Baseball opens Southland Tournament with Lamar

HAMMOND, La. – The ACU baseball team, after making history in the regular season as Southland Conference champions, opens up the biggest week of the year as the No. 1 seed at the conference tournament hosted by Southeastern Louisiana. The Wildcats (34-19, 25-13 SLC) battle the No. 8 seed Lamar Cardinals on Wednesday, May 26 at 12 p.m. in the second game of the day at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field. The winner of the Southland Conference Tournament gets an automatic qualifying bid into the NCAA Tournament, and ACU gets its first-ever opportunity to play postseason ball at the Division I level, and it starts Wednesday on ESPN+.

FOLLOW THE GAME - Wednesday, May 26 (12 p.m.)

SERIES HISTORY

• ALL-TIME SERIES LU leads, 23-14
• LAST MEETING: ACU 7, UIW 5 (Abilene - 2021)
• IN ABILENE LU leads, 9-3(Since 2014)
• IN BEAUMONT LU leads, 4-2 (Since 2014)
• NEUTRAL SITE n/a
• POSTSEASON n/a

LAST MEETING

ACU swept the Cardinals at home May 7-9, winning a one-run game Friday (3-2) via a walk-off single from Eric Wimpee, and a two-run game (7-5) in the finale. It was in the midst of the 11-game winning streak for the team. ACU hit .326 in that series and scored 28 runs on 42 hits led by Mitchell Dickson's eight hits and Sebastian Randle's .545 average.

ACU STORYLINES

• ALL-CONFERENCE – ACU had six players and head coach Rick McCarty earn a post-season honor. Junior Colton Eager was named the Hitter of the Year, sophomore Grayson Tatrow was named the Newcomer of the Year, and Rick McCarty was named the Clay Gould Coach of the Year. Eager, Mitchell Dickson, and Bash Randle are members of the all-Southland first team, while Tatrow earned second team honors. Tommy Cruz and Brett Hammit were both named third team as well.
• REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS – It might be hard to find a better rags-to-riches story in all of college baseball than what you will find in Abilene, Texas. When head coach Rick McCarty was hired in the summer of 2018, he inherited a team that had just five conference wins. And just two full regular seasons and a pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign later, the Wildcat baseball team has climbed all the way to the top. After sweeping the SFA Lumberjacks Friday, ACU is the regular season champion in the Southland Conference, cementing the No. 1 seed in the league tournament in Hammond, La. The Wildcats celebrated one of the quickest turnarounds in the country after game one on Crutcher Scott Field. Coming into Friday, the team either need a win or a Southeastern Louisiana loss to ensure a regular-season championship. They got both. ACU's 7-3 and 6-4 wins ensure a series win, a conference title, and a No. 1 seed; the final two items are both new to the program's identity.
• BATTING TITLE – Catcher Mitchell Dickson wins the batting title in the Southland Conference, leading the way with a .390 clip for the season, and a remarkable .404 average against Southland Conference opponents. Dickson also finished No. 1 in the league in on-base percentage at .476, and tallied a .487 clip against SLC teams.
• WINNERS OF 15 OF LAST 17 – From April 24 to May 22, the Wildcats won 15 of the final 17 games of the season, including an 11-game winning streak. That streak was the most in a season since 2010. During this remarkable run, ACU hit .345 and slugged .534 with 34 doubles, three triples, and 18 home runs. Six players hit at least .345, and four players hit over .400, led by Bash Randle's .491 average and .736 slugging percentage. Dickson hit .449 in that span, Tommy Cruz hit .426 as the DH, Grayson Tatrow hit .385, Colton Eager hit .371, and Miller Ladusau hit .344. The pitching staff tallied a 3.31 ERA over those 15 games, led by Tyler Morgan's 1.96 and Adam Stephenson's 2.11. Tanner Riley tallied four saves in that span and did not give up a run.
• EAGER'S SEASON – It was an incredible season for right fielder Colton Eager. Eager finished third in the conference in batting average (.378), first in the league in total hits (56), tied for first in home runs (13), and third in runs batted in (39) against Southland competition. Eager was .356 for the season in total, high 17 doubles (second in the league), and tallied 53 total RBI, the second-highest mark.
• TEAM NATIONAL RANKINGS – Here's where ACU ranks in different categories:
  • 13th (1st Southland) - Hits (523)
  • 19th (1st Southland) - Runs Scored (380)
  • 20th (1st Southland) - On Base Percentage (.397)
  • 20th (1st Southland) - Doubles (105)
  • 25th (1st Southland) - Batting Average (.297)
  • 29th (1st Southland) - Runs Per Game (7.2)
  • 38th (2nd Southland) - Total Walks (239)

SCOUTING LAMAR (25-21, 17-19 SLC)

• The Cardinals (25-21, 17-19 SLC) are winners in six of the last eight games, and enter the tournament as the No. 8 seed.
• Lamar has qualified for their first conference tournament since the 2017 season.
• Ben MacNaughton leads the Cardinal lineup with a .341 average, while Avery George hit .337 for the year.