No. 4 Wildcats open WAC Tourney with No. 1 Lopes

MESA, ARIZ. – The postseason is here. The ACU baseball team enters the WAC Tournament this week as the No. 4 seed from the Southwest Division, and will take on the No. 1 seed and West Division champion Grand Canyon on Wednesday, May 25. The Wildcats (26-27, 14-16 WAC) enter its first-ever WAC Tournament against the reigning automatic qualifier from the league in the Lopes (39-17, 25-5 WAC), and head out of the state of Texas for just the second time this season. It's the first meeting of the season between the teams, as they reside in opposite divisions. The two teams have not met since the spring of 2014. Eight years later, it is the first round of the WAC Tournament. The game begins at 9 p.m. CT (7 p.m. PT) at Hohokam Stadium, the spring training home of the Oakland Athletics of the MLB,  and the game will air on ESPN+.

SERIES HISTORY VS. GRAND CANYON

• ALL-TIME | 2nd meeting (ACU leads, 1-0)
• LAST MEETING | ACU 3, GCU 2 (10 Inn.) (2014 - Abilene, Texas)
• STREAK | ACU, w1
• IN ABILENE | ACU leads, 1-0
• IN PHOENIX | n/a
• NEUTRAL | n/a
• POSTSEASON | n/a

THE PROJECTED PITCHERS FOR THE WEEK

WEDNESDAY | ACU RHP Tyler Morgan (6-3, 4.87 ERA)
THURSDAY | ACU RHP Genner Cervantes (5-4, 5.58 ERA)
FRIDAY | ACU LHP Adam Stephenson (2-3, 6.33 ERA)

ACU STORYLINES

• ALL-CONFERENCE – Sophomore Bash Randle was named to the All-WAC Second Team as well as the All-Defensive team. Randle hit .314 for the season in 51 games, and hit eight home runs and drove in 35. The super star short stop was recognized for his stability on defense as well, finishing with a fielding percentage of .975 and made countless remarkable plays in the busiest position on the field.
• AN EYE ON THE STREAKS – Bash Randle leads ACU with a nine-game hitting streak, while Bryson Hill has reached base safely in a team-leading 16 consecutive games.
• PITCHING RECORDS – Earlier this season, the 'Cats struck out 20 batters as a team at SFA, setting a new Division I program record in a single game. The Wildcats also have set a new single-season record for any era in program history, striking out 532 batters. ACU has also set a new program record for strikeouts/nine innings at 10.42.
• THE POWER IN THE LINEUP – The power has been on full display this season for ACU. As a team, the 'Cats have hit 79 home runs in 2022, the most in any season in any era ever. ACU has a team slugging percentage of .490, the highest in any single season ever as well. The team is five runs scored away from setting a new Division I single season record as well (currently at 399). ACU also needs just three more hits as a team (548 currently) to set a new D1 record for hits in a season.
• INDIVIDUAL RECORDS – Tyler Morgan has more strikeouts in a career than anyone at the D1 level for ACU (150), while Grayson Tatrow's 27 career home runs are the most in the D1 era for the Wildcats. Colton Eager's 134 runs batted in are the most in the D1 era, his 362 total bases rank No. 1, and his 88 career walks are tops in the D1 era. Tanner Riley's 11 career saves now rank No. 1 in the D1 era as well. Tatrow's 17 home runs, 64 runs scored, 65 RBI, and 42 walks taken this season are the most in a single campaign in ACU's Division I history as well. Genner Cervantes' 11.9 strikeouts/nine innings are No. 1 in the D1 era in a single season as well.
• SENIOR DAY – ACU recognized its 10 seniors on May 15 against Lamar. Alexei Cazarin, Genner Cervantes, Tommy Cruz, Colton Eager, Garrett Egli, Hunter Gieser, Trevor Jackson, Tanner Riley, Connor Carlton, and Carter Sells have all made significant contributions to the Wildcat baseball program, and will be honored for their accomplishments. As a group, they have won 116 games including 58 conference wins. In that stretch included the historic 2021 campaign that featured 36 wins, 25 in Southland Conference play, and a regular-season league title, the first of its kind at ACU since moving to Division I.

SCOUTING GRAND CANYON (39-17, 25-5 WAC)

• The Lopes won the West Division in the WAC by a wide margin, going 25-5 in league play.
• Daniel Avitira was named the WAC Pitcher of the Year as well as the WAC Freshman of the Year. Head coach Andy Stankiewicz was named the league's Coach of the Year.
• GCU placed eight on the all-league team, and comes into the tournament on a six-game winning streak.

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