ABILENE - It's crunch time for WAC Softball, and nowhere is that better illustrated than the league standings where 11 teams remain in contention for eight postseason berths with six games remaining.
The 8-10 Wildcats enter their penultimate weekend tied for ninth with Seattle and New Mexico State — 1.0 game behind four 9-9 schools and 2.0 games behind 10-8 Stephen F. Austin and Utah Valley.
And their opponent — Sam Houston — is one of those aforementioned 9-9 squads. The Bearkats play host to the Wildcats twice Friday at 4 p.m. (ESPN+) and again Saturday (WAC International) at noon.
ACU can move ahead of its in-state rivals with a series win. Its postseason odds also improve should Seattle and New Mexico State be swept by Utah Valley and SFA, respectfully.
But anything less than a Wildcats' series win these last two weeks would be positively calamitous. Next week they finish the regular season in Las Cruces, N.M. with hopes of continuing six hours westward for the conference showcase in Phoenix and Grand Canyon Univ.
ACU has improved its standing by winning its last two WAC series vs. UT Arlington and SFA largely behind an offensive attack that averaged 6.2 runs per game. The pitching also has been stabilized by junior and two-time WAC Pitcher of the Week
Talia Nielsen, who posted a 1.75 ERA vs. the 'Jacks through two starts and 12 innings pitched.
Nielsen's WAC ERA through 14 appearances / 12 starts (71 IP) is 3.35, which currently ranks her eighth, and her six league wins are second only to SFA's Brooke Gainous and Utah Tech's Kate Dolinksi (7).
So the biggest problem now for head coach
Abigail Farler to solve is the collective play of its infield defense.
"Our focus in practice is cleaning up our defense," she said. "We have to secure the ball, reduce bobbles, and minimize the contagion of mistakes … and a few times it's spiraled out of control."
"I convey to the players that we always have a 9-on-1 advantage when we're on defense, so it's important we play connected and encourage each person to do their part to make outs," she continued. "Everyone needs to know the intention of each pitch - 'is this a double play ball?'- while still being ready for all possible outcomes."
Sam Houston is 19-30 overall and evened its home record at 10-10 earlier this month with a 9-2 midweek win over ULM. The Bearkats then went on to take two-of-three at Tarleton, winning the last two games by a combined score of 22-5.
Sam Houston ranks a percentage point ahead of ACU in conference team batting, .307 to .306, while its defense ranks third at .970. They've also scored the third most runs with 107, and have the fifth lowest ERA at 4.61.
Julia Herzinger and Brailey Wasik are the Bearkats' leading hitters with respective averages of .312 and .311, and combined they have 11 of their team's 34 home runs.
Darn Grams (2.98 ERA) and Emma Guindon (3.44) have made the most pitching appearances for Sam Houston and have similar win-loss records of 7-7 and 6-7. Guindon, however, has the most strikeouts on their five-woman staff with 55.
"We're expecting an all-out dogfight with Sam Houston," said Farler. "This will be their senior weekend and final homestand so there will be a lot of emotion on the field. And with like a lot of the Texas WAC teams, we know them as well as they know us."
Emma "Bubba" Rote, who is in the midst of a 15-game hitting streak, has seen her conference average shoot up to .396 and right behind her is freshman teammate
Sammie Shelander, batting at a .392 clip. Everyday veterans
Mercedes Eichelberger (.320),
Catrin Hoffman (.306) and
Olivia Taylor (.302) also are hitting above .300 vs. the WAC.
Eichelberger's three triples vs. WAC opposition are tops in the league, while
Avery Miloch's seven home runs are tied for fifth.
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