First place on the line as ACU hosts Sam Houston

ABILENE – The ACU baseball team enters the halfway point of the conference season this weekend when it welcomes in long-time rival Sam Houston for three games. First place in the WAC Southwest Division is on the line when two of the three times at the top take on one another at Crutcher Scott Field. Both teams sit at 7-5, even with Lamar for first in the division, and after playing one another six times last spring, embark on six more games between the two this year. Friday's opener begins at 6:05 p.m., Saturday's game gets underway at 3:05 p.m., and Sunday's game gets started at 1:05 p.m. All three games will air on the WAC Digital Network, while Friday and Sunday's games will air on 102.7 The Bear.

SERIES HISTORY VS. SAM HOUSTON

• ALL-TIME | 52nd meeting (SHSU leads, 41-10)
• LAST MEETING | SHSU 15, ACU 13 (May 29, 2021 - Hammond, La.)
• STREAK | SHSU, w2
• IN ABILENE | SHSU leads, 5-1 (Since 2014)
• IN HUNTSVILLE | SHSU leads, 10-2 (Since 2014)
• NEUTRAL | SHSU leads, 2-0
• POSTSEASON | SHSU leads, 2-0

THE PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUPS

FRIDAY | ACU RHP Tyler Morgan (4-0, 3.57 ERA) vs. SHSU LHP Steven Beard (2-2, 5.20 ERA)
SATURDAY | ACU RHP Genner Cervantes (1-2, 6.88 ERA) vs. SHSU LHP Matt Dillard (3-2, 4.23 ERA)
SUNDAY | ACU TBD vs. SHSU TBD

ACU STORYLINES

• SERIES WIN AT LAMAR – The Wildcats won their first road series of the season, taking two out of three from the first-place Cardinals in Beaumont. ACU won day one, 6-3, behind the brilliance of sophomore right-hander Tyler Morgan, who went 7.2 innings. Saturday saw Lamar score one in the bottom of the eighth to win 3-2, before ACU rattled off 11 runs on 10 hits in the finale to win 11-8 and win the series. ACU hit .257 for the weekend, and recorded a team ERA of 4.85 en route to evening with Lamar in the standings.
• WHERE THE WILDCATS STAND – The defending regular season Southland champs are currently in a three-way tie for first in the WAC Southwest Division. ACU, Lamar, and Sam Houston all sit at 7-5. The Wildcats host the Bearkats for three games this weekend at The Crutch.
• HISTORIC WIN – Last Tuesday's win over No. 12 TCU marked ACU's first win ever against a ranked Power 5 opponent. It was also the second-ever win over TCU for the 'Cats, and 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.
• MORGAN DOMINATES – Sophomore Tyler Morgan had the best and longest outing of his career on the mound at Lamar, tossing 7.2 innings in the win, allowing two earned runs on four hits with three strikeouts. Morgan's outing was the longest by an ACU starting pitcher this season, and the longest by a Wildcat since Spencer Chirpich went 8.2 innings at Sam Houston on May 16, 2021. The right hander threw 104 pitches, the second-highest total of his career; he threw 107 pitches against Northwestern State exactly one year ago, on April 1, 2021.
• CERVANTES DAZZLES – Senior Genner Cervantes threw four innings to earn his first win of the season against Tarleton two weekends ago, and repeated the effort on Saturday, throwing four more innings, and equaling a career-high with eight strikeouts. 16 of his 32 strikeouts this season have come in the last two games.
• TEAM RANKINGS THIS SEASON – 
  • Fielding Percentage - .979 (1st WAC, 17th NCAA)
  • Strikeouts Per Nine Innings - 10.6 (1st WAC, 25th NCAA)
  • Hit Batters - 45 (1st WAC, 25th NCAA)
  • Hit by Pitch - 44 (1st WAC, 38th NCAA)
  • Home Runs - 39 (1st WAC, 39th NCAA)
  • Slugging Percentage - .478 (1st WAC, 44th NCAA)
  • Runs - 211 (1st WAC, 46th NCAA)
  • Scoring Average - 7.3 (1st WAC, 61st NCAA)
  • Stolen Bases - 41 (1st WAC, 63rd NCAA)
  • Base on Balls - 127 (1st WAC, 99th NCAA)
  • On Base Percentage - .393 (3rd WAC, 56th NCAA)
  • Batting Average - .292 (3rd WAC, 56th NCAA)
• INDIVIDUAL LEADERS – 
  • Mitchell Dickson - 12.1 Toughest to Strike Out (3rd WAC, 35th NCAA)
  • Colton Eager - 12 Doubles (1st WAC, 33rd NCAA)
  • Colton Eager - 31 Runs Batted In (3rd WAC)
  • Bryson Hill - .482 On-Base Percentage (3rd WAC)
  • Miller Ladusau - 10 Doubles (3rd WAC)
  • Miller Ladusau - 8 Hit by Pitch (2nd WAC)
  • Tyler Morgan - 4 Wins (2nd WAC)
  • Grayson Tatrow - 22 Base on Balls (1st WAC)
  • Grayson Tatrow - 34 Runs (2nd WAC, 42nd NCAA)
  • Grayson Tatrow - 8 Home Runs (2nd WAC)
  • Grayson Tatrow - 29 Runs Batted In (4th WAC)
• AN EYE ON THE STREAKS – Tanner Tweedt leads ACU with an eight-game hitting streak, while Miller Ladusau has a knock in seven consecutive games. Grayson Tatrow leads the way with a 21-game on-base streak, while Colton Eager has reached safely in 15 consecutive games.

SCOUTING SAM HOUSTON (16-13, 7-5 WAC)

• The Bearkats have plenty of high-quality wins this season, taking three-of-four from Nebraska, beating No. 4 Oklahoma State in Huntsville, topping Baylor 11-10, and topping No. 20 Texas State. Sam is coming off a loss to UTRGV in the series finale last Sunday before dropping a midweek game at Houston on Tuesday.
• Sam Houston, as always, can swing the bats. The team is hitting .306 for the year and has 64 extra-base hits to their name. Justin Wishkoski is hitting .425 for the year, while Carlos Contreras has a .417 average. Both are top 30 in the country and No. 2 and No. 3 in the WAC, respectively.
• The Bearkats have a team ERA of 5.52, and have made 44 errors this season. The staff has also given up a .306 batting average to opponents in 2022.

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