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Chirpich
Meda Bow

Baseball

Wildcats host Colonels in first home Southland series

ABILENE – ACU baseball opens the Southland Conference home schedule this weekend at Crutcher Scott Field as the Nicholls Colonels come to town for a four-game series. The Wildcats (10-5, 2-2 SLC) are coming off a split against Central Arkansas last weekend, winning the first two games and dropping the final two in Conway. Friday's opener gets started at 6:05 p.m., while Saturday's doubleheader and Sunday's single game both begin at 2:05 p.m.

FOLLOW THE SERIES

SERIES HISTORY

ACU leads the series 6-3 all-time against Nicholls, and has won each of the last four contests. The Wildcats took the final game of the series in 2018, and swept a three-gamer in Abilene in May 2019. That series sweep gave ACU its first .500 season at the NCAA Division I level (26-26), capping Rick McCarty's first season as head coach. It also matched their highest Southland Conference win total at 13. The sweep also kept the Colonels out of the Southland Conference Tournament, finishing ninth in the standings by one game.

THE PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUPS

Game 1: RHP Spencer Chirpich (2-0, 5.03 ERA) vs. RHP Chase Gearing (2-1, 3.18 ERA)

Game 2: RHP Genner Cervantes (2-0, 5.50 ERA) vs. RHP Trever Kilcrease (0-1, 6.75 ERA)

Game 3: LHP Adam Stephenson (0-3, 5.00 ERA) vs. RHP Devin Desandro (1-1, 1.42 ERA)

Game 4: RHP Tyler Morgan (0-1, 3.78 ERA) vs. RHP Nick Heckman (0-1, 5.14 ERA)

ACU STORYLINES

  • GO-TO GUY: Right-hander Tanner Riley leads the country in wins this season (4) and is a perfect 4-0 out of the bullpen, has not allowed a run, and has a miniscule 1.16 WHIP. In his 14.2 innings of work. Riley has 26 strikeouts, nearly two K's every inning. The Clyde native is barely allowing base runners this season, allowing a .160 batting average and walking only nine batters.
  • LEADING THE PACK: Junior outfield Colton Eager has been red-hot to start 2021. Eager is pacing an offense that has four batters over .300 for the season with a remarkable .397 average, and he has also driven in a team-high 16 runs. He has also drawn 11 walks for an on-base percentage of .480, while slugging .667. 11 of his 25 hits have gone for extra bases, with eight doubles and three home runs.
  • OFFENSIVE FIREPOWER: ACU is hitting .305 as an offense, ranking No. 21 in all of college baseball, but the power has been most impressive. The team's 36 doubles are the 12th-highest mark in the country, and 46 of their 154 hits this season have gone for extra bases. ACU has been patient at the plate as well; their 87 walks are No. 19 in the nation, and the .419 team on-base percentage is No. 20 in the country as well.

SCOUTING NICHOLLS (7-8, 4-0 SLC)

  • The Colonels dropped a mid-week game to Louisiana, 9-8, but are coming off a four-game sweep of SFA to start Southland play.
  • All four games were very close against the Lumberjacks; Nicholls won 8-6 in the opener before winning three straight one-run games, all of which were low-scoring. The Colonels won 3-2 in 10 innings, and earned a pair of 2-1 wins to close the weekend.
  • Dillon Belle paces the offense with a .297 average, while Baseil Williams leads the team with 13 runs driven in.