Wildcats and Bearkats meet for right to play in title game

HAMMOND, La. – After trailing by 10 runs on two different occasions but nearly completely the comeback, the ACU baseball team takes on the Sam Houston Bearkats in a rematch for the right to play in Saturday night's championship game. The Wildcats (36-20, 25-13 SLC) and Bearkats each have one loss in this tournament, and the winner completes the Texas side of the bracket to advance to the title game to take on McNeese. The semifinal and championship game both air on ESPN+.

FOLLOW THE GAME - Saturday, May 29 (1 p.m.)

SERIES HISTORY vs. SAM HOUSTON

• ALL-TIME SERIES SHSU leads, 40-10
• LAST MEETING: SHSU 14, ACU 12 (Friday night)
• IN ABILENE SHSU leads, 5-1 (Since 2014)
• IN HUNTSVILLE SHSU leads, 10-3 (Since 2014)
• NEUTRAL SITE SHSU leads, 1-0
• POSTSEASON SHSU leads, 1-0

ACU STORYLINES

• COMEBACK FALLS SHORT: ACU trailed by 10 runs twice Friday against Sam Houston, but rallied with seven in the eighth and fell just short, 14-12. They get their rematch against the Bearkats Saturday. Hunter Gieser homered twice and drove in five runs, both for the second time in the tournament, and has four blasts and 10 RBI for the week. The Southland Tournament record is six homers for an individual and 11 runs batted in for an individual.
• COME-FROM-BEHIND WIN: Just when you think they're down, they aren't. ACU had one run through seven innings Thursday against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, but rallied for three in the eighth on a Miller Ladusau home run to top the Islanders, 4-3, to advance to the semifinals on Friday. After trailing 2-1 after seven, Ladusau's game-winning blast put the Wildcats one win away from the championship game.
• FIRST-ROUND WIN – ACU took down Lamar in the opening round Wednesday, coming back from an early 1-0 deficit in the first inning. Hunter Gieser drove in five runs with two home runs and a double, and led the Wildcats to a 7-1 victory. Freshmen Tyler Morgan and Max Huffling combined with Connor Carlton to shut down the Cardinals, holding them to a run on eight hits in the game.
• 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.
• TEAM NATIONAL RANKINGS – Here's where ACU ranks in different categories:
  • 13th (1st Southland) - Hits (537)
  • 19th (1st Southland) - Runs Scored (391)
  • 20th (1st Southland) - On Base Percentage (.394)
  • 20th (1st Southland) - Doubles (109)
  • 25th (1st Southland) - Batting Average (.295)
  • 29th (1st Southland) - Runs Per Game (7.2)
  • 38th (2nd Southland) - Total Walks (247)

SCOUTING SAM HOUSTON (28-24, 20-15 SLC)

• The No. 5 seeded Bearkats cranked three big home runs and used just two pitchers in taking down Lamar, 7-4, on Thursday morning to stay alive in the Southland Conference Tournament. Sam trailed 4-3 going into the bottom of the sixth, but tied it up on a solo home run by Jack Rogers and then went ahead on a solo shot by Easton Loyd in the bottom of the seventh. SHSU then topped ACU, 14-12, to stay alive another day.
• Colton Cowser was named the Southland Conference Player of the Year, was named to the all-SLC first team as an outfielder, and was voted to the all-defensive team. Cowser was joined by Rogers and Dominic Robinson on the all-conference teams with Rogers being named a second team outfielder and Robinson landing on the third team as a starting pitcher.