ABILENE – It's a unique weekend on tap for the ACU baseball team as it welcomes in a pair of non-conference teams to Crutcher Scott Field. The Wildcats, off to a 19-6 start through 25 games, will host former Southland Conference foe Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for a pair of games, once on Friday and once on Sunday, but sandwiched in between those two games is a date with the Nebraska Cornhuskers of the Big Ten on Saturday afternoon. Corpus and Nebraska will also play a game against one another on Saturday as well. It's a 6:05 p.m. first pitch on Friday against the Islanders, Saturday is a doubleheader (Nebraska vs. AMCC at 1:05 p.m., ACU vs. Nebraska at 4:05 p.m.), and Sunday is the lone game at 1:05 p.m. against Corpus. Follow all the action for the weekend on WAC International, as well as the Stat Broadcast live stats feed. It's a busy weekend at The Crutch.
GAME #26
ACU (19-6, 7-2 WAC) vs. TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI (13-13, 1-2 SOUTHLAND)
Friday, March 31 | 6:05 p.m. | Crutcher Scott Field (4,000)
Projected Starters: RHP
Tyler Morgan (1-1, 3.58 ERA) vs. RHP Hayden Thomas (3-3, 6.51 ERA)
Watch: WAC International
Live Stats |
Tickets
REMINDER: Saturday, April | 1:05 p.m. | NEBRASKA vs. TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI
GAME #27
ACU (19-6, 7-2 WAC) vs. NEBRASKA (14-8-1, 2-1 BIG TEN)
Saturday, April 1 | 4:05 p.m. | Crutcher Scott Field (4,000)
Projected Starters: RHP
Breck Eichelberger (3-0, 3.62 ERA) vs. RHP Jace Kaminska (5-0, 2.06 ERA)
Watch: WAC International
Live Stats |
Tickets
GAME #28
ACU (19-6, 7-2 WAC) vs. TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI (13-13, 1-2 SOUTHLAND)
Sunday, April 2 | 1:05 p.m. | Crutcher Scott Field (4,000)
Projected Starters: RHP
Austin Glaze (2-0, 6.04 ERA) vs. LHP Zach Garcia (1-2, 6.75 ERA)
Watch: WAC International
Live Stats |
Tickets
A LOOK AT ACU
The Wildcats enter the weekend with a 19-6 record and a 7-2 mark in WAC play. ACU is taking a break from conference play this week, and it began with a 5-2, 11-inning win over Baylor on Tuesday night in Waco.
Grayson Tatrow hit a three-run home run in the top of the 11th to break the 2-2 tie after Baylor tied it with a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth. ACU is now one win away from already 20 on the season. ACU wraps up a stretch of six of the last seven at home before it hits the road next week for four games away from Abilene in a row.
SCOUTING TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi enters the weekend with a 13-13 overall record and a 1-2 record in Southland games. The Islanders dropped two-of-three in a home series last weekend to Southeastern, but salvaged to win game three, 8-2, and took that momentum into a Tuesday night win at home over UTSA. Corpus has won two straight coming into the weekend where it will play both ACU and Nebraska. Friday opens a seven-game road trip for the Islanders; they will return home on Tuesday, April 11 against UTRGV. AMCC is hitting .314 as a team and is scoring 6.8 runs per game. Chance Reisdorph paces the offense with a .365 average, while Brendan Ryan and Tre Jones lead the way with 23 RBI apiece.
SCOUTING NEBRASKA
Nebraska enters the weekend with a 14-8-1 overall record and a 2-1 mark in Big Ten play. The Huskers have won three of their last four, including taking three-of-four in a weekend series at home over Illinois, the first Big Ten weekend for the team. Nebraska also topped North Dakota State at home on Tuesday before making the trip down to Texas. This weekend starts a seven-game road trip for the Huskers, and they will return to Lincoln on April 11 to battle Omaha. Nebraska is hitting .320 as a team and is scoring 8.3 runs per game. Nebraska is led by Max Anderson's .411 batting average, while Brice Matthews has a team-high 36 RBI.
INSIDE THE SERIES vs. TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI
All-Time: 20th meeting (AMCC leads, 15-4)
Last Meeting: ACU 4, AMCC 3 (May 27, 2021 - Hammond, La. - Southland Tournament)
Streak: ACU, w1
In Abilene: AMCC leads, 7-2
In Corpus Christi: AMCC leads, 8-1
Neutral site: ACU leads, 1-0
Postseason: ACU leads, 1-0
INSIDE THE SERIES vs. NEBRASKA
All-Time: 1st meeting
Last Meeting: n/a
Streak: n/a
In Abilene: n/a
In Lincoln: n/a
Neutral site: n/a
Postseason: n/a
HISTORIC START
ACU's 19 wins through the first 25 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.
HOW FAR TO WACO?
There has been plenty of drama so far in the 2023 season, and Tuesday night was the latest example. The Wildcats led the Big 12's Baylor Bears 2-0 in the ninth, surrendered the lead, and then Tatrow delivered with a three-run home run in the 11th inning to power a 5-2 victory. It's the first-ever win for ACU over Baylor and the second win over a Big 12 team this season. After a scoreless 10th and Tatrow gave ACU the lead in the 11th,
Zach Smith recorded the final three outs for his first-ever save, getting the 'Cats out of Waco with a win.
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 16-game on-base streak, while
Garrett Williams has reached base safely in 12 in a row.
Eric Martin has a current seven-game reached base streak going heading into the weekend as well. Four players have a current four-game hitting streak going into the week (Tatrow,
Tanner Tweedt,
Crew Parke,
Miller Ladusau).
TEAM LEADERS
Williams leads the 'Cats with a .394 batting average, but six guys are at or above .300 for the season, including Tatrow (.364), Ladusau (.330), Tweedt (.322), Britt (.320), and
Maddox Miesse (.310). Tatrow paces the offense with seven home runs and 34 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 118 career victories in his time at ACU, which includes a regular-season championship and a runner-up finish at the tournament.
