WACO, Texas – The ACU baseball team, off to its best start through 24 games since 2010, takes it 18-6 record to Waco to battle the Baylor Bears for the third time ever. It's the first of two meetings this season with Baylor, who will make the return trip to Abilene on May 2. ACU will play at Baylor Ballpark for the second time ever, and the game gets underway at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 28. The game will air on Facebook Live.
GAME #25
ACU (18-6, 7-2 WAC) vs. BAYLOR (9-15, 2-4 BIG 12)
Tuesday, March 28 | 6:30 p.m. | Baylor Ballpark (5,000) | Waco, Texas
Projected Starters: RHP
Blake Anderson (3-0, 4.67 ERA) vs. RHP Brett Garcia (0-0, 7.20 ERA)
Watch: Facebook Live
Live Stats | Tickets
A LOOK AT ACU
The Wildcats enter the game with an 18-6 record and a 7-2 mark in WAC play. ACU is taking a break from conference play this week with four games against opponents from outside the league, starting with Baylor on Tuesday. The 'Cats will host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi twice this upcoming weekend at Crutcher Scott Field, taking on the Islanders on Friday and Sunday. ACU will also host Nebraska this weekend, but only on Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats will play a true road game for just the fifth time this season; ACU played at UT Arlington for three games and at TCU last Tuesday night.
SCOUTING BAYLOR
Baylor enters the game with a 9-15 overall record and a 2-4 record in Big 12 games. The Bears have won each of their last three midweek games, but are coming off the wrong end of a road sweep to #15 Oklahoma State in Stillwater, dropping an 11-9 contest in 11 innings on Friday, a 15-8 game on Saturday, and a 13-2 game in seven innings on Sunday. Kolby Branch leads the team in batting average (.340), hits (32), doubles (7), home runs (3), runs batted in (20), and total bases (50). Baylor hits .252 as a team and has hit 17 homers for the season.
INSIDE THE SERIES
All-Time: 3rd meeting (Baylor leads, 2-0)
Last Meeting: Baylor 6, ACU 4 (March 9, 2022 - Abilene)
Streak: Baylor, w2
In Abilene: Baylor leads, 1-0
In Waco: Baylor leads, 1-0
Neutral site: n/a
Postseason: n/a
HISTORIC START
ACU's 18 wins through the first 24 games are the most since the 2010 season. That team, that set a record with 50 wins and won 28 games in the Division II Lone Star Conference, also started 18-6. This is ACU's best start in the Division I era of the program, which began for baseball in the spring of 2014. ACU's 7-2 start to conference play is also the best start since 2010.
ANOTHER SERIES WIN
ACU has won all six of its series so far this season, and that is the most series wins to start a campaign since the 2006 season. ACU has series wins at home over Nevada, Southeast Missouri, Houston Christian, Stephen F. Austin, and now Sacramento State. ACU took down UT Arlington in the three-gamer on the road March 17-19. Last weekend, ACU fell behind in the series after an 8-4 loss on Friday to Sac State, but bounced back by scoring 30 runs over the final two games to win 10-0 and 20-5, both in run-rule seven-inning games.
LAST WEEKEND'S NUMBERS
ACU hit .400 over the weekend against Sacramento State, led by
Grayson Tatrow and
Crew Parke each hitting .500 (Tatrow went 6-12 while Parke went 5-10). Tatrow paced ACU with eight runs driven in while
Miller Ladusau and
Bash Randle each tallied six RBI. The Wildcats scored 34 runs on 40. hits with 10 doubles, a triple, and five homers. Tatrow hit a pair of homers, including a grand slam on Sunday, while Ladusau, Randle, and
Eric Martin all left the ballpark as well.
Breck Eichelberger shined on the mound on Saturday, throwing seven shutout innings in his first complete game as a Wildcats. The right-hander allowed just three hits and struck out four.
Zach Smith also threw 3.1 innings of scoreless ball over the weekend on just two hits.
THE THIRD, THE FIFTH THE KEY
ACU outscored Sacramento State 12-2 in the third inning this weekend, despite coming in with a -15 run differential in that inning for the season. The Wildcats also outscored the Hornets 10-1 in the fifth inning in three games, and now hold a 38-5 edge in the fifth inning this season.
OFFENSIVE SUNDAY
ACU tallied 20 runs on 22 hits in the win on Sunday over the Hornets, both season-bests. In fact, both numbers are the most in a single game since the game last March against Marist. The 22 hits match the highest total in one game in the
Rick McCarty era, which began in 2019.
AN EYE ON THE STREAKS
Tatrow leads ACU with a current 15-game on-base streak, while
Garrett Williams has reached base safely in 11 in a row.
Eric Martin has a current seven-game reached base streak going heading into Tuesday as well. Five players have a current three-game hitting streak going into the week (Tatrow,
Tanner Tweedt, Parke, Ladusau,
Jake Skaggs).
TEAM LEADERS
Williams leads the 'Cats with a .402 batting average, but seven guys are at or above .300 for the season, including Tatrow (.369),
Logan Britt (.326), Ladusau (.326), Tweedt (.317),
Maddox Miesse (.310), and Parke (.300). Tatrow paces the offense with six home runs and 31 runs batted in.
Tyler Morgan's 3.58 earned run average in six starts leads the pitching staff, as do his 38 strikeouts.
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.
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. 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 14 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).
THE COACH
Head Coach
Rick McCarty is in his fifth season as the head man at ACU, and earned his 100th career win on Opening Day. He sits at 117 career victories in his time at ACU, which includes a regular-season championship and a runner-up finish at the tournament.
