Wildcats and Mavericks close I-20 rivalry Tuesday at the Crutch

ABILENE – The Wildcat baseball team returns home to open a non-conference week, and it begins with a Tuesday night matchup with the UTA Mavericks of the Sun Belt Conference. ACU (18-13, 10-10 SLC) will head to No. 3 Texas for a three-game series over the weekend in Austin, but first it's the final game of a home-and-home in 2021 with UTA. The teams met on March 2 in Arlington, and now wrap up their series five weeks later in Abilene. First pitch at Crutcher Scott Field is set for 6:35 p.m., and the game is presented by Raising Cane's.

FOLLOW THE GAME

SERIES HISTORY

UTA leads the series 7-3 since ACU joined NCAA Division I before the 2014 season. The teams are meeting for the second time this season after getting together on March 2, with UTA winning 3-2 in 12 innings. Zach Norris pitched 3.0 innings of relief to earn the win, while Carter Sells took the loss. ACU is winless all-time at home against the Mavericks.

THE PITCHING MATCHUP

RHP Austin Glaze (0-1, 4.38 ERA) vs. RHP Cade Winquest (0-3, 5.65 ERA)

ACU STORYLINES

• IMPORTANT SPLIT: ACU is coming off a split of a four-game series in Hammond, La. against Southeastern Louisiana. The Lions entered the weekend at the top of the league standings, and it was important to at least earn a split on the road. ACU did just that, winning the first and third games of the series. The 'Cats won 13-9 on Friday, and took the back-half of the doubleheader Saturday by scoring eight runs in the eighth inning to win 8-4. SLU won the first game of the DH Saturday, 8-3, and the final game of the series on Sunday, 7-0.
• OFFENSIVE RANKINGS: The Wildcat offense is amongst the best in the country in multiple categories. This is where they rank nationally in different offensive statistical categories: 10th - Runs (239), 16th - Walks (153), 16th - Doubles (62), 18th - Hits (308), 23rd - On-Base Percentage (.399), 23rd - Batting Average (.295).
• EAGER TO HIT: Colton Eager leads the Southland Conference in multiple categories, including batting average (.374 - 7th NCAA), walks (20), hits (46 - 7th NCAA), runs scored (31 - 15th NCAA), runs batted in (32), and total bases (81 - 13th NCAA). The junior is absolutely lighting it up at the plate, ranking 21st nationally (4th SLC) in doubles (11), third in the league in home runs (8), third in the SLC in on-base percentage (.456), and third in the league in slugging percentage (.659).
• STAYING IN CONTENTION: A recipe for success would be to not lose a series. ACU is accomplishing that so far. The Wildcats have only lost one series in Southland Conference, dropping three of four to Northwestern State. The 'Cats split with Central Arkansas and Nicholls, and took three out of four against New Orleans, putting the team at 10-10 in league play. ACU returns to SLC action at home next week against UIW.

SCOUTING UTA (13-17, 4-4 SUN BELT)

• The Mavericks just wrapped up a three-game series with Coastal Carolina on Monday in Arlington, with ___ taking two of three games.
• UTA is 5-4 away from Arlington this season, and will drive the three hours west to Abilene to wrap up their stretch of four games in four days.
• Boone Montgomery is the lone Maverick hitting over .300 (.347), and he also leads the team with 20 runs scored.
• Pitching has been good for UTA this season; the staff overall has a 4.57 ERA.