Wildcats and Cardinals square off for seventh time

MESA, ARIZ. – The ACU baseball team hopes to stay alive on Friday at the WAC Tournament, needing to win twice to advance to Saturday. The No. 4 Wildcats take on the No. 2 seed from the Southwest Division, Lamar, in an elimination game. The Wildcats (27-28, 14-16 WAC) fell to top-seeded Grand Canyon on Wednesday night, but rebounded to top No. 3 Seattle U on Thursday, 10-3, to advance to the third round elimination game. It's the seventh meeting this season between the teams, and the second-ever post-season matchup, after playing in the first round of the Southland Tournament a year ago. The game gets underway at 2 p.m. CT (12 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. LAMAR

• ALL-TIME | 45th meeting (LU leads, 27-17)
• LAST MEETING | LU 7, ACU 4 (2022 - Abilene, Texas)
• STREAK | LU, w3
• IN ABILENE | LU leads, 12-3 (Since 2014)
• IN BEAUMONT | LU leads, 5-4 (Since 2014)
• NEUTRAL | ACU leads, 1-0
• POSTSEASON | ACU leads, 1-0

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

• HISTORIC GEM – Senior right-hander Genner Cervantes tossed a complete game in the tournament win over Seattle U, going all nine innings, allowing three runs on eight hits with five strikeouts. He walked just one, and it came in the ninth inning. The Phoenix native, in what could be his final collegiate game, threw 132 pitches and left it all on the field, cementing the first-ever WAC Tournament win for the Wildcats. Cervantes' gem was his third career complete game, but his first-ever CG in nine innings. In fact, the complete game was the first in nine-innings for ACU since Drew Hanson did so against Quinnipiac during the 2018 season. The nine innings and 132 total pitches are both career-highs for Cervantes.
• 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 – Bryson Hill has reached base safely in a team-leading 18 consecutive games. Miller Ladusau has a current nine-game hitting streak, a team-high.
• 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 549 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 80 home runs in 2022, the most in any season in any era ever. ACU has a team slugging percentage of .487, the highest in any single season ever as well. The team just set a new Division I single season record as well for runs scored (413), and did so against Seattle U on Thursday. ACU also set a new D1 record for hits in a season with 567.
• INDIVIDUAL RECORDS – Tyler Morgan has more strikeouts in a career than anyone at the D1 level for ACU (158), while Grayson Tatrow's 27 career home runs are the most in the D1 era for the Wildcats. Colton Eager's 137 runs batted in are the most in the D1 era, his 368 total bases rank No. 1, and his 90 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, 65 runs scored, 65 RBI, and 44 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 117 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 LAMAR (37-20, 20-10 WAC)

• The No. 2 seed Cardinals won on day one of the tournament, topping #3 Seattle U, 6-4, to advance to the championship side of the bracket on day two. However, late Thursday night, Lamar fell to the West Division champion Grand Canyon in a close battle, 4-3. GCU scored a run in the bottom of the ninth to walk-off the Cardinals.
• Highlighted by Jack Dallas' first-team selection, five Lamar players were named to the all-WAC teams. Along with Dallas, seniors Matthew McDonald (outfielder) and Adam Wheaton (starting pitcher) garnered second-team honors, while classmates Chase Kemp (first base) and Kirkland Banks (second/third base) were named to the WAC All-Defensive Team.

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