'Cats open new season with four-gamer against Nevada

ABILENE – Opening Day is finally here. The ACU baseball team opens up the 2023 campaign at the friendly confines of Crutcher Scott Field for a four-game series against the Nevada Wolfpack of the Mountain West Conference this weekend, beginning on Friday, Feb. 17 at 4:05 p.m. The highly-anticipated season is filled with another top-tier schedule that includes 17 of the first 18 games at home and 35 overall matchups at The Crutch this spring. The Wildcats are fresh off their postseason run to the WAC Tournament championship game, but will have a little bit of a different look, returning only about 50% of the roster from a year ago. ACU embarks into another chapter under fifth-year head coach Rick McCarty, who comes in with 99 wins in his first four seasons, including a Southland regular season championship in 2021. The season finally begins. It's ACU and Nevada on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday this weekend at The Crutch.

GAME #1

ABILENE CHRISTIAN (0-0, 0-0 WAC) vs. NEVADA (0-0, 0-0 MOUNTAIN WEST)
Friday, Feb. 17 · 4:05 p.m. · Crutcher Scott Field (4,000) · Abilene, Texas
Projected Starters: RHP Tyler Morgan (2022: 6-5, 4.92 ERA) vs. RHP Kade Morris
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats
Tickets

GAME #2

ABILENE CHRISTIAN (0-0, 0-0 WAC) vs. NEVADA (0-0, 0-0 MOUNTAIN WEST)
Saturday, Feb. 18 · 2:05 p.m. · Crutcher Scott Field (4,000) · Abilene, Texas
Projected Starters: RHP Rolando De La Cruz (0-0, 0.00 ERA)) vs. RHP Jason Doktorczyk
Watch: WAC International
Live Stats
Tickets

GAME #3

ABILENE CHRISTIAN (0-0, 0-0 WAC) vs. NEVADA (0-0, 0-0 MOUNTAIN WEST)
Sunday, Feb. 19 · 2:05 p.m. · Crutcher Scott Field (4,000) · Abilene, Texas
Projected Starters: RHP Breck Eichelberger (2022: 2-2, 4.05 ERA) vs. RHP Casey Burfield
Watch: WAC International
Live Stats
Tickets

GAME #4

ABILENE CHRISTIAN (0-0, 0-0 WAC) vs. NEVADA (0-0, 0-0 MOUNTAIN WEST)
Monday, Feb. 20 · 12:05 p.m. · Crutcher Scott Field (4,000) · Abilene, Texas
Projected Starters: TBD vs. TBD
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats
Tickets

SERIES HISTORY VS. NEVADA

• ALL-TIME | 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th meetings (Nevada leads, 3-0)
• LAST MEETING | Nevada 3, ACU 2 (Feb. 15, 2015 - Abilene, Texas)
• STREAK | Nevada, w3
• IN ABILENE | Nevada leads, 3-0
• IN RENO | n/a
• NEUTRAL | n/a
• POSTSEASON | n/a

ACU STORYLINES

• BACK FOR MORE – ACU finished 30-29 in 2022 with a 14-16 mark in WAC play, but went 4-2 in Mesa at the conference tournament with wins over Seattle U, Lamar, and nationally ranked Grand Canyon (twice) to advance to the championship game, where it fell to NM State. The Wildcats return 19 on the 39-man roster, including last year's starters Bash Randle, Tanner Tweedt, Miller Ladusau, Grayson Tatrow, and spot starter Aaron Staehely. Adam Byrd, Adam Stephenson, Breck Eichelberger, Tyler Morgan, and Max Huffling return on the pitching staff this season to go with multiple new faces.
• D1BASEBALL PRESEASON – D1Baseball released its preseason picks for the Western Athletic Conference, and ACU was picked sixth in the league and Randle was selected as a preseason first team all-WAC selection at second base. It also highlighted the top draft prospects from the conference as a whole, and in the 2023 draft, Eichelberger was the sixth-best prospect in the league, while Texas A&M transfer Logan Britt was ninth overall out of the outfield spot. Morgan, back for his junior season, came in at 13 on the list as well. In the 2024 draft, Byrd was listed fourth in line in the league. Tatrow was labeled #138 in the top 150 outfielders in the country, and Randle was selected as preseason first team all-conference. Randle returns as an all-conference selection two years in a row, while Tatrow was the Southland Newcomer of the Year and on the second team in 2021.
• PRESEASON POLL / AWARDS – The Western Athletic Conference announced the preseason poll and the preseason all-conference selections for the upcoming season, and the Wildcats are picked tied for fourth in the 13-team league. Junior Bash Randle and seniors Grayson Tatrow and Tanner Tweedt were all named to the all-conference list as well prior to the season. Grand Canyon was picked to win the conference, followed by Sam Houston and California Baptist. ACU tied with UTRGV and Sacramento State for fourth overall.
• BACK TO ONE BIG LEAGUE – The WAC is moving back to a traditional format in 2023. All 13 teams will be in one standings list, and there will be no divisions this season. There will be 30 league games against 10 of the 12 possible opponents, and the 2023 WAC Tournament will start May 24 in Mesa, Ariz.
• GLOBE LIFE FIELD GAME – The baseball program will participate in the College Baseball Series presented by Higginbotham for the very first time, and will match up against the Oklahoma Sooners at Globe Life Field, the home of the Texas Rangers. The game will take place on Wednesday, Feb. 22 at 6:05 p.m. Globe Life Field has hosted multiple college baseball games in the past, and continues to host the Big 12 Tournament, where OU topped Texas in the final game in the spring of 2022. This is ACU's debut at the new home of the Rangers, which opened in 2020. New to 2023, fans at College Baseball Showdown presented by Higginbotham will be able to purchase tickets in an exclusive fan zone. Fans will be able to experience a party in left field. Fan Zone passes can be purchased for additional fee of $10 per day, and $24 for a weekend pass. Gates will open at 5 p.m. and first pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. Tickets start at $15, and parking is also available for purchase in advance. ACU is hosting an exclusive pregame celebration for ACU alumni and friends at the StubHub Club, starting at 5 p.m. for a come-and-go reception with plenty of hors d'oeuvres and an opportunity to connect with Wildcat alumni and fans before the game. The event is free but registration is required. Please RSVP by Monday, Feb. 20.
• WELCOME BACK COACH FURUTO – Head coach Rick McCarty announced the addition of a familiar face to join the staff. Daniel Furuto returns to ACU as an assistant coach after spending last season as an assistant at Purdue. Furuto takes over the role vacated by Craig Parry, who departed ACU to join the Toronto Blue Jays as the hitting coordinator. Furuto was on the original staff put together by McCarty back in June 2018 when McCarty was hired at ACU, and he returns as the hitting coach in 2023. The former Wildcat volunteer assistant has spent time at Georgia State and UAB the last few years, and joined Purdue baseball as an assistant coach in July 2021, reuniting with Greg Goff after Furuto played for Goff on a Division II College World Series team and also worked with him at Campbell. Furuto served as director of the program's youth and prospect camps in West Lafayette.
• A GLANCE AT THE TOUGH SCHEDULE – The 2023 slate encompasses 55 games, including 30 Western Athletic Conference games (10 three-game series), and another 25 non-conference games (four series and 11 single games). Overall the team will host 35 times at Crutcher Scott Field (the most in the Rick McCarty era), where the team is 61-39 over the last four seasons. ACU will play 21 games against teams that finished in the top 100 in RPI in 2022, nine games against Power 5 opponents (Oklahoma, TCU x2, Baylor x2, Nebraska, Texas Tech x2, Texas), and seven games against 2022 regional teams (Oklahoma, Southeast Missouri, Oral Roberts, TCU, Texas Tech, Texas, Grand Canyon). There are five first-time opponents on the slate (Southeast Missouri, Sacramento State, Nebraska, California Baptist, Utah Tech), and there are four home games against Power 5 opponents (Nebraska, TCU, Texas Tech, Baylor).
• MILESTONE WATCH – Head Coach Rick McCarty enters his fifth season as the head man at ACU, and sits at 99 career victories through the first four. The first win of 2023 will be the milestone 100th victory for McCarty, who has a regular-season championship and a runner-up finish at the tournament to his name in his time at ACU.

SCOUTING NEVADA (2022: 29-26, 18-12 MOUNTAIN WEST)

• Head coach Jake McKinley enters his first season at the Wolf Pack helm, leading the team into a 2023 campaign which features a 26-game home slate and two doubleheader days (March 4, April 30) at Peccole Park. McKinley, who spent the past four seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers and has more than a decade of collegiate coaching experience, was named Nevada's head baseball coach July 2.
• Pitcher Kade Morris was named to the Preseason All-Mountain West Baseball Team Thursday, as the conference announced the 13-player group and the 2023 predicted order of finish. Morris was named to the All-Mountain West Second Team last season, going 7-5 with three saves and 53 strikeouts over 18 appearances (four starts). In 11 appearances against Mountain West competition, Morris went 5-2, including a 3-1 mark over four starts, going at least 8.0 innings in each of those three wins. At the Mountain West Championship, Morris went 8.2 innings five strikeouts in Nevada's 7-3 elimination-game victory over UNLV.
• After playing its first nine games on the road, Nevada opens its home slate at Peccole Park with a four-game set against Hofstra, March 3-5.

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