Wildcats make their way to Huntsville for WAC Tourney

ABILENE - Abilene Christian softball is making their way to Huntsville this week to participate in the WAC Softball Tournament. The team finished in second place in the Southwest Division and earned the four seed after losing a tiebreak with Seattle. The Wildcats have been on quite the run to close the season winning six of their last seven, including a five game win streak. The team will have a chance to make some noise in their first WAC Tournament as they received a bye from the elimination round and will play the winner of Utah Valley and Lamar.  

Last Time Out

Wildcats Storylines (25-24, 15-9 WAC)

• The Wildcats earned their first series win over SFA since 2018 to close out the regular season and secure second place in the Southwest Division. 
• Sidney Holman-Mansell is coming off of her second WAC Pitcher of the Week award in the last three weeks. The Wildcats had a bye week between the two awards, so she has won in consecutive weeks where she was eligible. 
• Calie Burris set the new DI career walks record for the Wildcats in the final game of the season, she now has 63. 
• The Wildcats will play the winner of Utah Valley and Lamar. If ACU would see the Cardinals it would be the seventh meeting of the season, but if they see the Wolverines it would be the first-ever meeting between the programs.

Scouting the Wolverines (22-25, 12-12 WAC)

• Utah Valley closed out their regular season with a series win over New Mexico State at home. The team went 3-5 over their final eight games which included losses to tough BYU and Washington teams. 
• Outfielder Madison Carr is coming off of a WAC Hitter of the Week honor and leads the team with a .446 batting average. Mikaela Thomson leads the Wolverines with 49 RBI and 12 homeruns. 
• Four hitters in the regular lineup for UVU are hitting .336 or better on the year. 
• The pitching staff holds a 6.05 ERA on the season, they are led by Brooke Carter who has thrown 123.1 innings and has a 5.11 ERA. Katie Zuniga has 120.0 innings pitched with a 5.78 ERA. 

Scouting the Cardinals (11-37, 5-19 WAC)

• Lamar comes into the tournament having lost four-straight and six of their last seven games. The team went 1-8 in their final three conference series.
• The Cardinals have a 1-0 series lead against UVU, winning 14-6 over the Wolverines in a 2016 matchup. 
• Sam Bean leads the team with a .245 batting average, while Kaylee Ancelot and Hannah Kinkade lead the team with 24 RBI each. Kinkade leads the team with six homeruns on the year.
• Aaliyah Ruiz leads the team with a 3.81 ERA and 167.1 innings pitched, she has pitched 80-plus innings more than the next pitcher on the Cardinals staff. 

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