Baseball takes on first-place Lamar this weekend

BEAUMONT, Texas – ACU baseball closes its four-game road trip this weekend with a three-game WAC series against first-place Lamar. The Wildcats (13-11, 5-4 WAC) are coming off a monumental win at No. 12 TCU on Tuesday, and are looking to build off its current two-game winning streak as it opens April against a team they sit one game back of in the Cardinals (15-10, 6-3 WAC). The series begins Friday, April 1 at 6 p.m., while Saturday's game two begins at 2 p.m., and Sunday's finale gets going at 1 p.m. All three games will air on the WAC Digital Network.

SERIES HISTORY VS. LAMAR

• ALL-TIME | 39th meeting (LU leads, 23-15)
• LAST MEETING | ACU 7, LU 1 (May 26, 2021 - Hammond, La.)
• STREAK | ACU, w6
• IN ABILENE | LU leads, 9-3
• IN BEAUMONT | LU leads, 4-2
• NEUTRAL | ACU leads, 1-0
• POSTSEASON | ACU leads, 1-0

THE PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUPS

FRIDAY | ACU RHP Tyler Morgan (3-0, 3.90 ERA) vs. LU RHP Braxton Douthit (3-0, 1.93 ERA)
SATURDAY | ACU RHP Genner Cervantes (1-2, 8.31 ERA) vs. LU RHP Adam Wheaton (4-1, 2.41 ERA)
SUNDAY | ACU TBD vs. LU TBD

ACU STORYLINES

• BIG WIN AT TCU – It was quite the turnaround in a week's time. ACU, after falling to No. 19 TCU at home on March 22, returned the favor on the road at Lupton Stadium with a 6-2 win over No. 12 TCU, marking the first win over a top-25 team in program history. The Wildcats trailed through three innings, erupted for four in the fourth, and never looked back, snapping the four-game winning streak of the Horned Frogs. Tuesday night marks the highest profile win in the history of the program, as ACU continues to climb to new heights under fourth-year head coach Rick McCarty.
• HISTORIC WIN – Tuesday marked ACU's first win ever against a ranked Power 5 opponent. It is the second-ever win over TCU for the 'Cats. It's also the fourth win this season over a Power 5 opponent, after having just four of them ever coming into the 2022 campaign. ACU swept Michigan State in a three-game series earlier this season in Abilene, and as far as their other wins go, the Wildcats beat Arizona in back-to-back seasons (2014-15), won at TCU in 2018, and at Texas A&M in 2021.
• SUNDAY'S FINALE WIN – After dropping the first two games of the weekend against Tarleton, ACU came out swinging Sunday afternoon, taking down the Texans 18-2 in seven innings. The Wildcats came out of the gate strong, scoring seven runs in the first innings, and used multiple big innings and dominant pitching to run away in a run-rule shortened seven-inning game. ACU tallied 13 hits against Tarleton pitching, and nine different players recorded a hit in the game. ACU drew nine walks, which are the most in a game this season, and the most in a game since the team took 10 against Houston Baptist on April 30, 2021.
• CERVANTES DAZZLES – Senior Genner Cervantes threw four innings to earn his first win of the season against Tarleton Sunday. Cervantes allowed one earned run on two hits with a career-high eight strikeouts.
• TEAM RANKINGS THIS SEASON
  • Strikeouts Per Nine Innings - 11.0 (1st WAC, 18th NCAA)
  • Home Runs - 33 (1st WAC, 37th NCAA)
  • On Base Percentage - .400 (1st WAC, 44th NCAA)
  • Runs - 184 (1st WAC, 45th NCAA)
  • Scoring Average - 7.7 (1st WAC, 45th NCAA)
  • Hit by Pitch - 39 (2nd WAC, 26th NCAA)
  • Slugging Percentage - .487 (2nd WAC, 39th NCAA)
  • Hits - 241 (3rd WAC, 44th NCAA)
  • Batting Average - .296 (3rd WAC, 48th NCAA)
  • Doubles - 47 (4th WAC, 101st NCAA)
• HUFFLING AND PUFFLING BATTERS DOWN – Left-hander Max Huffling was brilliant out of the bullpen on Friday against Tarleton, throwing three scoreless without allowing a hit and striking out three. The big southpaw is 3-0 on the season with a 3.06 ERA, and has struck out 22 while allowing a .186 batting average.
• AN EYE ON THE STREAKS – Mitchell Dickson's reached base streak is up to 17 games, while Grayson Tatrow has reached base safely in 15 games.
• WHO'S BACK? – ACU returns 26 players from the championship roster from a year ago, including all nine starters in the batting order.
• PRESEASON POLLS – ACU was picked to win the WAC's southwest division, and Colton Eager was named the preseason player of the year in the league. Grayson Tatrow and Tommy Cruz were also selected to the preseason all-WAC team. Eager was the Southland Conference hitter of the year last season, while Tatrow was the newcomer of the year in 2021. Cruz earned third team all-conference honors last spring.

SCOUTING LAMAR (15-10, 6-3 WAC)

• The Cardinals have dropped three in a row after falling in the final two games of the UTRGV series and a loss to Nicholls on Tuesday.
• Lamar is hitting .277 as a team, and are scoring 6.4 runs per game.
• Josh Blankenship leads the way with a .404 average, and has driven in a team-best 27 runs.

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