Wildcats' trip up to Manhattan, Kan., for a three-game weekend series against Kansas State. ACU's game against Baker will be played at Emporia State University's Glennen Field.
