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Wildcat softball celebrates a homerun in a win over Lamar
Cassie Kelley

Softball

Home tournament, five Power Five opponents, highlight 2023 softball schedule

ABILENE – Head coach Abigail Farler announced on Tuesday the Wildcats' schedule for the upcoming 2023 season. ACU softball will open their season at home for the first time since 2014, the team's first year at the DI level. The Wildcats will open the year on February 10 as they host an opening weekend tournament at Poly Wells Field. The season will feature 52 games, including 18 home games and 24 WAC contests. The team will see five Power Five opponents including a midweek road trip to Texas Tech and hosting Baylor at Poly Wells field for the first time since 2018. 

Full Schedule
This is a very challenging schedule with a lot of great matchups in our non-conference segment that will prepare us for WAC play. We are excited to be able to compete in some different areas of the country and face fresh opponents. The opportunity to go out to Arizona and compete in GCU's tournament will be a great chance for us to play where the conference tournament will be so we feel prepared for the WAC tournament. This is going to be an exciting year for ACU Softball!
Head coach Abigail Farler

Early Season Tournaments

Wildcat Invitational | Feb. 10-12 | Murray State, UTEP, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

  • The Wildcats will open at home for just the second time since jumping to the DI level and the first time since 2014. The team will host a familiar opponent in UTEP who the Wildcats have played in each of the last two years and a previous Southland foe with AMCC. ACU will welcome Murray State, coach Twaddle's alma mater, for the first ever meeting between the programs.
  • ACU has gone 3-1 against UTEP over the last two years and holds an 18-4 record against the Islanders.

UTSA Tournament | Feb. 17-19 | UTSA, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Lamar, SDSU

  • ACU will make their way to San Antonio and San Marcos as they play a total of five games over the weekend. They will see familiar opponents in AMCC and Lamar, while seeing UTSA for the first time since 2019. It will be the first time ACU faces the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State.

Texas Invitational | Feb. 24-26 | Texas, Virginia Tech, Texas Southern

  • The Wildcats will participate in one of the toughest weekends of the Farler era the last weekend of February when they head to Austin for a tournament. In addition to facing the national runner-up Longhorn team, ACU will also see perennial softball powerhouse Virginia Tech. This will be the first time the Wildcats face the Longhorns since 2016 and the first-ever meeting with the Hokies.
  • ACU holds a 1-1 record against Texas Southern and are 0-2 against Texas.

The Snowman (Alex Wilcox Memorial Tournament) | March 3-5 | Mississippi State, Murray State, Dartmouth

  • ACU will head on the road to another Power Five program as they make their way to Starkville the first weekend of March. The Bulldogs were a regional winner a season ago and are a regular contender in the SEC. The team will see Murray State for a secon dtime on the year but will also face another new opponent in Dartmouth.
  • This will be the first time the Wildcats compete against both Mississippi State and Dartmouth.

GCU Invitational | March 10-12 | GCU, Colorado State

  • With the Wildcats and the Lopes not meeting in WAC competition this season, ACU will make their way to Phoenix to play in their final tournament of the year. The series between the teams is tied 1-1 with the Wildcats picking up a win in 2007 and GCU earning a win in 2013. This will be the first time the teams meet as DI foes.
  • Colorado State is also slated to participate in this tournament, a team that the Wildcats earned two wins over last spring. The series is tied 2-2 but the Wildcats have recent history on their side.

Non-Conference Midweek Games

March 1 | at Louisiana-Monroe

  • As the Wildcats make their way to Starkville, Miss. for a tournament, the team will first stop in Monroe to take on the Warhawks of ULM. The team finished 27-27 in 2022 and were ousted in the first round of the Sun Belt tournament. 

March 22 | at Texas Tech

  • ACU hosted the Red Raiders last season and earned the 7-2 upset win at Poly Wells. The Wildcats will make a return trip to Lubbock this spring and look to play spoiler on the road. 

April 13 | vs. Baylor

  • The Wildcats will host Baylor for the first time since the 2018 season when the Bears made two trips to Abilene, going 3-0 in those games. Baylor is coming off a National Softball Invitational championship last spring and will provide great competition at home for the Wildcats. 

Conference Schedule

Western Athletic Conference play will look a little different in year two as the conference moves away from divisional play. Each team will play eight conference series and the top eight teams will advance to the WAC tournament in Phoenix this May. 

March 18-19 | vs. Utah Tech

  • The Wildcats will open conference play at home with a series against Utah Tech for the first meeting between the programs. The Trailblazers went 19-32 and 8-16 in WAC play a season ago. 

March 25-26 | vs. Southern Utah

  • WAC newcomer Southern Utah will make their way to Abilene for the second weekend of conference play. The Thunderbirds went 3-40 last season and 0-18 in Big Sky play. 

March 31-April 1 | at Utah Valley

  • ACU will head on the road to complete the Utah portion of their schedule against Utah Valley. UVU went 24-27 last season and 12-12 in conference play to earn the 5-seed in the WAC tournament. The Wolverines ran their way to a conference semifinal game but came up short against NM State. The two teams met at the WAC tournament last year with UVU coming away with the win. 

April 7-8 | vs. Tarleton

  • The Texans took four of six games from the Wildcats last season but both of the ACU wins came at home. ACU will have the luxury of hosting a tough Tarleton squad who made an appearance in the NSIC last season. 

April 14-15 | at UT Arlington

  • Another new opponent in conference play for the Wildcats, ACU will make the short trip to Arlington to face the Mavericks. UTA went 22-27 last season and 12-15 in Sun Belt play. The two teams met in Abilene last year with the Mavs winning 9-0 in five innings. 

April 21-22 | vs. SFA

  • The Ladyjacks put together a 31-25 record last season and won the West Division of the WAC with an 18-6 conference record. The team made a run to the championship game but came up short to Grand Canyon. The teams split the series 3-3 last year but ACU only won one of their home contests in the series. 

April 28-29 | at Sam Houston

  • The Wildcats will make the trip to Huntsville one last time as conference opponents. ACU took five of six from the Bearkats last season dropping one game on the road. 

May 5-6 | at NM State

  • The Aggies finished with a 13-38 record and a 6-18 conference record last season and entered the WAC tournament as the seven seed. They made a short run, winning a couple of games in Huntsville before coming up short to Seattle. The Wildcats will have a tough test on the road to close out the season. 

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