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EDINBURG, Texas – The ACU baseball team is off to The Valley this weekend for a three-game WAC series against UTRGV. The series pits the Wildcats (24-12, 9-6 WAC), who sit in the third spot in the standings, against the Vaqueros (20-15, 7-8 WAC), who sit in the seventh spot, against one another for the seventh time in the last calendar year. Friday night's opener and Saturday's game two both get underway at 6:30 p.m., while Sunday's finale is slated for 12 p.m. All three games will air on ESPN+.
GAME #37
ACU (24-12, 9-6 WAC) at UTRGV (20-15, 7-8 WAC)
Friday, April 21 | 6:30 p.m. | UTRGV Baseball Stadium (5,000)
Projected Starters: RHP
Tyler Morgan (2-2, 5.51 ERA) vs. RHP Jesus Aldaz (3-2, 2.66 ERA)
Watch: ESPN+
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GAME #38
ACU (24-12, 9-6 WAC) at UTRGV (20-15, 7-8 WAC)
Saturday, April 22 | 6:30 p.m. | UTRGV Baseball Stadium (5,000)
Projected Starters: RHP
Breck Eichelberger (4-1, 4.03 ERA) vs. RHP Angelo Cabral (6-1, 3.92 ERA)
Watch: ESPN+
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GAME #39
ACU (24-12, 9-6 WAC) at UTRGV (20-15, 7-8 WAC)
Sunday, April 23 | 12 p.m. | UTRGV Baseball Stadium (5,000)
Projected Starters: RHP
Austin Glaze (2-0, 7.34 ERA) vs. RHP Colten Davis (3-2, 4.53 ERA)
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats |
Tickets
A LOOK AT ACU
The Wildcats enter the weekend with a 24-12 record and a 9-6 mark in WAC play. ACU has dropped six of its last eight games including a 1-3 week at home last week. The Wildcats lost to #25 TCU, 7-5, before dropping two of three against Grand Canyon over the Weekend. ACU won a wild, 16-14 game to open the series against the Lopes, but GCU took game two, 14-2, and game three, 6-4, with the latter coming in 12 innings. ACU opened a four-game road trip with a 20-0 loss at #14 Texas and wraps it with this three-game weekend series in Edinburg at UTRGV.
SCOUTING UTRGV
UTRGV enters the weekend with a 20-15 record and a 7-8 mark in WAC play. The Vaqueros are back home for the first time since April 4, having spent the eight games away from home that featured wins over Houston Christian, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Utah Valley, and most recently UIW on Tuesday night. UTRGV won a high-scoring, 15-12, game over UIW in San Antonio, scoring four runs in the ninth to rally for the road win. Down 12-11 entering the ninth, graduate student Montclair Cain launched a no-doubt home run to right off Steve Hayward to tie the game. The next three Vaqueros reached to load the bases, setting up a go-ahead walk by junior Kade York. Two outs later, graduate student Brandon Pimentel hit a 2-run single to give the Vaqueros a 15-12 lead.
INSIDE THE SERIES
All-Time: 14th meeting (UTRGV leads, 7-6)
ACU at Home: ACU leads, 5-2
ACU on the Road: UTRGV leads, 5-1
ACU at Neutral Site: n/a
Series Start: 2015
Last Meeting: UTRGV 7, ACU 5 (4/23/22 - Abilene)
Last ACU Win: ACU 12, UTRGV 2 (7) (4/23/22 - Abilene)
Last ACU Loss: UTRGV 7, ACU 5 (4/23/22 - Abilene)
Last ACU Road Win: ACU 3, UTRGV 1 (3/12/22)
Last ACU Road Loss: UTRGV 12, ACU 6 (3/13/22)
Last ACU Series Win: 2016 (4-0)
Last ACU Home Series Win: 2016 (4-0)
Last ACU Home Sweep: 2016 (4-0)
Last ACU Home Series Loss: 2022 (1-2)
Last Time ACU Was Swept in Home Series: n/a
Last ACU Road Series Win: n/a
Last ACU Road Sweep: n/a
Last ACU Road Series Loss: 2022 (1-2)
Last Time ACU Was Swept in Road Series: 2015 (0-3)
Current Streak: L1
McCarty (at ACU) vs. UTRGV: 2-4
LAST WEEKEND AGAINST GRAND CANYON
ACU won a marathon of a game on Friday night against the Lopes, 16-14, a game that featured 34 hits and nine different pitchers. GCU led topped the Wildcats, 14-2, in eight innings on Saturday, with Daniel Avitia going the distance with a complete game. ACU then had multiple chances on Sunday in the finale, but GCU won in 12 innings, 6-4, and ACU left the tying runs on base in the home 12th with no one out.
HISTORY FOR TWEEDT
Catcher
Tanner Tweedt had a remarkable game on Friday night against Grand Canyon. The senior hit three home runs and tallied nine RBI in the game, either tying or breaking single-game records at ACU. The three homers tie his teammate
Logan Britt, who did so against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on March 31, Luis Treviño in 2019 against New Orleans, and Joel Wells in 2006 against Tarleton. The nine RBI set a record that was previously held by
Colton Eager (2021 vs. Arkansas State) and Matt McGuire (2007 vs. Southeast Oklahoma State), who both had eight.
TATROW AT THE TOP
Grayson Tatrow has hit 38 career home runs at ACU and stands alone at the top of the record book. No one has hit more in their career in Wildcat history, and Tatrow is only in the middle of his third season at ACU.
LATE-INNING HEROICS
Maddox Miesse has had a flare for the dramatic so far during his freshman campaign. The third baseman hit a walk-off single to beat Oklahoma, hit a walk-off grand slam to top Southeast Missouri, and hit a single to walk-off against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on April 2.
THE FIFTH INNING
ACU is outscoring its opponents by an insane margin of 46-5 this season. Of ACU's 41 homers this season, eight of them have occurred in the fifth inning, tying the sixth inning as the most common this season in that stat.
AN EYE ON THE STREAKS
Bash Randle leads ACU with a five-game hitting streak and on-base streak, while
Logan Britt's 10-game hitting streak and 14-game on-base streak came to an end Wednesday night at #14 Texas.
GAME AT TEXAS TECH RESCHEDULED
ACU's game at Texas Tech was originally scheduled for Tuesday, April 4, but due to bad weather and incredibly high winds that day, the game was postponed. The two teams will now get together in Lubbock on Tuesday, May 9 at 6:30 p.m.
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.
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, 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.
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 123 career victories in his time at ACU, which includes a regular-season championship and a runner-up finish at the tournament. McCarty ranks second in all-time wins at ACU.
